This document describes a sales and distribution management system called Sidat Hyder. The system consists of several modules to manage key functions like inventory, sales, receivables, claims and targets. It allows companies and distributors to share customer and product data. The system provides benefits like improved sales efficiency, performance analysis, reduced costs and enhanced business integration. It can run on various platforms in both centralized and distributed environments.
3. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
1 Introduction & product distribution, it is one of the largest
distributors of pharmaceutical products as
Background well as selected consumer products.
Sidat Hyder - Sales and Distribution In the year 2000 / 01, Sidat Hyder
(S&D) is a suite of modules that facilitates developed Sales & Distribution application
harmonizing sales and trade activities of a for Unilever Pakistan Limited (UPL),
company and its distributors. named Unilever Trade Resource
Automation (ULTRA) for harmonizing
In order to achieve this objective, it is sales and trade activities of UPL and its
essential that the company and its distributors. The development followed by a
distributors have an efficient mechanism of pilot implementation and then a
sharing information relating to their countrywide rollout implementation done
customers and products, so that effective independently by Sidat Hyder. The
strategies can be developed and implementation was carried out at more
implemented to counter competition, retain than 100 distributors’ sites of UPL across
and gain market share while also improving Pakistan, during which the helpdesk
profitability and returns-on-investment. support was also provided to resolve day-
to-day operational issues.
This solution integrates sales, delivery and After the successful implementation in
off-truck-sales functions with your back- Pakistan, Unilever selected the same
office systems allowing you to store, track system for pilot rollout for the African
and manage your routes, customers, Region in the year 2002. SHMA team visited
products, pricing groups, payment methods, Unilever Nigeria and implemented ULTRA
discounts, schemes orders and much more. at two (2) pilot distributors in Lagos
(Nigeria). During this implementation,
Focused to serve as the technology partner SHMA also trained an implementation team
for our customers, we maintain dedicated of Unilever Nigeria. After successful pilot
development and support teams to deliver implementation, Unilever Nigeria
powerful functionality for current needs, implemented ULTRA all over Nigeria itself.
while providing solid platform for future
prospects. Our business solutions are there After Nigeria’s success, Unilever
to grow with your business needs. approached SHMA to implement the same
product for its Ghana distributors. The same
1.1 History system has been implemented at Unilever
Ghana and is operating successfully.
In the early 1990s, Sidat Hyder developed
The successful implementation in two
Sales & Distribution application for Lasani
African countries increased Unilever’s
Pak (Private) Limited, a sole distributor for
Sandoz Pakistan Limited (currently confidence in the solution resulting in the
Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited). It decision of implementing the same solution
was the first application integrated with across the entire African Region (12
Psion handheld in Pakistan. The application countries).
was implemented at all Lasani depots in
Pakistan. After successful implementation in The product was selected by another big
Lasani Pak, the application was name in the business i.e. Muller & Phipps
implemented at all depots of Ali Gohar & Pakistan (M&P). M&P has decided to adopt
Company (Pvt) Limited. Ali Gohar and this solution to streamline its sales and
Company (Pvt) Limited is a part of the Ali distribution network across Pakistan.
Gohar Group of Companies. With the Currently, the system is under
benefit of 50 years experience in the field of implementation at multiple sites of the
organization.
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4. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution business processes related to distribution
(S&D) is based on the same ULTRA success workflows and functions. With automation,
while also incorporating lots of new features it reduces communication breakdown,
and keeping in mind the product / package processing time and administration cost so
development approach. that you can have better focus on your daily
business activities.
1.2 Business Benefits
Maximizing Revenues through Better Sales
Induction of the application in ‘Sales and Efficiency
Distribution’ chain allows integrating and Our solution provides the easiest way to
keeping track of all the main activities process and monitor your daily sales
among: activities in the most efficient manner
allowing you to improve sales performance
1. Warehouses of your company while also providing
2. Mobile Sales Force powerful utility features.
3. Customers
4. Accounting
Powerful Performance Analysis Tools
These core contents form the backbone of
Through efficient integration of the entire
the whole process of sales & distribution.
customer, supplier and stock information
Application of mobile technology is credited
related to your business, our solution can
with all successful achievements in ‘sales
help you to make critical business decisions
and distribution’ solutions. This application
based on present as well as past
fits closely in various retailing sectors as
performance imminent from powerful
well as FMCG products like beverages, food
reports and charts generation equipped with
products, cosmetics and soaps etc.
the system.
Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
(S&D) is a complete web-based solution Reduction in Operational Cost
designed for effective use across both the Our solution has proven track to help
company’s intranet as well as over the businesses save communication,
Internet. The system helps in building an information processing and administration
efficient mechanism of sharing information costs substantially through effective
pertinent to customers, buying patterns and business automation and paperless
order history. It also facilitates the technology.
development and implementation of new
strategies to: Decreasing Cost of Deployment &
Maintenance
Compared to any conventional solution, our
Create Competitive Advantage
suite is a web-based solution ideal and cost-
Retain and Gain Market Share
effective for multi-users and distributed
Accurate Application of Schemes /
Trades Discounts network environment.
Accurate Claims Information
Enhancing Business through Integration
Improve Profitability, and
Our sales & distribution (S&D) solution
Return on Investment
features a rich e-business application that
can be easily integrated with latest
Key business benefits of the system are:
communication technology tools critical in
this competitive age. The system can be
Reduction in Business Workflow Problems
integrated with latest mobile e-business
Our sales & distribution (S&D) system is
technology such as PDA / HHT, Web etc.
specially designed to automate complicated
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5. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
Other Key Benefits required with instantaneous effect on
the system.
