On this page
- The short answer
- How goods reach the market
- FMCG vs general Manufacturing
- Map the SKU-to-cash lifecycle
- STOCK ON HAND ≠ SELLABLE STOCK
- Batch and expiry
- FEFO
- Trace the dispatched batch
- The depot as an operating unit
- Inter-depot movement
- Replenishment
- Fast and slow SKU movement
- MOVE THE SKU
- Distributor, retailer, route
- Pricing
- A scheme is not a discount
- CONTROL THE SCHEME
- Scheme validity and timing
- Free-goods schemes
- Volume discount
- Cash discount
- Trade offers and incentives
- Immediate or pending benefit
- Distributor lifting
- Scheme liability
- PRIMARY SALES ≠ SECONDARY SALES
- Distributor stock
- Field execution
- Route-wise execution
- Mobile field orders
- Van sales
- Credit before exposure
- The override rule
- CLOSE THE RECEIVABLE
- Outstanding and ageing
- Advance receipts
- Collection hierarchy
- Returns
- Return disposition
- Credit note or replacement
- Batch recall
- GROSS BILLING ≠ NET RESULT
- Analysis dimensions
- ERP, DMS, field sales
- The difficult scenarios
- Standard or custom?
- Red flags
- Evaluation record
- What customer proof?
- Evidence: Ambika Foods
- Evidence: ANA Oils
- Evidence: Solae
- How exactllyERP fits
- Checklist
- Go Deeper
One company may sell through distributors and retailers. Another may sell directly to modern trade or institutional customers. Some use presales and later delivery. Some use route sales or van sales. Some depend heavily on distributor secondary-sales data. Some operate through multiple depots and warehouses. Many combine several channel models at once.
That is why an ERP should not be judged simply by asking whether it supports sales, inventory, schemes or distributors.
The buyer needs to know whether the system can keep fast-moving SKU inventory, scheme eligibility, pricing, credit exposure, fulfilment, returns, collections and resulting commercial performance connected while goods keep moving through the channel.
The useful question is not “Does your ERP support FMCG distribution?”
It is “Can you show us what stock is genuinely sellable, which scheme and credit rule applies, what actually moved through the channel, what came back, what was collected, and what the SKU finally contributed?”
The short answer
An FMCG company should evaluate ERP by following the complete SKU-to-cash operating chain.
A useful generic lifecycle is:
- demand / replenishment signal
- SKU / pack availability
- batch / expiry eligibility where relevant
- warehouse / depot position
- distributor / retailer / route order
- price / scheme eligibility
- credit check
- stock allotment / reservation
- batch selection / FEFO where relevant
- dispatch
- billing / primary sale
- secondary sale / retailer movement where captured
- collection / outstanding
- return / damage / replacement / credit
- net sales / margin
- replenishment decision
Not every FMCG business uses every stage.
The important test is whether the proposed ERP can connect:
- what stock actually exists;
- what stock is genuinely sellable;
- which depot or warehouse can fulfil the demand;
- which batch is eligible where batch/expiry control applies;
- what price and scheme should apply;
- what credit exposure already exists;
- what quantity was allocated and dispatched;
- what was billed into the channel;
- what moved further through the channel where secondary data is captured;
- what remains outstanding;
- what was returned or credited;
- and what the final SKU/customer/channel economics look like.
A feature checklist alone cannot prove that.
First identify how goods actually reach the market
Before comparing ERP vendors, define the channel model or combination of models you actually use.
Possible operating models include:
These models can overlap.
A company may sell one category through distributors, another directly to key accounts and another through field routes.
Do not force the entire business into one “FMCG distribution” template simply because the ERP vendor has one standard demo.
Ask:
Where do stock ownership, price, scheme eligibility, credit exposure and collection responsibility change as the product moves through our channel?
That answer should shape the evaluation.
What makes FMCG ERP requirements different from general Manufacturing?
Manufacturing asks whether the business can make the product correctly.
FMCG asks a different set of questions after the product exists:
Is the right SKU actually sellable at the right location?
What commercial rule applies to this order?
