Discover the Sage 200 add-ons that can help you forecast demand and manage stock with confidence
Anyone who works in distribution will be familiar with having too much stock sitting on the shelves one month, only to run out of the one product everyone wants the next.
Predicting exactly what stock you need is never easy, but the good news is you don’t have to rely on guesswork to get it right.
In this article, we look at the powerful add-ons for Sage 200 that can help you forecast demand more accurately and guide you towards making smarter, more confident decisions about what to order and when.
Sicon Distribution
Sicon Distribution is a powerful add-on for Sage 200 which extends the functionalities of the software to meet the specific needs of distribution businesses. It consists of nine individual modules, so you can simply choose the modules that solve your specific problems, and add more later on if you need to.
Sicon Distribution is designed for organisations wanting to streamline their business processes in areas such as:
- Stock management
- Demand based purchasing
- Onboarding of new customer orders
- Management of warehouse replenishment
There are 2 modules that are especially useful when it comes to forecasting demand and keeping the right stock available:
Warehouse Replenishment – Formal Warehouse (e.g. Multi-Site, Bulk and Pick, Consignment Stock, Van Stock) replenishment with stock transfer tracking and documentation.
Future Sales – Uses historical sales and seasonal trends to forecast future sales demand and auto-calculate minimum stock levels to drive purchase recommendations.
Sicon MRP (Material and Resource Planning)
Sicon MRP is a stock planning and production scheduling module designed for Sage 200, which improves your planning processes, drives purchasing efficiencies and gives you greater control.
It utilises Sage 200 Bill of Materials (BOM) cost items to estimate your labour and machine times. It also links with the Sicon Works Order Processing module for production dates and generates suggested purchase orders into Sage 200 POP.
Sicon MRP consists of 2 main features:
- Material Planning
- Resource and Capacity Planning
The Material Planning functionality ensures stock levels are maintained at the required levels. Meanwhile, the Resource Planning aspect of the solution provides graphical labour and machine schedules, with the ability to drill down and plan to a daily or weekly schedule.
You don’t need to be an expert to use it either. Importing your sales forecasts is as simple as uploading a spreadsheet with the customer name, stock code, quantity, and date. The whole system has been designed with everyday users in mind, not just specialists.
Ready to improve your demand forecasting?
If you’re looking to predict demand more accurately, improve availability, and make better decisions for your distribution organisation, these helpful add-on tools for Sage 200 can transform how you run your business day-to-day.
Sicon’s Distribution modules — Warehouse Replenishment and Future Sales — along with Sicon MRP, turn demand forecasting from a stressful guessing game into a reliable, data-driven process.
At PKF SCS, we have extensive experience supporting distribution businesses. We understand the daily challenges you face and know the right tools to solve them.
If you’d like to talk through which solutions could work for you, call us on 01332 959008 or visit our contact page.
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Written by: Lucy Andrews, Marketing and Content Assistant at PKF Smith Cooper Systems