Optimization of the manufacturer and
distributor relationship by providing Easy to use: The forms are dynamic and
real-time information link between colorful designed to follow a logical
customers and supply chain partners. workflow. Pop-up windows are
available to select the desired
Minimizing overstocking and shortages. information (like product codes etc.)
rather than remembering them. Buttons
Provision of an automated mechanism and dialog boxes are available for easy
to implement special schemes and navigation. The graphical user interface
discount deals offered to valued (GUI) makes the software easy to use,
customers. reducing training costs and increasing
user performance.
Increase in distributor network
productivity and reduction of overall Parameterization: The system is highly
operating expenses. parameterized and uses a product
definition concept. All entities like
Availability of information regarding currencies, branches, locations etc., are
buying patterns and order history for parameter driven.
future business opportunities.
Data integrity: In order to reduce data
entry errors and ensure data integrity,
Providing an automated mechanism for
data entered by the users is validated by
claims that passes benefits to traders
the system
through scheme builder and automatic “Parameterization through
processing of claims.
to ensure complete parameterization
data accuracy and of default values,
Efficient target monitoring by value,
which are set up
volume and quality. integrity”
at the time of
system
Provision of daily reconciliation of sales
installation or
force for goods tracking to and money
configuration. The
received from shops.
suite is a set of
integrated
Providing credit monitoring of
modules and therefore provides a single
customers and sales force.
point for data entry, preventing
duplication of data between different
modules / departments.
1.3 Features
Security: Multilevel Authorization Each
The system has the following features: user is assigned a user-id, password and
security-level having a defined personal
Product configuration: User-defined menu. When the user commits a
product definitions including a flexible transaction, the system checks his / her
hierarchy of product levels. Apart from authority level and also saves the user-
these levels, there are certain attributes id and date / time as a part of the
relating to a product that can be carried-out transaction(s). Similarly
configured to control various activities when users log into the system their
and produce desired results and reports personalized menu appears on the
from the system. Setup of existing screen, thereby restricting their access to
products can also be modified whenever
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6. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
functions relevant to their delegated user to host the application on a web
work. site thereby benefiting the company, its
branches and distributors through
Audit trail: The system maintains an always-available data updated online by
audit trail for each transaction being these entities.
created or updated. For this purpose the
system records transaction reference Functionalities
number, user-id, date and time as a part
of each transaction. Provides order booking and spot selling
operations with data accuracy
Accounting interface: Provides the user Provides tracking of undelivered orders.
an interface to set standard debit / Provides stock replenishment.
credit entries (vouchers) against each Provides real-time status of distributor's
type of transaction. The system at the warehouse inventory.
time of transaction entry within any of Monitors payment regarding each
its module generates vouchers order.
automatically by referring to the set up Provides tracking of credit sales and
entries. These vouchers are then unrealized cheques.
transferred to the respective General Provides calculation regarding schemes,
Ledger (GL) Accounts. discount deals, sales tax and bonuses
during order booking and spot sales.
Multi-warehouse: The system is
Provides claims monitoring
designed around a multi-warehouse
automatically for those orders having
environment, with the facility to
free samples and discount deals.
consolidate data at regional or head-
Monitors availability and visibility both
office level.
for company as well as competitor
Excel interface: Excel interface is used products.
for producing both MIS reports and Provide sales force monitoring through
financial statements subject to the time stamping during market visits.
acquisition of the complete SHMA Provides multiple selling factors for
Accounting System. every product.
Provides monitoring of drug license and
Multiple platforms: The system is their validity information of shops.
capable to run under Windows Provides monitoring of expiry of
environment while working with products and facilitates to stop sales
different database engines. The system near expiry.
currently supports Oracle 8i (or above) Provides automatic knockoff of claims.
& MS SQL Server. Provides automatic allocation of batches
for goods out from warehouse.
Centralized & Distributed Environment: Provides automatic creation of
The system is capable to run in both documents based on historical data and
centralized and distributed previous transactions.
environments. Provides options for contract sale on
special rates.
HHT Feature: A distinctive feature of
the suite is to record the sales activity of
the distribution through Handheld
terminals (HHT) devices such as PDAs.
Web Based Architecture: The web-based
architecture of the suite facilitates the
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7. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
2 Sidat Hyder – Sales & companies / manufacturer called global
parameters while the other controlled by the
Distribution System distributors called local parameters.
Following is the list of various groups of
(S&D) parameters available in the system:
Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution (S&D) • Product Setup
system consists of three shells containing
• Price Structure Setup
number of modules and functions.
• `Contract Setup - for ‘big’ customers for
discounted price structure
Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution
• Batch Number Controlling
Global Application Shell
Parameter Management Layer • Promotion Schemes
Security & Control Management • Sales Tax Setup – Includes slabs and
Layer their percentages where applicable.
Transaction Audit Layer • Geographical Location Setup – includes
Sales & Distribution Application Shell setting up towns, localities and sub-
Local Parameter Module localities.
Product Configuration Module • Sales Calendar (Week and Month Wise)
Back Office S&D Module (Desktop) • Customer’s ranking, with respect to
o Inventory their turnover.
o Sales • Distributor Setup – apart from the
Sales Force Journey Plan distributor’s memorandum information,
(Route) like name, address etc., there is some
Order Processing critical / mandatory information which
Credit Sales / Receivable needs to be setup in order to produce
Monitoring desire results / reports from the system.
Sales Returns Monitoring The mandatory information is as
o Claims follows:
o Targets o Credit Checking
Mobile S&D Module (Handheld) o Stock Checking on Order (No
o Sales Checking, Alarm or Restrict)
Sales Force Journey Plan o GST on Free Items – Allow or Not
(Route) Allow
Order Processing o Bonus calculation after GST or
Credit Sales Monitoring before GST
Receivable Monitoring o POP Number Generation –
Sales Returns Monitoring Automatic or Manual.
o Targets • Inventory Location Setups – in order to
Supporting Application Shell control the in and out of products from
Scheme Builder these locations.