What actually moved through the channel rather than merely what we invoiced?
What remains unpaid, returned, credited or financially unresolved afterwards?
That is why FMCG ERP evaluation should not merely repeat production, costing and inventory questions.
It should test sellable stock, channel execution, schemes, credit, collections, returns and net commercial outcome.
Map the complete SKU-to-cash lifecycle before choosing software
Do not begin with the sales-order screen.
Begin with the real operating lifecycle.
At minimum, map the stages that apply to your business:
Then ask:
At which points can stock eligibility, commercial terms, credit exposure, fulfilment, receivable or margin change?
Those are the points the ERP evaluation must test.
STOCK ON HAND ≠ SELLABLE STOCK
A warehouse can physically contain stock that is not genuinely available for a new order.
Depending on the business, stock may already be:
Confirmed exactllyERP FMCG capability includes depot-wise stock visibility by SKU, batch and expiry where applicable, stock allotment/reservation against sales orders where required, near-expiry visibility and expired-stock control where configured.
The buyer should ask:
When a salesperson accepts an order, what stock is actually available to promise — not merely physically present?
That distinction should remain visible throughout the order process.
Batch and expiry should affect fulfilment where they matter
Not every FMCG item is batch-controlled or expiry-sensitive.
But where those controls matter, the ERP may need to know:
Confirmed exactllyERP FMCG capability includes:
- manufacturing and expiry dates by batch/SKU where applicable;
- near-expiry inventory identification across warehouses/depots;
- configurable warning periods where required;
- expired stock prevented from sales allocation/dispatch where configured;
- batch dispatched recorded against distributor/customer invoice.
The buyer should ask:
Which stock can this order actually use, and why?
FEFO should be tested where shelf life matters
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes FEFO batch selection/allocation where required.
FEFO means the operational preference is driven by expiry position rather than only receipt date.
The buyer should ask:
If several eligible batches are available, which batch should leave first and what rule determines that choice?
Do not assume every FMCG business needs FEFO.
Where it matters, test it with real batch dates rather than accepting a report or configuration screen.
Trace the dispatched batch into the channel
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes keeping the specific batch against the distributor/customer invoice and tracing an affected batch forward to distributors/customers and invoices.
The buyer should ask:
If Batch X is later identified as problematic, who actually received it?
A batch number in warehouse stock is not enough.
The commercial record should show where that batch went.
See the depot as an operating unit, not only a location code
FMCG distribution often depends on multiple warehouses or depots.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes depot-wise stock by SKU, batch and expiry where applicable.
The buyer should be able to ask:
What is available, committed, ageing or nearing expiry at each depot right now?
The answer should not require manual consolidation from separate spreadsheets.
Preserve SKU and batch identity through inter-depot movement
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes inter-depot transfers preserving SKU/batch identity.
The buyer should test:
Move stock from Depot A to Depot B. Can we still see the same SKU, batch and relevant expiry history after the transfer?
Transfer should not reset the traceability or availability context.
Replenishment should reflect what is actually required
A depot that looks low on stock may not genuinely require replenishment if:
- enough stock is already in transit;
- committed orders are low;
- the SKU is slow-moving;
- near-expiry stock already exists;
- seasonality is changing;
- another defined planning rule applies.
Confirmed exactllyERP FMCG capability includes:
- reorder/minimum/safety levels by SKU and depot;
- replenishment considering available stock, committed/pending sales orders and defined minimum/reorder levels;
- sales velocity and seasonal movement used in demand/replenishment planning where required.
The buyer should ask:
Why does this depot need this quantity of this SKU now?
A replenishment suggestion should be explainable.
Fast-moving and slow-moving SKU analysis should be location-specific
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes fast-moving and slow-moving SKU analysis by depot/location and period.
A SKU can be fast-moving in one territory and slow-moving in another.
The buyer should therefore ask:
Where is this SKU moving, where is it stagnating, and over what period?
Do not accept only company-wide averages if depot or region behaviour matters.
MOVE THE SKU
The first FMCG signature principle is not simply “sell more”.
