The choice between ERP solutions for wholesale food suppliers and a suite of specialist modules is not always clear cut. Each approach has its advantages. The final decision depends on your business needs and plans.
As a modern SaaS solution developed for managing fresh food orders and operations, we at Fresho are firmly in the ‘Best-of-Breed’ camp. But we encourage fresh food distributors to inform themselves about all of the available options when considering the technology roadmap for their business.
Isn’t having everything in one system easier?
It’s a good question. The debate between using a single ERP provider and a best-of-breed tech stack has energised the IT community for over 20 years. Over the past decade, it’s clear that the app-stack model, which integrates solutions from various vendors for optimised functionality, has gained ground. Advocates say it allows businesses to choose the solutions that best fit their needs.
“Although ERP vendors offer numerous enterprise applications and claim that their integrated system is a superior solution, all modules in an ERP system are rarely best-of-breed.”
In reality, each approach has its pros and cons.
A single-provider ERP system can simplify integrations and allow IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than managing multiple vendors. Fewer providers can also mean faster troubleshooting when something goes wrong and a clear direction in which to point the finger and demand action.
On the other hand, the best-of-breed (or app-stack) model offers flexibility to pick the right solution for each business area, making the best tools available to departments like HR and finance. It prevents the need to settle for subpar applications in critical areas.
This can be especially important in industries with specific needs, such as fruit and veg, meat, or seafood wholesale.
Additionally, it can spread risk across multiple clouds, reducing the impact of a single outage.
So there is no absolute answer to the question “Which is best for wholesale food suppliers?”.
Instead, the choice can be thought of in terms of tools you might use at home. ERP is often compared to a Swiss Army knife, with the convenience of buying one implement that does a number of things reasonably well. An app stack is more like having three or four separate tools, each of which is the standalone best piece of equipment for doing what it does.
Are multiple solutions harder to manage than ERP solutions for wholesale food suppliers?
At first, choosing several apps instead of a single system may seem counter intuitive. Will integrating, maintaining and learning multiple solutions prove more of a hassle than buying an all-in-one ERP outright?
Best-of-breed software is built to work as part of an ecosystem. Syncing up solutions is usually straightforward, and many apps will guide you through setting up integrations as part of the onboarding process. Because of this, best-of-breed implementations are often less disruptive than installing an all-in-one ERP.
Best-of-breed software usually comes with ‘managed’ integrations to other apps. The apps themselves are responsible for maintaining these connections, so you won’t have to handle anything in house. The only added complexity is contacting the right support team if you need any help.
You will have to learn more than one system. But again, this won’t necessarily be any harder than learning an all-in-one. In fact, each department will only have to be familiar with the solution they use, not the whole lot. All-in-one systems tend to be complicated because they have to cater to so many bases. With a best-of-breed approach, you can choose simpler systems when you don’t need added functionality.
Naturally we’re going to support the best of breed option. But in truth, there are more important things to base your decision on than hesitation over combining apps — such as features, price and flexibility.
In Summary
Whether your preference is for ERP solutions for wholesale food suppliers, or for a best-of-breed approach, can depend on your requirements and budget, the appetite of your business for managing IT tools, and any need for flexibility around future growth, acquisitions or diversification.
The success of over the past ten years of B2B SaaS solutions such as Xero, Salesforce, Shopify and Slack has shown how business has embraced integrated solutions for delivery of critical functions. Other highly functional and well supported platforms, including Fresho, are on the same trajectory.
Regardless of your chosen path, success hinges on choosing reliable providers who understand the fresh food
industry and offer strong feature roadmaps and, where necessary, proven integrations.