Synchronizer (Data & Application) • Drug Licenses – includes the type,
Interface with Accounting System license number, expiry date, etc. Alert(s)
issued a number of days prior to the
2.1 Global Application Shell expiry date as setup.
• Transportation Details
2.1.1 Parameter Management Layer • Company Ranking
The system is highly parameterized and • Strata – The setup used to setup the
uses a product definition concept. All other shops / POPs in uniform population
entities like currency, branches, location, categorization.
etc., are parameter driven. The system
contains two types of parameters; one
controlled by the principal / distributing
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8. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
[Figure2.1]
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9. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
modules options, functions, programs, etc.,
used in setting up group and user profile.
Due to this setup, the application
administrator can generate custom-based
user / group menus, so that when a user
logs into the system, his / her personalized
menu would appear on the screen.
Two major access levels are Admin
(Superuser) and General (Normal users). In
Admin mode, all the options will be
accessible to the user while in General
mode, limited functionality will be available
to the user according to the access rights of
[Figure 2.2]
the user.
[Figure 2.3]
[Figure 2.4]
2.1.2 Security Management Layer
2.1.3 Transaction Audit Trail Layer
The Security Management Layer (SML) is
Audit Trail or Activities Log is used to track
the main key to enter into any of the module
the activities performed by different users as
of S&D system for which
system operations. For each activity, the
a user has access rights. “….global system maintains a record in the log (Audit
The basic purpose of this
layer is to record group
security Trail) with user identification, activity and
policy menu date / time. The system takes care of all the
and user profile along
events and their logging, online monitoring
with parameters like generation on and later analysis. The system provides
identification details,
information and facilities group and different types of Audit Trail Logs based on
the selection criteria, such as business
available, the dates and user levels, activity audit trail, module attributes audit
times at which the
trail, user login log etc.
system is accessed and
other information required for
security management. Security module
offers features such as Global Security
Policy, module repository, menu generation
on group and user levels, and group / user
level access rights etc.
This module also allows the definition of
different types of security parameters like
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10. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
2.2 Sales and Distribution • Outstanding Credit Invoice
Monitoring
Application Shell (S&D Sales Force Adjustment (DSR
System) Adjustment)
• Quantity Adjustment
The Sales and Distribution (S&D) • Cash Adjustment
Application Shell consists of the following o Claims
functional areas / sub-modules: Auto Generated Claims (For
Free Goods and Value
Local Parameter Module Discounts)
Product Configuration Module Manually Prepared Claims (For
Back Office S&D Module (Desktop) Damages and Returns)
o Inventory Others
Purchase Order (issued by o Sales Targets
Distributors for Principal / Target Setting
Manufacturer) • For Principal /
Dispatch Advice (issued by Manufacturer
Principal / Manufacturer for • For Distributors/ Depot
Distributors) • For Sales Forces
Generation of Invoice • For Section
Goods Issue Notes (GIN) • For Customers (Shop /
Goods Return Notes (GRN) POP)
Return Advice Allocation of Target
Stock Adjustment Note • Based on Sales History
Physical Stock Taking • Based on Percentage
o Sales Management • Manual Adjustment
Sales Force Management Target Monitoring
Sale Force Journey Plan (Sales Target Revision
Force Routes) o Return on Investment (RoI)
Sales Transaction Extrapolation
• Order Booking RoI Report based on Expenses,
• Spot Selling Income & Investment
• Counter Sales (Direct Sales) Mobile S&D Module (Handheld)
• Contract Sales o Sales Management
• Corporate Sales Sales Force Journey Plan (single
• Sales Order Processing visit plan, based on the Journey
Sales Return Plan setup in the Back-office
• Fully automated Sales module)
Return Bar Code Interface for the
• Manual generation of Sales identification of Shop / POP
Return Sales Transaction
o Receivables • Order Booking
Daily Collection (Cash & • Cash Memo / Invoice
Cheques) Generation
Receipts • Cash Memo Printing
Auto Knock Off • Order Delivery
Manual Knock Off • Spot Selling
Credit/ Debit Notes • Handling of Undelivered
Credit Sales Monitoring Cash Memos
• Credit Limit Monitoring • Sales Return
Receivables
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11. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
• Daily Collection Selling Category
• Receipts o Sections / Selling Belt-wise
• Manual Knock Off POPs
Receivable POP Visit Order
• Credit Sales Monitoring o SKUs wise
o Credit Limit Monitoring SKUs
o Outstanding Credit SKU Order
Invoice Monitoring
o One Visit Targets Monitoring
For Sales Force
For Section
For Customers
o Availability and Visibility
Quantitative Monitoring
Qualitative Monitoring
Activity Based Monitoring
Competitors’ Products
Monitoring
2.2.1 Local Parameters Module
The system has a unique feature to declare [Figure 2.5]
certain parameters as local or global,
according to the needs of the organization. 2.2.2 Product Configuration
The distributors configure the local
parameters according to their needs and ”… define
requirements.
products and This module assists
the user to define
Customer (Shop / POP) Setup configure different products
o Mandatory Information like name,
address, owner’s information, GST
parameters and configure
of each various parameters
Number, NTN Number etc.
of each product.
o Drug License’s Information product.”
o Company Turnover
o Overall Turnover
o Credit Limit, category-wise in term
of days and amount.
o Company Assets, provided to The benefits of product configuration are
customers manifold. The efficient product
Sales Force Setup configuration module minimizes the impact
o Personal Profile – Type of Sales on the system when a new product is
Person i.e. Order Booker, Spot launched as almost all products would be
Seller, Delivery Person, Name, capable of being defined using the product
Address, NIC number etc. configuration facility thereby not requiring
o Coverage Plan (Journey Plan) day / the modification of the system code and
visit-wise, week-wise and month- consequential heavy testing. In addition,
wise. setup of existing products can also be
o Credit Sales Limit (amount) – this is modified whenever required with
the accumulated credit limit that a instantaneous effect on the system.
sales force can give to customer(s) in
one section. The system offers a flexible hierarchy of
o Vehicle information setup – vehicle product levels. At present, the product can
type, mileage, etc. be classified into ten (10) different levels.