It is:
MOVE THE SKU
That means the business should be able to connect:
- demand
- sellable stock
- depot
- distributor/customer
- price/scheme
- credit
- allocation
- batch selection
- dispatch
- billing
The buyer should ask:
Can the ERP move one real SKU through our actual channel without losing stock, batch, price, scheme or credit context?
Map distributor, retailer and route structure
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes mapping distributor and retailer/customer structures to routes/territories where required.
The buyer should define:
Do not assume every FMCG business uses the same hierarchy.
The buyer should ask:
Which commercial and operational decisions depend on this hierarchy?
Pricing should match the operating model
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes MRP-wise pricing and discount policy where the FMCG operating model requires it.
The buyer should ask:
Which price applies to this SKU, this pack, this customer/channel and this transaction date?
Do not assume MRP-based pricing is universal.
Where it matters, demonstrate the exact commercial rule.
A scheme is not merely a discount
A distributor or dealer scheme may involve:
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor/dealer schemes with eligibility rules, validity periods and SKU/product scope.
The buyer should ask:
Who qualified, on what transaction evidence, what benefit was earned and what commercial obligation remains afterwards?
That is much stronger than asking whether the ERP “supports schemes”.
CONTROL THE SCHEME
The second FMCG signature principle is:
CONTROL THE SCHEME
The scheme should be determined by controlled rules rather than salesperson memory or manual invoice adjustment.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes automatic scheme eligibility evaluation at order/billing according to configured rules.
The buyer should test:
Place one order that qualifies and one that does not. Show exactly why the benefit applies to one and not the other.
Scheme validity and timing should be explicit
A scheme normally has an effective period.
The buyer should define which business date governs eligibility:
The ERP should implement the company’s policy consistently.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes scheme validity periods.
The buyer should ask:
If an order is booked on the last day of a scheme but invoiced later, what rule decides eligibility in our business?
Do not impose one universal answer.
Free-goods schemes affect inventory as well as price
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes free-goods / N+1 schemes.
A free-goods scheme creates physical stock movement.
The buyer should therefore test:
- qualifying quantity
- earned free quantity
- stock allocation
- dispatch
- invoice/commercial treatment
- scheme benefit record
The important question is:
Can the ERP connect the physical free quantity with the commercial scheme that created it?
Volume-discount schemes should remain rule-driven
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes volume-discount schemes.
The buyer should ask:
What threshold was reached, over what scope and period, and what benefit does that create?
Do not assume one threshold model fits all schemes.
Cash-discount schemes should remain distinguishable from product schemes
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes cash-discount schemes.
A cash discount may depend on payment behaviour rather than product lifting alone.
The buyer should ask:
What transaction or payment behaviour actually earns this benefit?
Do not mix product-volume schemes and payment-linked benefits into one generic discount field.
Trade offers and channel incentives may follow other rules
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes trade-offer/channel-incentive schemes where required.
These may be commercial constructs defined by the company.
The buyer should ask:
What evidence determines eligibility and what remains payable or settleable after the sale?
The rule should be explicit.
Scheme benefit may be immediate or pending
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes:
- immediate application of scheme benefit;
- pending benefit/settlement according to scheme terms.
The buyer should ask:
Was this benefit already given on the invoice, or has it been earned but remains to be settled?
Those are different commercial states.
Track distributor lifting against the scheme
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor-wise scheme lifting against targets/thresholds.
The buyer should be able to ask:
How much has this distributor already lifted under the scheme, what threshold has been reached, and what benefit is now due?
This becomes especially important when schemes accumulate over a period rather than a single invoice.
Scheme liability should close into Finance
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes pending scheme benefit/liability reporting for financial provisioning/settlement.
The buyer should ask:
What scheme benefit has already been earned but is still financially outstanding?
A scheme should not disappear from ERP once the sales invoice is posted.
PRIMARY SALES ≠ SECONDARY SALES
The third major FMCG distinction is:
PRIMARY SALES ≠ SECONDARY SALES
tell the company what it sold to the distributor.
tell it what the distributor sold further into the channel.
They answer different questions.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor secondary-sales capture so SKU-wise retailer/channel offtake can be visible.
