Business Intelligence Tools Can Help Welding And Gases Distributors Achieve A Better Bottom Line

Business Intelligence Tools Can Help Welding And Gases Distributors Achieve A Better Bottom Line

Dewitt, NY June 7, 2010: Using business data and modern business intelligence tools are two simple strategies welding and gases distributors can employ to save money during an economic downturn. For example, technology like an up-to-date integrated software system can measure and record operational and financial transactions that can help distributors uncover inefficiencies in their supply chain.

In the current issue of Welding and Gases Today, David Schaer, president of Computers Unlimited and a member of GAWDA's Management Information Committee, suggests several innovative business intelligence tools that can lead to smarter business decisions which will result in better efficiency and a better bottom line.

Schaer recommends distributors take advantage of current electronic and interactive reporting programs. They allow distributors to customize operational or financial data by offering more sorting options or additional filters. These reports can be viewed quickly from a Windows or Web interface which saves time and money while eliminating printing and delivery costs.

With the need to continually monitor profit margins, more distributors are also turning to activity-based costing tools and accounting systems to identify underperforming product lines and operational problems. This gives distributors the ability to measure critical areas like cylinder filling and distribution so they can determine how much it costs to fill a cylinder or deliver a cylinder to the customer.

"By using activity-based costing to measure business profitability below the gross margin level, distributors can combine traditional business measurements and metrics with those of activity-based costing," says Schaer. "This allows distributors to obtain a true and accurate picture of business profitability."

Read more of what David Schaer had to say about making smarter business decisions in "Business Intelligence" at Welding & Gases Today Online, the leading journal for the welding equipment and industrial, medical and specialty gases industry.

For more information, contact Deanna Cohen, Editor of Welding & Gases Today, at deanna@weldingandgasestoday.org or 315-445-2347.

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