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12. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
Apart from these levels, there are certain
attributes relating
to a product that
can be configured ”… product
to control various
activities and
hierarchy at
produce desired 10 levels of
results and reports classification.
from the system.
”
These attributes are
described below:
Multiple price
o Selling price [Figure 2.6]
o Purchase price
o Price for GST application
GST Percentage 2.2.3 Inventory Management
o For Registered Shop / POP The system has a comprehensive inventory
o For Un-Registered Shop / POP management module, catering to all types of
Selling Units Setup inventory-related transactions. The system
o Type of Unit (Large, Medium and facilitates the definition of inventory
Smallest) documents at the user’s discretion so that
o Unit Description they fulfill requirements specific to a
o Unit weight, particular organization. In general, the
o Length, Width, Height following documents are maintained in the
Purchasing Unit system:
Stock Level Maintenance
o Reorder Level • Document for order placement by
o Minimum and Maximum Level distributor / depot to the manufacturer
Expiry Management / principal (e.g. Purchase Order).
o Alert a certain date before the • Document for receipt of stock at
expiry distributor / depot from manufacturer /
o Stop sale after a certain date before principal (e.g. Stock in Note).
expiry • Document for return of stock by
o Transfer the batch to expired stock distributor / depot to manufacturer /
after expiry date principal (e.g. Stock Return Note).
Sales over the counter
• Document for issuance of stock by
Product Selling Policy – the user can
distributor / depot to Sales Force (e.g.
define selling policy for a product, for
Goods Issue Note).
example, a product will be sold to elite
• Document for receipt of remaining stock
areas of big cities or a product can be
by Sales Force to distributor / depot
sold in rural area. The system does not
(e.g. Goods Receipt Note).
restrict the sales. However, during a
• Document for adjustment of stock at
sales transaction, the system indicates /
distributor / depot (e.g. Stock
highlights the products which qualify
Adjustment Note).
the criteria setup through these policies.
• Document for transfer of stock between
distributor / depot (e.g. Inter-depot
Transfer Note).
• Document for transfer of stock between
warehouses of a distributor / depot (e.g.
Inter-Warehouse Transfer Note).
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13. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
The system also facilitates management of features are required.
the inventory at various levels, such as:
Our Sales & Distribution system offers
• Type of stock (such as Normal, comprehensive and flexible definition of the
damaged, expired etc) sales force at various levels. The system
• Warehouse-wise offers the definition of Personal Profile of
• Batch-wise each sales force as well as type of sales
person i.e. order booker, spot seller, delivery
The inventory can be monitored on daily person with name, address, NIC number
basis as well as on any user-defined period information etc. Associated with the sales
such as weekly, fortnightly, monthly, etc. force, the system also records vehicle
For the monitoring of inventory, the system information i.e. vehicle type, mileage, etc for
offers various types of reports, such as: each vehicle.
• Sales & Stock Statements Each sales force is provided with a Credit
• Inventory Position at different locations Sales Limit (amount), which is the
/ consolidated position accumulated credit limit that a sales force
• Inventory Position of expired & can give to customer(s) in one section /
damaged stock segment.
• Exception reports (reorder, minimum /
maximum level report)
[Figure 2.8]
[Figure 2.7] 2.2.4.2 Journey Plan Management
The system
2.2.4 Sales Management facilitates the
“management
management of
the coverage of the coverage
2.2.4.1 Sales Force Management
Sales force is the plan / journey plan route for
most important plan / route for each sales force
entity as far as
“flexible each sales force on various
actual sales definition of on various levels levels period-
transactions are such as day /
the sales visit wise, week-
wise…..”
concerned. It
keeps on changing force at wise and month-
depending on the various wise. Sales Force
requirements of Journey Plan can also be defined for single
the organization.
levels.” visit as well as for multiple visits. A single
Hence flexible sales visit (normally termed as day visit) can be
force management defined for multiple POPs in a single trip
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14. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
that may span for several days. Journey Plan
is a logical grouping of POPs to be visited
by the sales force.
[Figure 2.10]
Direct Sales (Counter Sales)
This is almost similar to spot selling except
[Figure 2.9] that it is done at the back-office rather than
at POP using HHT. The preparation of cash
2.2.4.3 Sales Transactions memo / invoice is done directly without
Sales transactions can be done by sales force order booking in the back office. Cash
in two modes i.e. Order Booking and Spot Memo / Invoice is printed at back office and
Selling. For sales through Order Booking, the stock is delivered directly from the
the following steps / activities are warehouse to POP along with cash memo /
performed: invoice.
• Order Booking using HHT at POP.
• Consolidation of orders at distributor /
depot.
• Printing of Cash Memo / Invoice
• Issuance of Stock along with Delivery
Note to Delivery Person
• Delivery of Stock along with Cash
Memo / Invoice to POP
For Spot Selling, the following steps /
activities are performed:
• Stock Issuance (on the basis of previous [Figure 2.11]
sales history).
• Sales Force took the stock to POP and Sales through Contract
prepare Cash Memo / Invoice. The system offers options for defining
• Printing of Cash Memo / Invoice contract with institutional customers
through Hand Held Printer. accompanied by the following features:
• Delivery of Stock and Cash Memo /
Invoice to POP. • Pre-defined products and selling rate
• Consolidation of sales at distributor / • Pre-defined maximum quantity for each
depot (data synchronization). product
• Contract period
For all the sales under contract, the defined
rates are applied.
