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How Collaborative Cloud Sourcing™ Propels the Future of Industrial Supply Chain

How Collaborative Cloud Sourcing™ Propels the Future of Industrial Supply Chain

Thanks to its unique use of Cloud SourcingTM, ShelfAware is a great fit for any business trying to remotely manage a complex physical inventory. ShelfAware was designed to automate industrial wholesale supply chains and provide a platform for independent industrial suppliers to collaborate and collectively supply the industry’s largest consumers on an automated omnichannel.

ShelfAware is revolutionizing supply chain management through the power of collaboration. Independent suppliers work together with a single consumer on a single RFID IoT supply chain platform.

The traditional approach to industrial distribution growth has been a business model in which various product verticals are added to an existing distribution network to grow revenue and add economies of scale. It’s worked that way for many large distributors for decades.

However, as markets have grown and matured, that traditional way has become less of an option for independent distributors as a long-term growth strategy. It’s possible, but not practical.

ShelfAware CEO Andrew Johnson learned about the traditional growth philosophy of broad product development from his father, Douglas, who had gained his early experience working for a Parker Hannifin distributor. Douglas founded his own industrial distribution company, O-Ring Sales & Service, Inc., in 1982.

Re-Inventing Supply Chain with Collaborative Cloud SourcingTM

With a fresh perspective on the marketplace, the younger Johnson got together with his three brothers-in-law/business partners and brainstormed about what might happen if the power of collaboration was embraced with regard to industrial supply chain and inventory management.

“We looked at our first customer, Eskridge (a gear drive and brake products manufacturer), and thought about what their supply chain would look like if they added hoses and fittings, or packaging materials, or safety products, for example,” Johnson says. “We had spent the last year repositioning the O-Ring Sales & Service supply chain and found it hard to fathom how to reinvent an entirely new supply chain.”

The four brothers developed an alternative to the “old school” philosophy passed down from the family patriarch. They made an investment in the inventory management software to allow it to be “plug and play” for anyone. Douglas Johnson didn’t think companies would embrace the idea of collaboration, worrying that crucial trade secrets would be shared with the competition.

“We faced the hurdle of, ‘If we build it, will they come?” Andrew Johnson explains. “But we forged ahead. We expanded the software to a web-based application that had the option of adding subsets of products and companies to the platform.”

Despite his father’s apprehension about companies sharing customer bases and possibly becoming competitors, Johnson approached a local distributor in Kansas City and presented his idea of collaborative Cloud SourcingTM. The distributor took a chance and became ShelfAware’s first distribution collaborator.

Dispelling the Concerns About Cloud SourcingTM

The biggest pushback to the idea of collaborative Cloud SourcingTM has been reassuring companies that their customer bases will not be poached by potential competitors, Johnson explains.

However, the upside outweighs the downside exponentially.

“It’s natural to have the fear of sharing information about your customers. However, once you begin adding suppliers to ShelfAware, collectively the suppliers become very efficient and intrinsically valuable to the manufacturing consumer. By acting as one the suppliers now become much more valuable to the consumer and less likely to lose market share to their individual competitors. The business is predictable. Long term stability means momentum can be built. Established business becomes concrete and stable.”

Another advantage is that the collaborate business model offers a built-in referral system among suppliers. New opportunities are delivered “on a silver platter,” Johnson says. Suppliers can also approach other suppliers that they have relationships with and invite them to join their digital vendor managed inventory (VMI) network.

How to Automate Your Supply Chain With the Power of Cloud SourcingTM

There is a growing online community built around the idea of Cloud Sourcing™. ShelfAware offers this collaborative approach to B2B supply chain management with the market’s first true omnichannel platform that accommodates both the physical (inventory—logistics, storage, tracking consumption, organizing, etc.) and the digital (data—analytics, forecasts, replenishment metrics, etc.) aspects of complex supply chains.

Implementing ShelfAware’s robust platform is often complex but does not need to be slow. It begins with a group conversation involving a mix of finance, operations and IT professionals. A site audit (often multiple sites) is usually required before a proposal can be made.

Final proposals usually involve a formal stocking agreement, installation plan, and a product pricing quote. Onboarding consumers varies widely, but the minimum time required to convert a supply chain in most markets is about three months.

Want to learn more about an affordable way to automate your supply chain? Request your free ShelfAware demo 

Too good to be true?  ShelfAware is redefining the vendor-managed inventory industry. For this reason, we’re happy to talk to you about how our intelligent inventory platform can benefit your business. Contact us today for more information.

Want to learn more about an affordable way to automate your supply chain? Request your free ShelfAware demo 

Too good to be true?  ShelfAware is redefining the vendor-managed inventory industry. For this reason, we’re happy to talk to you about how our intelligent inventory platform can benefit your business. Contact us today for more information.

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