The buyer should ask:
At what point in our channel do we lose visibility, and which system is supposed to restore it?
Do not assume every FMCG company needs secondary-sales capture.
Distributor stock can add another layer of channel visibility
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor stock position maintained or derived where distributor stock data is available.
The buyer should ask:
What did we sell to the distributor, what remains with the distributor, and what moved further into the market?
The quality of this answer depends on the quality and availability of distributor data.
Do not imply ERP can know distributor stock without receiving the necessary data.
Field execution depends on the actual sales model
Field sales can mean different things:
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes route-wise orders/billing by salesperson/field representative and mobile field-sales orders integrated with exactllyERP for relevant FMCG workflows.
The buyer should ask:
What does the field person actually do before, during and after the customer visit?
The ERP should support that operating model rather than forcing every field team into one generic process.
Route-wise execution should remain measurable
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes route-wise orders/billing by salesperson/field representative.
The buyer may need to understand:
The exact KPI set should match the business.
Do not invent universal route-performance targets.
Mobile field orders should not require later re-entry
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes mobile field-sales orders integrated with exactllyERP for relevant FMCG workflows.
The buyer should test:
Place one field order and show how it reaches the ERP order/approval/invoicing process without someone recreating the order manually.
Where offline operation is required, evaluate that requirement separately.
Do not infer offline capability unless it is specifically demonstrated.
Van sales should reconcile the stock that physically travelled
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes van-sales load-out, sales and return-stock reconciliation by trip/route where required.
The buyer should ask:
What stock left with the van, what was sold, what was returned and what difference remains to be explained?
That is more useful than merely showing a mobile sales screen.
Credit should be checked before additional exposure is created
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes:
- distributor-wise credit limits;
- credit utilisation/outstanding checks at sales-order entry/approval;
- over-limit orders held before dispatch according to configured credit policy.
The buyer should test:
Place an order for a distributor already beyond its agreed credit position. What happens before stock leaves the depot?
Credit control is useful when it affects the commercial decision before fulfilment.
The override rule matters as much as the credit rule
A strict block is not automatically superior.
The company may require an authorised exception process.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes authorised finance/management approval to release credit-held orders where configured.
The buyer should ask:
Who can release the order, why, and what evidence remains afterwards?
An override should be governed rather than invisible.
CLOSE THE RECEIVABLE
The third part of the FMCG signature is:
CLOSE THE RECEIVABLE
The commercial chain does not finish at invoicing.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes:
- distributor-wise outstanding and ageing updated with invoices/receipts;
- advance receipts/payments applied against distributor invoices/outstanding;
- collection/outstanding reporting by zone/area/route where required.
The buyer should ask:
Can the person asking for the next order also see what remains unpaid from the previous ones?
That connects sales activity with financial exposure.
Outstanding and ageing should remain current
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor-wise outstanding and ageing.
The buyer should be able to ask:
- what is current;
- what is overdue;
- how old it is;
- what has been received;
- what remains open.
The result should update with normal invoice and receipt transactions.
Advance receipts should not become disconnected balances
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes advance receipts/payments applied against distributor invoices/outstanding.
The buyer should ask:
What money has already been received from this distributor and how does it affect the current receivable position?
Advances should remain visible until appropriately applied.
Collections should be visible in the commercial hierarchy where required
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes collection/outstanding reporting by zone/area/route where required.
The buyer should ask:
Where are receivables accumulating — by distributor, route, area or region?
The relevant hierarchy should match management responsibility.
Returns must close both the stock and financial record
A return is not only negative sales.
Depending on the business, the ERP may need to preserve:
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes distributor/customer returns linked to the original invoice and batch with quantity/reason.
The buyer should ask:
Can we follow the return from original sale through physical receipt, disposition and financial settlement?
Returned, damaged and expired goods should not be one undifferentiated bucket
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes separate classification of returned/damaged/expired goods for appropriate disposition such as resale, rework or write-off where applicable.
The buyer should ask:
What can happen to this returned stock now, and why?
Do not assume every return is resalable or every expired item is treated identically.