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15. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
[Figure 2.14]
[Figure 2.12]
Sales Order Processing
As discussed earlier, the system processes
Sales Order in an automated manner, with
the following special features:
• Automatic application of Schemes Rules
such as Trade Offers, Bonuses and
Discounts on Sales Order
• Automatic application of Tax Rules such
as GST on Sales Order
• Cash Memo Generation
• Generation of Order Load Form -
Allocation of Stocks according to the
[Figure 2.13] order booking and the availability of the
stock for the next day.
Corporate Sales • Generation of Undelivered Orders for
For corporate the next day
customers,
customer profile is “…automated
defined
as well as
separately. For
each corporate
manual entry
customer, the of sales
system recognizes return.”
the delivery
address, billing
address and
corporate address and
applies this information while creating sales
transactions for that corporate customer.
The sales to a corporate customer can be [Figure 2.15]
done through any of the mode(s), as
mentioned above. The basic advantage of 2.2.4.4 Sales Return
this option is that the billing and collection The system provides option for recording
can be managed centrally. the return of sales. The system facilitates for
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16. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
both automated as well as manual entry of
sales return.
In Automated Sales Return, the user may
revert the Sales Transaction (Invoice or Cash
Memo) through a single click of mouse. In
this mode, complete Invoice / Cash Memo
information gets reverted. The system
generates Sales Return transaction
automatically by picking information from
the selected Invoice / Cash Memo.
[Figure 2.17]
2.2.5.2 Cheque Clearing
The sales force may also collect cheques
from the POPs, deposit them in bank and
returns to the distributor / depot in the
evening. The system provides option for
entering the received cheques with the bank
deposit slip no. against cash memo /
invoice. The system maintains the cheque
clearing status for cheques honored and
[Figure 2.16] cheques returned. In case of returned
cheques, it also maintains the status of
In Manual Sales Return, the user provides resubmission of such cheques and their
the details of retuned sales i.e. products, status subsequently.
quantity etc. Once the user provides all the
information, the system saves Sales Return 2.2.5.3 Auto Knock Off
transaction and updates the inventory. In automatic knock off, the system marks
the cash memo / invoices against which
2.2.5 Receivable Management either cash or cheque is received. In case of
Based on the sales activities, the system any cash memo against which no amount is
provides options to monitor the receivables received, the system converts them to credit
both in terms of credit sales as well as cash sales.
sales. The sales force while distributing the
goods also collects amount (cash or cheques)
from POPs. The system provides options for
managing them separately, as described
below:
2.2.5.1 Cash Management
The sales force collects cash from the POPs,
deposit them in bank and returns to the
distributor / depot in the evening. The
system provides option for entering the
received cash with the bank deposit slip no,
against cash memo / invoice. The system
then knocks off the receivable against
[Figure 2.18]
today’s sales or previous sales.
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17. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
2.2.5.4 Manual Knock Off 2.2.6 Claims
Manual knock off process is available for the This module handles the claims between
situation where automatic knock off process manufacturer /
does not work completely. It is also used to principal and “… claims for
knock off the transactions entered directly distributor / a certain date
such as debit / credit note, amount received depot. The on specific
without sales reference etc. Using this claims normally products &
option, the user can knock off the relate to the promotional
receivables against which payments have schemes offered
been received. by manufacturer
schemes.”
/ principal to
2.2.5.5 Credit Sales Monitoring POP through
The system also facilitates the monitoring of distributor / depot
credit sales. It provides tracking for credit on certain conditions,
sales with respect to the actual credit sales in as defined at the time of scheme
comparison with the assigned credit limit. configuration through the Scheme Builder.
The system generates reports / inquiry for The system provides option to generate and
Outstanding Credit Invoice. store claims for a certain date ranges on
specific products & promotional schemes.
2.2.5.6 Credit / Debit Notes After the creation of claims records, the
The system offers options to create Debit / system then tracks the settlement of the
Credit Notes for the following situations: claims through knock-off process, manually
updated by the user.
• In case of excess or shortage of amount
against any sales. There are two types of claim transactions in
• In case of giving benefit to a particular the system:
POP, such as additional scheme,
additional discount etc • Auto Generated Claims: used for Free
• In case of sales return Goods and Value Discounts, and
generated by the system based on the
2.2.5.7 Sales Force Adjustment transactions entered and the schemes /
At the day-end, it is required to reconcile the discounts already configured.
sales figures in terms of quantity as well as • Manually Prepared Claims: used for
amount. During this process, if any sales damages, shortages and returns of
figures are not reconciled, then it is required stock, and prepared by the user
that entries be made to adjust the excess / manually.
shortage of quantity / amount. It is also
called DSR Adjustment. The adjustment can
be made for both excess as well as shortage
of quantity or amount. The adjustments can
be made at any time; however it is normally
done on daily basis while processing the
day-end balances. While entering
adjustments, the user provides information
of excess / shortage of quantity / amount of
sales which have been recorded earlier.
The adjustments are also knocked-off on
periodic basis (weekly, monthly etc.) so that
the user can track of the unadjusted entries.
[Figure 2.19]
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18. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
2.2.7 Sales Targets The user can adjust the targets both in terms
of percentage as well as in terms of exact
2.2.7.1 Target Setting value such as no. of items, volume of items
The system facilitates the management of or value of items. The allocation can be
sales target at various levels, such as: made in any of the values and the system
automatically converts / calculates other
For Principal / Manufacturer values, based on the conversion factors
For Distributors / Depot defined in the product configuration.
For Selling Categories
For Sales Forces Although the allocation is done
For Section automatically, manual adjustments can also
For Customers (Shop / POP) be made, if required. The targets can be
adjusted using top-down approach or
The allocation of target can be done based bottom-up approach. In case of top down
on various attributes. The system allocates approach, the changes at a level are divided
target automatically based on these at the lower levels, keeping the total to
attributes. While defining the targets for the exactly 100 %. Similarly, if the bottom up
top level, the system offers the option to approach is used, the system accumulates
define the target based on: the targets of the lower levels to the upper
levels.
