The benefits of D2V interfacing for equipment dealerships

Dealer-to-vendor (D2V) interfaces ensure an easy exchange of information between the ERP system of the equipment dealer and the system(s) of the vendor. Equipment dealers often gain back their investment in D2V interfacing quickly because it provides some important benefits.

Examples of D2V interfacing

In today's digital world, the possibilities to share information with others are endless. With D2V interfacing, your equipment dealership can exchange information with the manufacturer or vendor in a simple and secure way. This makes daily processes quick, easy and free of mistakes. A few examples:

  • Sales Quotation Configurator Interface: After completing the equipment configurator on the manufacturer's website, you import the configuration directly into your own ERP system and you automatically generate a sales quote for your customer. Less mistakes, no double data entry and it saves you time.
  • Parts Order Interface: Send a parts order directly to the supplier's system. You can also import and print the order confirmation. This interface offers the possibility of real-time checks on price and availability.
  • Return Order Claim Interface: Enter return order claims directly into the supplier's system. This will turn the handling of return order claims from a complex, time-consuming process into an extremely simple task.

The benefits for equipment dealers

The Return on Investment of interfaces is often high, because the investment is limited and the benefits are enormous:

  • Time saving: D2V interfaces ensure that daily processes go much faster. By correctly automating the processes, manual data entry and double entry (in the ERP system and supplier system) are no longer required.
  • Less mistakes: Manual processes usually result in more mistakes than automated processes. With D2V interfaces it is important to properly check and test the setup. If everything goes well, you have eliminated many possible mistakes.
  • Process optimization: With D2V interfaces, current business processes become faster and easier. Think for instance about parts that are ordered faster and equipment quotes that get to the customer faster. All of this benefits the performance of the entire organization.

D2V interfacing is two-way traffic

If the ERP system of the equipment dealership you work for enables interfacing with other systems, then you are pretty far already. However, interfacing is always two-way traffic. This means that an interface can only be established with full commitment and cooperation from the vendor. If your vendor is willing to make interactions and transactions with your organization easier, you can take the step together towards better cooperation.

Philip van Kemenade is marketing manager at Dysel and is in contact with software end users every day.