Credit note or replacement should stay linked to the return
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes credit-note and/or replacement flow connected to the originating return, with distributor outstanding updated accordingly.
The buyer should test:
After the physical return is accepted, what changes in the customer balance and what replacement or credit remains due?
The stock record and receivable record should not diverge.
Batch recall is really a channel-genealogy test
FMCG does not need the Chemical guide’s full formula/QC genealogy.
But where the product is batch-controlled, the commercial channel still needs forward traceability.
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes forward trace from affected batch to distributors/customers and invoices.
The buyer should ask:
Which distributors or customers received this batch, and what related stock is still inside our own network?
Do not imply every FMCG product requires batch recall capability.
GROSS BILLING ≠ NET COMMERCIAL RESULT
Gross billing can look strong even when the real commercial result is reduced by:
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes net SKU commercial/margin analysis incorporating scheme deductions, returns/credits and actual purchase/production cost, with analysis by distributor/route/region/period where required.
The buyer should ask:
What did this SKU actually contribute after the commercial effects associated with selling it?
Do not impose one universal net-margin formula.
The business should define what belongs in the calculation.
Net economics should be analysable in the dimensions that matter
Confirmed exactllyERP capability includes relevant analysis by:
where required.
The buyer may also need product/SKU, customer or channel views according to the operating model.
The principle is:
Gross sales volume should not be the only commercial truth available to management.
Decide what belongs in ERP, DMS, field-sales and other connected systems
Not every FMCG function must live in one application.
An FMCG environment may include:
The buyer should ask:
Which system owns the distributor master?
Which system owns stock?
Which system owns schemes?
Which system owns secondary sales?
Which system owns field orders?
Which system owns credit and receivables?
Which information must return to ERP for fulfilment, accounting and management reporting?
What happens when the interface fails?
The goal is not to force everything into one application.
The goal is one trustworthy commercial record.
Make the vendor demonstrate the difficult FMCG scenarios
Do not allow the FMCG ERP demonstration to become a tour of sales orders, stock reports and discount masters.
Give every shortlisted vendor the same difficult scenarios.
Where batch recall is critical, add a separate forward-traceability test rather than assuming the above scenarios prove it.
Record what is standard, configured, extended or custom
After every important FMCG scenario, classify how the proposed result is delivered.
The proposed product supports the requirement as part of its normal capability.
The result depends on settings, masters, scheme rules, credit policy, workflow or configurable behaviour.
Another application such as DMS, field-sales or warehouse software forms part of the proposed solution.
Development is required specifically for the requirement.
The claim remains proposed until evidence is provided.
None of these labels is automatically good or bad.
The buyer needs to know what will actually have to exist in production.
FMCG ERP red flags
Depot stock is shown without committed or reserved stock
Physical stock is being mistaken for sellable stock.
Expiry is visible only in a report
Shelf-life information may not influence allocation or dispatch.
Near-expiry stock is ignored during replenishment
The business may replenish stock it already risks ageing out.
FEFO exists only as a report
The user still manually chooses any batch.
Inter-depot transfer loses batch identity
Channel traceability is broken during internal movement.
Replenishment uses only a static reorder quantity
Real demand, commitments or movement are ignored.
Schemes are communicated outside the ERP
Commercial eligibility depends on memory or manual interpretation.
Scheme eligibility depends on salesperson judgement
Rules are not consistently controlled.
Free goods are manually added to invoices
Physical benefit and commercial rule can diverge.
Scheme validity is unclear
The business cannot explain why one transaction qualified and another did not.
Scheme lifting is not tracked
Period-based benefits cannot be reliably established.
Pending scheme liability is reconstructed at month-end
The ERP does not preserve the commercial obligation as it arises.
Primary billing is presented as actual channel demand
Distributor loading is being confused with downstream movement.
Secondary sales are captured but never used operationally
The data exists but does not improve channel decisions.
Distributor stock is assumed without a reliable data source
Channel visibility is overstated.
Field orders are re-entered later
The mobile or route process is disconnected from ERP execution.
Van stock does not reconcile at route return
Physical field inventory cannot be trusted.