• Previous targets
• Previous revised targets
• Previous sales 2.2.7.2 Target Monitoring
Based on the targets setting, the system
provides various reports for the monitoring
of the sales targets. The following options
are available in this regard:
Actual sales verses target sales
Target monitoring in terms of Type of
Target (quantity, volume, value)
Target monitoring for various levels
(Distributor / Depot, Selling Category,
Sales Force, Section, Customer etc)
2.2.7.3 Target Revision
Based on target variation, a feature can be
[Figure 2.20] used to revise the sales target at any point in
time. The revised targets are maintained
separately so that the actual target can be
compared with the
revised target. “Bar code for
even sales
2.2.8 Return on point and
Investment identification.”
This option can be
used to get reports
on Return on
Investment based on
certain information
[Figure 2.21] provided by user and
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19. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
the transactions entered into the system.
This is useful for the organization to
ascertain its profitability. The following
information is entered into the system:
Capital Investment
Cost of Sales (expenses etc)
Sales Figures (collected from the sales
transaction)
Income
Based on the existing information available
in the system, it generates the current
Return on Investment report for the user. It
also extrapolates the Return on Investment
for future as well.
2.2.9 Mobile Sales & Distribution
In addition to the back-office functions, the [Figure 2.22]
system has an add-on for Hand Held
Terminal (HHT). An optional module
however, the benefits of using this module 2.2.9.2 Bar Code Interface
are tremendous. This module can be used to The mobile system also provides interface
automate field force activities so that the for barcode reader for the identification of
sales transactions can be recorded on spot at shop / POP. Each shop / POP is assigned a
the POP. The following back-office functions bar code that can be used to identify the
are also available in the Mobile devices: shop / POP. When the bar code is used to
identify the shop / POP, it ensures that the
2.2.9.1 Sales Force Journey Plan sales person physically visited the shop /
The mobile system provides sales force POP. It also simplifies the identification /
journey plan management on single-visit search of the shop / POP in the database.
basis, derived from the Journey Plan setup
in the Back-office module. The order of POP 2.2.9.3 Sales Transactions
visit can be defined in the system that can be The following options are available in the
used by sales persons. The system presents Mobile system for Sales Transactions:
the visit list in that order and the sales
person, while visiting each POP, can mark Order Booking
the visit status whether it order received or Cash Memo / Invoice Generation
declined. It also stamps the date / time Cash Memo Printing
hence tracking the visit order can be Order Delivery
performed. Spot Selling
Handling of Undelivered Cash Memos
Sales Return
The details of these options are described in
the ‘Sales Management’ section earlier.
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20. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
[Figure 2.23] [Figure 2.25]
[Figure 2.24] [Figure 2.26]
2.2.9.4 Receivables Management
The following options are available in the
Mobile system for Receivable Transactions:
Cash Collection
Receipts
Manual Knock Off Receivable
Credit Sales Monitoring
o Credit Limit Monitoring
o Outstanding Credit Invoice
Monitoring
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21. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
[Figure 2.27] [Figure 2.29]
The details of these options are described in
the ‘Receivable Management’ section earlier.
2.2.9.5 Target Monitoring
As compare to the overall target monitoring
options available in the Back-office Sales &
Distribution System, the Mobile System only
facilitates the Target Monitoring for current
visit. Variance report for each order and for
each POP is available in the system.
[Figure 2.28]
[Figure 2.30]
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22. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
2.2.9.6 Availability & Visibility Manufacturer / Principal. After
For the availability and visibility, the configuration of the schemes / discounts in
following options are available in the Mobile the system using the Scheme Builder, the
System: system picks up the discount scheme
applicable to sales automatically.
Quantitative Monitoring
Qualitative Monitoring The schemes can be defined at various
Activity-Based Monitoring levels, such as:
Competitors’ Products Monitoring
Product level (division, brand, packing
These monitoring are based on certain size, SKU, etc)
settings in the back-office system such as: Geographic locations level (town,
locality, sub-locality, etc)
Monitoring is must Sales hierarchy level (such as distributor
Monitoring is optional / depot, selling category, section etc)
Monitoring is not required Type / category of POP (such as retailer,
whole seller)
Type / category of selling area (such as
urban, rural)
An important aspect of schemes definition is
the various slabs over which the scheme is
going to be offered. These slabs can be based
on quantity, volume, amount, weight or any
combination of them. The offered benefits
could be in terms of quantity as well as in
terms of amount. Similarly, the benefit could
be defined in terms of percentage or exact
value. Multiple benefits can be associated
with each slab, in terms of product or in
terms of quantity, which will be selectable at
the time of scheme application. Also, the
scheme validity is defined with date range
i.e. from and to dates.
[Figure 2.31] The most important aspect of scheme
definition is that it could be defined in terms
2.3 Supporting Application of ANY ATTRIBUTE available in the HHT
application.
Shell
“… various 2.3.1.1 Examples of schemes
2.3.1 Scheme slabs over which The incentive schemes / offers are applied
Builder the scheme is on a particular cash memo of a POP.
The Scheme going to be Maximum flexibility is required in the
Builder is a offered. ” system to cover these types of activities.
unique feature of Calculations are usually based on slabs of
the Sales & quantity / values. Schemes / offers can be
Distribution applicable on the basis of any one or
suite. It is used to combinations of the following factors
construct various
promotional schemes,
discount deals, bonuses, etc, offered by
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23. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS WISE Suppose a DD is offered for the month
On any level of the geographical of March with limit of 20 tons sale
hierarchy like National / Branch / during the whole period. If a particular
Area / Territory POP purchases the 20 tons in first three
Particular sections of selling weeks, then it will not be allowed to get
categories any more free pieces on the last week
All POPs of a particular town sales.
