The primary function of a distributor is to fulfill the needs of their customers down the supply-chain with the specific inventory needs quickly and efficiently. This fulfillment requires companies to predict customer needs and stock the right amount of inventory at any point in time. If they have too much in stock, this harms cash flow by increasing carrying costs and storage costs. If knowledge isn’t shared among the team on the revenue side, customers may become aggravated by uninformed sales staff.

Companies must have effective means to read the market’s pulse and dynamics through marketing activities, the current demand profile through its sales team, the internal state of inventory from operations or warehousing, and existing financial resources and liquidity. These four functions of marketing, sales, operations, and finance must work collaboratively to create a unified view of the competitive and business landscape with which leaders can make effective strategic decisions. icube™ provides leaders the tools and techniques to accomplish this and share information across the board so that the entire organization is in sync and aligned.