Credit is checked only after dispatch
The control occurs after exposure has already increased.
Credit override leaves no approval record
Governance is invisible.
Salesperson cannot see outstanding before taking another order
Order generation and collection exposure are disconnected.
Advance receipts sit as unexplained balances
The actual customer position is unclear.
Returns are processed only as accounting adjustments
The physical stock consequence is lost.
Returned goods cannot be linked to the original invoice or batch
Commercial and traceability context is broken.
Damaged, expired and resalable returns are treated identically
Disposition control is weak.
Credit note or replacement is disconnected from the return
Stock and receivable positions can diverge.
Gross sales are reported without scheme and return effect
Commercial performance is overstated.
Net SKU result ignores actual purchase/production cost
Margin analysis is incomplete.
Customer proof consists only of distributor counts or brand logos
The reference does not reduce uncertainty about the difficult FMCG workflows.
A practical FMCG ERP evaluation record
For each critical workflow, record the evidence.
| Evaluation area | What the buyer should establish |
|---|---|
| Channel model | How products actually reach market |
| SKU / pack | Which sellable unit is being controlled |
| Warehouse / depot | Where stock is physically held |
| On-hand stock | What quantity physically exists |
| Committed stock | What is already promised |
| Sellable stock | What can genuinely fulfil a new order |
| Batch | Which lot/batch applies where relevant |
| Manufacturing date | How date is maintained where applicable |
| Expiry | How expired stock is controlled |
| Near-expiry | How ageing risk is identified |
| FEFO | How eligible batch selection works where required |
| Dispatch trace | Which batch went to which invoice/customer |
| Depot visibility | SKU/batch/expiry view by depot |
| Inter-depot transfer | How identity survives transfer |
| Distributor stock | How channel stock is obtained/maintained |
| Fast/slow movement | How SKU velocity differs by location/period |
| Reorder / minimum | What level drives replenishment |
| Replenishment | How stock, commitments and minimums combine |
| Velocity / seasonality | How demand planning uses movement where required |
| Stock allotment | How stock is reserved before approval/invoicing |
| Distributor hierarchy | How distributor/dealer/customer structure is represented |
| Route / territory | How field responsibility is mapped |
| Price | Which price applies |
| MRP policy | How MRP-wise pricing/discount works where required |
| Scheme | What rule defines eligibility |
| Scheme validity | Which transaction period/date governs |
| Free goods | How physical benefit is controlled |
| Volume discount | How threshold benefit is calculated |
| Cash discount | How payment-linked benefit is controlled |
| Trade offer | How channel incentives are governed |
| Scheme eligibility | How the system determines qualification |
| Scheme benefit timing | Immediate vs pending benefit |
| Scheme lifting | How distributor progress is tracked |
| Scheme liability | What remains financially outstanding |
| Credit limit | What exposure is permitted |
| Credit utilisation | What is already used |
| Order credit check | When exposure is tested |
| Credit hold | What prevents dispatch |
| Credit override | Who can release and why |
| Outstanding | What remains unpaid |
| Ageing | How overdue position is classified |
| Advance | How prepayments affect balance |
| Collection hierarchy | How receivables are viewed by zone/area/route |
| Primary sales | What company billed to distributor |
| Secondary sales | What distributor sold further |
| Retailer / channel offtake | What downstream movement is visible |
| Field sales | How orders enter ERP |
| Route billing | How orders/billing link to salesperson/route |
| Van load-out | What stock travels with the route |
| Van reconciliation | What sold/returned/remains unexplained |
| Return | How original invoice/batch is linked |
| Return reason | Why the goods came back |
| Return disposition | Resale/rework/write-off/other approved outcome |
| Credit note | How financial credit remains linked |
| Replacement | How replacement remains linked |
| Net SKU result | How schemes/returns/credits/cost affect economics |
| Analysis dimensions | Distributor/route/region/period where required |
| Batch recall | Who received an affected batch |
| System boundary | ERP/DMS/mobile/warehouse ownership |
| Delivery method | Standard / configuration / extension / custom / not demonstrated |
| Follow-up | What evidence remains unresolved |
Do not turn this into a percentage score.