All POPs of a Strata (population
section) TO is also an extra incentive that is over
Rural /Urban Towns and above the price structure margins
but without any specified minimum and
POP ATTRIBUTES WISE maximum purchase limits for a defined
Channels period. In these schemes, free gifts or
Ranks discounts are given. A free piece might
GST registered / non-registered belong to the same product group or it
Key Accounts could belong to another brand.
Specific POPs / Key-accounts
2.3.2 Synchronizer (Data and
PRODUCT HIERARCHY WISE Application)
On any level of product hierarchy Since the
like profit-center / Product-group/ deployment “…offers two
Sub-group / Packaging / Brand / environment of the levels of
SKU. whole Sales & synchronization
Distribution System ”
BONUS SCHEMES is distributed in
Through bonus schemes, organization nature, there will be
offers incentives to the POP. Discounts a great need of
are given to POP on their purchases synchronization of
according to the slabs defined by the data so that at any
organization. These slabs vary for point in time, the valid
product categories. The distributors and complete data is available for accurate
pass bonus schemes to the POP on their reporting. Similarly, the distributed
bulk purchases. These bonus schemes environment also emphasizes the need of
remain valid for long periods and are application synchronization at all levels so
usually modified once a year. that same version of application is deployed
at all computers / devices.
TRADE OFFERS (TO) &
DISTRIBUTION DRIVES (DD) 2.3.2.1 Types of Synchronization
Sometimes the organization gives extra The system offers two types of
incentives for short periods to the POPs. synchronization:
These Distribution Drives (DD) and
Trade Offers (TO) are offered for Data Synchronization
specific periods on selected brands / Application Synchronization
SKUs to achieve some short-term
objectives. DD is an extra incentive that Data Synchronization caters for the
is over and above the price structure synchronization of data files at various
margins with specified minimum and levels such as:
maximum purchase limits for a defined
period. These limits might depend on Parameter files between manufacturer /
single cash memo sale or it might span principal and distributor / depot (e.g.
on the entire period. schemes, products, prices, global
parameters)
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24. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
Transactions files between distributor / Network, Internet, and Floppy / CD / Flash
depot and manufacturer / principal Memory.
(e.g. orders, cash memos, claims, etc)
Journey Plans, Schedules, Targets, Local Synchronization means the
Products details from back office synchronization of files (both data and
database to the mobile devices application) among the computers / devices
Day end updates from mobile devices to in the Distributor / Depot environment,
back office database such as next day including the mobile devices. The media for
orders, received payments, availability this synchronization could be Local Area
/ visibility, cash memos / invoices in Network, USB Cable, Floppy / CD / Flash
case of spot selling etc. Memory.
Application Synchronization caters to the 2.3.2.3 Features of Synchronization
synchronization of application files at
various levels such as: Global Synchronizer
The following features are available in this
Application upgrades / patches from module:
manufacturer / principal to distributor
/ depot Exchanges files among various locations
Application upgrades / patches from Provides scheduling for downloading /
distributor / depot to mobile devices uploading of files
Provides encryption and compression
facility which enable security and rapid
transfer of files
Provides information like:
o Who sent the file
o Who the file was sent to
o Date and time stamping
o Download confirmation
Local Synchronizer
The following features are available in this
module:
Downloads (PC to HHT) information at
[Figure 2.32] the start of the sales representative visit.
Examples are as follows:
2.3.2.2 Levels of Synchronization
The system offers two levels of o Van Stock
synchronization: o Sales representative schedule for the
day
Global Synchronization o Customer information, such as:
Local Synchronization
- Outstanding and undelivered
Global Synchronization means the cash memos and orders
synchronization of files (both data and - Credit sales order-wise
application) among the computers / devices - Un cleared cheques order-wise
between the Principal / Manufacturer and
Distributor / Depot. The media for this Uploads (HHT-to-PC) information at
synchronization could be Wide Area the end of the sales representative visit.
Examples are as follows:
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25. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
o Cash memos
o Payments
o Credit sales
2.3.3 Interface with Accounting System
The system has a built-in accounting
interface through which the Sales &
Distribution System can be integrated with
any of the accounting system / application.
By using this accounting interface, the user
is required to define only the accounting
entries related to each type of transactions in
the form of Debit and Credit Account(s).
The accounting interface is flexible and user
can set any type of conditional accounting
entries, which is based on different types of
sales, stocks or any type of customer, sales
areas, or sales agent. Whenever a user
completes a transaction in the system, such
as sales, receipts, payments etc, the system
generates advice(s) automatically according
to the type of transaction already defined in
the Accounting interface. The interface also
provides a provision to view transactions in
the form of accounting entries before
transferring data into the accounting system
/ application for verifying purpose.
There are two options for the integration of
the accounting entries into the Financial
System:
1. In case of integrating with Sidat
Hyder – Financials, the system
generates accounting entries for the
payables and receivables voucher
and transfers them into the Sidat
Hyder – Financials database.
2. In case of external financial system,
the accounting interface has a
provision to transfer accounting
entries into the accounting system
by generating a text / XML file
according to the defined format of
your interface.
