A strong analytics foundation will be critical for any distributor to compete effectively against Amazon and other players in the next five years, according to MDM CEO and Publisher Tom Gale in 7 Steps to Elevate Analytics in 2018.
"Operationally, many distributors are rapidly adjusting their business models based on deeper analysis of their cost-to-serve, profitability and logistics data," Gale says.
One of these adjustments should be to find an analytics leader with experience. Typically, distribution companies assign analytics duties to someone who might seem like the obvious choice but isn't completely qualified.
"Since the CFO is in charge of the numbers, the analytics function almost always rolls up to her," Gale says. "That’s appropriate but the CFO typically doesn’t possess the statistical analysis skills required to do analytics properly and so your organization needs a leader at the director or VP level with the proper experience."
Changing how your organization thinks about analytics will be critical for 2018 and beyond. Identifying the right analytics leader could make all the difference.
Read more tips for increasing your emphasis on analytics in 7 Steps to Elevate Analytics in 2018.