One unresolved scheme, credit, return or channel-visibility requirement can matter more than many minor feature matches.
What customer proof should an FMCG ERP vendor provide?
A useful customer reference is not simply another company that sells consumer products.
Ask for proof closest to the uncertainty you are trying to remove.
If your concern is depot replenishment, ask:
Which customer calculates replenishment from actual depot stock, commitments and minimum levels rather than manual requests?
If your concern is schemes, ask:
Which customer runs distributor schemes inside the ERP and can show how eligibility and benefit are controlled?
If your concern is channel execution, ask:
Which customer uses route/retailer structures, field orders, secondary sales or collections inside the operating workflow?
If your concern is credit, ask:
Which customer controls distributor exposure before fulfilment?
If your concern is returns, ask:
Which customer connects physical returns to original invoice, stock disposition and credit/replacement?
Customer evidence should validate the difficult workflow.
Not decorate the proposal.
Relevant operating evidence: Ambika Foods
Ambika Foods provides the strongest FMCG channel-execution proof in the current Exactlly evidence base.
Its approved/current operating environment includes:
- multiple warehouses and depots;
- depot replenishment based on depot stock, pending sales-order commitments and minimum-stock requirements;
- distributor schemes;
- MRP-wise pricing;
- routes and retailers;
- primary and secondary sales;
- mobile field sales;
- stock allotment;
- order approval;
- invoicing;
- collections;
- customer credit/limit controls;
- returns.
The value of this proof is the connected channel record.
It shows how inventory position, replenishment, distributor/retailer structure, scheme execution, order processing, field activity, credit and collections can operate in one broader environment.
This supports the proof role:
CHANNEL EXECUTION
The buyer should still require a demonstration against its own channel model.
Customer proof supplements the demonstration.
It does not replace it.
Relevant operating evidence: ANA Oils
ANA Oils provides useful FMCG evidence for distributed fulfilment and packaged inventory.
Its approved Exactlly evidence includes:
- multiple warehouses;
- packaged SKU / pack-size inventory;
- distribution;
- warehouse allocation;
- credit control;
- fulfilment;
- invoicing;
- finance;
- job work and multi-plant context where relevant to its broader operation.
For the FMCG Buyer Guide, the relevant proof role is:
DISTRIBUTED FULFILMENT & PACK-SIZE INVENTORY
ANA should not be used here to foreground its Edible Oil-specific operating details such as Sauda Booking, bulk tanker trading or commodity-rate movement.
Those belong to the future Edible Oil guide.
Relevant operating evidence: Solae
Solae provides supporting evidence for long-term operating continuity.
Its approved Exactlly proof includes:
- a relationship extending more than 20 years;
- full exactllyERP use;
- finance;
- inventory;
- management information;
- banking;
- dedicated Exactlly technical support.
Its FMCG proof role should remain deliberately narrow:
LONG-TERM OPERATING CONTINUITY
Do not use Solae to claim customer-confirmed proof of:
- distributor schemes;
- routes;
- secondary sales;
- FMCG pricing;
- credit control;
- collections;
- depot replenishment;
- returns;
- manufacturing execution.
Those claims require other evidence.
How exactllyERP fits into this evaluation
exactllyERP should be evaluated against the same difficult FMCG scenarios.
Do not ask Exactlly only:
“Do you support FMCG?”
Bring the actual operating model.
Include:
- channel structure;
- distributor/dealer/customer hierarchy;
- routes/territories;
- SKU/pack structure;
- warehouses/depots;
- batch/expiry requirements;
- FEFO requirement;
- replenishment rules;
- distributor stock data;
- pricing policy;
- scheme types;
- scheme validity;
- free-goods rules;
- pending-benefit rules;
- credit policy;
- override policy;
- collections;
- secondary-sales source;
- mobile/field-sales workflow;
- van-sales workflow where relevant;
- returns/disposition;
- credit-note/replacement process;
- net SKU economics;
- DMS/mobile/warehouse boundaries.