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26. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
3 Application Suite Sales & Distribution Back-Office
(with all sub-modules)
Scheme Builder
Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution (S&D)
Mobile Sales & Distribution
system is available in the following licensing
Synchronizer
options:
The features available in each licensing
A. Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution Lite
option are given below:
B. Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution
Standard
Modules / Layers L S E
C. Sidat Hyder – Sales & Distribution
Global Application Shell
Enterprise
Parameter
Management Layer
A. Sidat Hyder – Sales & Security
Distribution Lite (L): Management Layer
The system will be deployed at Transaction Audit
distributor locations. Distributors Layer
will send their information to the Sales & Distribution Application
main server as files generated Shell
through the system. Lite edition Local Parameters
comprises of the following modules: Module
Product
Core Sales & Distribution with Configuration
Inventory Management Module
Synchronizer Back Office S & D
Module (Desktop)
B. Sidat Hyder – Sales & Inventory
Distribution Standard (S): Sales & Receivable
The system will be deployed at Module
distributor locations. Distributors Claims Module
will send their information as files Targets Module
generated through the system. It Mobile S & D
comprises of the following modules: Module (HHT)
Supporting Application Shell
Core Sales & Distribution Scheme Builder
Sales & Distribution Back-Office Module
(with all sub-modules) Synchronizer (Data
Synchronizer & Applications)
Scheme Builder Interface for Any
Accounting Module
C. Sidat Hyder – Sales & [Table 3.1]
Distribution Enterprise
(E):
The system will be deployed at
distributor locations. Distributors
will send their information as files
generated through the system. It
comprises of the following modules:
Core Sales & Distribution
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27. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
4 Application The master parameters including the
schemes configuration parameters are
Environment maintained at the head office. These
parameters are sent to the distributor /
4.1 Overall Deployment depot (in case of offline) using the Data
Synchronizer. Similarly, Delivery Advices &
Model Invoices are also prepared at head office and
sent to the distributor / depot. The
The following diagram depicts an overall distributor / depot on the other hand
representation of the entities involved in the updates the head office with stock and sales
operations of the Sales & Distribution position. They also forward claims to the
System along with the available / applicable head office.
modules of the system for each entity.
In case of multi depot deployment, the inter-
The system can be deployed in a variety of depot transfer of stock also takes place
modes depending upon the company size, among various depots. These are also
hierarchy, practices and nature of the updated at the head office for preparing a
business transactions. A typical consolidation of the stock position.
configuration is depicted in the above
diagram. At the distributor / depot, the master
parameters & schemes information, received
The various entities involved in this setup from head office, are copied to the mobile
are as follows: devices (such as HHT). The sales staff books
the placed order using the mobile devices
1. Company Head office and updates the distributor / depot system
2. Depot / Distributor in the evening. In cases when not using the
3. Sales persons / Distribution vans mobile devices, printed cash memos &
4. Point of Sale payments records are entered into the
distributor / depot system. When the
The connectivity between the company & its distributor / depot system is synchronized
distributor / depot may be online (real-time with the head office, these records are
basis) or offline (dialup basis). In case of automatically updated in the main database.
offline mode, distributors / depots send
periodic sales and stock positions to their
respective branches / head office where
Note: The above-mentioned setup is for the
these periodic reports are entered and
Enterprise Edition of Sales & Distribution
validated, inventory dispatch plans for the
System. In case of Lite or Standard Edition,
next period (day / week / fortnight) are
there would be no HHT devices in the setup
generated. The process updates the system
and no synchronization of data between
with daily sales and stock positions while
servers and HHT devices will take place.
considerably reducing the time lag for
Also, the setup may be modified according
getting the information from distributors /
to the requirement / setup of the
depots as well as reducing the cost of
organization where the S&D system is being
maintaining stock for longer periods.
installed.
As can be seen from the diagram, the system
comprises mainly of two sets of modules,
the Company Module (i.e. Back-office side
functionalities) and the Distributor Module
(i.e. Distributor-side functionalities).
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28. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
[Figure 4.1]
Page 26
29. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
4.2 Operating Requirement Windows
– Software Client Front Microsoft Internet
End Explorer
Component Configuration Mobile Mobile Windows 2003 /
Client 2005
Back End Supports Oracle 10g and
Database Microsoft SQL Server Palm OS IV
Server [Table 4.1]
Application The Application
Server architecture supports both Operating Requirement –
types of deployment i.e. Hardware
Application Server based
deployment as well as
simple Web Server based Hardware Configuration
deployment. It is
Main Server Configuration of the
recommended that the
servers will depend
Application Server (such as
upon the following
MS IIS) deployment be
parameters:
opted for better
performance and reliability Application
of the system. However, the deployment choice
system can run properly i.e., Centralized or
with Web Server (like Decentralized.
Personal IIS). Number of
transactions, i.e., data
Some parameters will be volumes like number
considered to ascertain the of invoices, cash
configuration of the server. memos, receipts, etc.,
However where the user in a year. If volumes
access to the main server is are higher then the
low and volume of work is configuration should
also low then web server be on higher side.
can be installed.
Number of users
Operating The application has been accessing the database
System developed by using server concurrently.
Microsoft Technology (VB, Application There are two
ASP), and supports the Server approaches: either
following operating
application server is
environment:
installed at the same
Server Operating server where database
System server is installed or
install it on a separate
o Microsoft Windows server. Same parameters
NT/2000/2003 will be considered to
ascertain the
Client Operating System configuration of the
server. However where
o Microsoft the user access to the
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30. Sidat Hyder – Sales and Distribution
main server is low and
volume of work is also
low then application
server can be installed in
the Database server
instead of configuring in
a separate server.
Client Minimum configuration
Workstation for the client
workstation is presented
in the following table:
[Table 4.2]
Workstation Configuration
Component Specification
Intel Pentium-4 Processor
Processor 3.6 GHz with HT
Technology
Intel’s latest chipset
Chipset (Made within last 3
month)
Cache Memory 1 MB
FSB (Front Side Bus) 1056-MHz
Memory 512MB
Storage Controller IDE
Storage 80 GB 7200 RPM SATA
Network Controller 10/100/1000 Mbps
Expansion Slots 3 (Minimum)
1 x Parallel
1 x Serial
1 x Graphics
I/O Inter faces
1 x Network RJ-45
Minimum 6 USB Ports (4
back and 2 front)
Intel Integrated Extreme
Graphics
Graphics 2 or Latest
Sound Optional
Keyboard, Mouse PS2 or USB with Scroll
Monitor 15”
[Table 4.3]
Page 28