SnoBase now generates an Ideal Replenishment Schedule by Distributor by SKU, giving you a clear view of what each DC should be ordering and when.

Instead of guessing, you can look at an incoming PO or suggest a new one with confidence based on real weeks on hand and projected needs.

As we all settle into the quiet rhythm of autumn, SnoBasics is back with a 3rd volume, settling itself into a bi-weekly cadence. We hope you will allow us to keep finding our way into your inbox as we continue to build software that helps brands beat their benchmarks.

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Through SnoBasics, we send SnoBase updates, new feature announcements, exciting partnerships, and a couple of thoughts that are meant to keep you informed, save you time, and ultimately put your sales & operations planning onto a clean and clear track through the months and years ahead.

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Let’s get into it.

Brands often end up stuck between two bad outcomes when dealing with distributor orders:

Our new Ideal Replenishment Schedule gives you a simple, week by week forecast of upcoming inventory needs by distributor and SKU powered by a proprietary sales depletion vs. inventory model running against your distributor data feed. It shows where replenishment is needed in the next 12 weeks and how much is required to keep inventory in the ideal range.

You can use it in two ways:

NB: The replenishment schedule model optimizes for maintaining inventory weeks on hand within an ideal range. It does not yet take into consideration freight or other order sanitation metrics. Stay tuned for the fine tune 🎻.

A core issue in distributor management is uncertainty.

To paraphrase Daniel Patrick Moynihan (as he is so often paraphrased) you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own set of facts. Often, the set of facts on the brand side and the set of facts on the distributor side are like two concentric circles that barely overlap. This lack of overlapping facts leads to uncertainty which leads to misalignment, and misalignment leads to short ship wars, out of stocks, unexpected deductions, and frustration.

This replenishment schedule allows brands that log into SnoBase and use it today to instantly know their knowables and reach out or get back to their distributors with confidence. We think that’s a great starting point.

The negotiation between a brand and a distributor is more complicated than it seems or than what this feature solves.

Both sides are trying to optimize for inventory, cash flow, freight efficiency, SKU mix, fill rates, and retailer expectations.

It makes us wonder, should every PO basically be thought of as a negotiated settlement between two models that are each trying to hit their own goals?

The word “deductions” covers a huge range of issues. Some are agreed upon fees, some are trade spend, some are corrections from faulty ledgers, and some are surprise fees.

In a world where so many players have entered the “deduction management” space, should we expect erroneous deductions to be competed away in the near future? If not eliminated from happening entirely, maybe resolved so quickly as to be considered a solved problem?

If so, should focus turn to the avoidable, but not erroneous? Said differently, we are looking at which parts of the deduction problem could be eliminated if both sides had better information during the ordering process.

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