Confirmed exactllyERP FMCG capabilities
Confirmed current FMCG capability includes:
- manufacturing date and expiry date maintained by batch/SKU where applicable;
- near-expiry inventory identified across warehouses/depots with configurable warning periods where required;
- expired stock prevented from sales allocation/dispatch where configured;
- FEFO batch selection/allocation at dispatch where required;
- specific batch dispatched recorded against distributor/customer invoice;
- affected batch traced forward to distributors/customers and invoices;
- depot-wise stock by SKU, batch and expiry where applicable;
- distributor stock position maintained/derived where distributor stock data is available;
- inter-depot transfers preserving SKU/batch identity;
- fast-moving and slow-moving SKU analysis by depot/location and period;
- reorder/minimum/safety levels maintained by SKU and depot;
- depot replenishment considering available stock, committed/pending sales orders and defined minimum/reorder levels;
- sales velocity and seasonal movement used in demand/replenishment planning where required;
- stock allotted/reserved against sales order before final approval/invoicing where required;
- distributor/dealer schemes with eligibility rules, validity period and SKU/product scope;
- free-goods / N+1 schemes;
- volume-discount schemes;
- cash-discount schemes;
- trade-offer/channel-incentive schemes where required;
- scheme eligibility evaluated automatically at billing/order processing according to configured rules;
- scheme benefit applied immediately or retained as pending benefit/settlement according to scheme terms;
- distributor-wise scheme lifting against targets/thresholds;
- pending scheme benefit/liability reported for financial provisioning/settlement;
- MRP-wise pricing and discount policy where the FMCG operating model requires it;
- distributor-wise credit limits;
- credit utilisation/outstanding checked at sales-order entry/approval;
- over-limit orders held before dispatch according to configured credit policy;
- authorised finance/management approval releasing credit-held orders where configured;
- distributor-wise outstanding and ageing updated with invoices/receipts;
- advance receipts/payments applied against distributor invoices/outstanding;
- collection/outstanding reporting by zone/area/route where required;
- distributor and retailer/customer structures mapped to routes/territories where required;
- route-wise orders/billing tracked by salesperson/field representative;
- distributor secondary-sales data captured so SKU-wise retailer/channel offtake is visible;
- mobile field-sales orders integrated with exactllyERP for relevant FMCG workflows;
- van-sales load-out, sales and return stock reconciled by trip/route where required;
- distributor/customer returns linked to original invoice and batch with quantity/reason;
- returned/damaged/expired goods separately classified for appropriate disposition such as resale, rework or write-off where applicable;
- credit note and/or replacement flow connected to originating return, with distributor outstanding updated accordingly;
- net SKU commercial/margin analysis incorporating scheme deductions, returns/credits and actual purchase/production cost, with analysis by distributor/route/region/period where required.
Relevant confirmed broader Exactlly capabilities also apply, including:
- multi-location inventory;
- batch/lot traceability where applicable;
- actual production costing where the product is manufactured;
- finance and receivables;
- management reporting;
- banking integration where implemented;
- barcode/scanning where relevant.
These capabilities should still be demonstrated against the buyer’s real FMCG operating model.
The relevant questions remain:
What stock is genuinely sellable?
What commercial rule applies to this order?
What moved through the channel, what came back, and what remains unpaid?
What did the SKU finally contribute after schemes, returns, credits and cost?
FMCG ERP Evaluation Checklist
Channel model
SKU / pack
Warehouse / depot
Sellable stock
Shelf life / FEFO
Batch trace
Distributor stock
SKU movement
Replenishment
Stock allotment / reservation
Distributor / retailer / route hierarchy
Pricing
Scheme definition
Free-goods schemes
Volume discount
Cash discount
Trade offer / channel incentive
Scheme eligibility
Scheme benefit / liability
Primary sales
Secondary sales
Field / route sales
Van sales
Credit
Credit override
Receivables / collections
Returns
Return disposition
Credit / replacement
Net commercial result
Recall / forward trace
Integration / coexistence
Vendor evidence
the buyer is evaluating the ERP as the operating system for real FMCG channel execution rather than as a list of sales, inventory and discount features.