How to Win Your Market with D2C Manufacturing?
Definition of D2C Manufacturing
Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) is a business model in which a manufacturer directly sells its products to its targeted end customers from one, without the participation of conventional middlemen, such as wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. It is also known as D2C Manufacturing, Manufacturing Sales, or Factory-to-customer. This is also one of the ancient business models in human history.
D2C Manufacturing: Why is it important now?
D2C Manufacturing is aided by cloud AI technology, smart manufacturing, and software integrations for an easy one-stop process over Production Planning, Businesses Management, and Sales. This is the emerging trend of doing business in the Manufacturing sector.
D2C Manufacturing: What makes it successful?
We have found four major technical breakthroughs that reenabled D2C Manufacturing for all.
Modular and versatile software architecture
Traditionally, Manufacturing and Sales were two very different fields of business. There were hardly any solutions to bridge the gap between the two because a few big names dominated the business software market with their flagship software. They have their own closed Eco-systems that require businesses to purchase in predesigned bundles and hefty prices.
In strong contrast, businesses no longer need to strap themselves into limited systems structures and software families. Still, they are free to unlock new possibilities by connecting various solutions. These emerging solutions in the market are less cumbersome yet still fully equipped to handle many advanced needs in their related industries. You can utilize a comprehensive ERP or E-commerce solution for everything sales, CRM, inventory, and accounting, and connect it to an Advanced Manufacturing Planning system for complete production control, enabling the full ability of D2C Manufacturing.
Solutions are now stronger together
Back in the time when people were still talking of “one software to rule it all”, integrating or implementing an extra add-on into a system would take several months or even years.
The implementing costs were also very high, considering you had to find the right implementor to take care of the process, which you had to repeat whenever adding new functionalities to your system.
But now, with an API (Application Programming Interface) connection, different solutions could be able to talk and sync to each other and achieve the previously unachievable with just a few steps to setup.
For example, by connecting production planning and inventory management solutions, you can complete your production process at a specific time when you have the most storage capacity. Therefore, you can prevent your warehouse space from getting full and save additional rent and other operating costs.
And integrating via API has also been a very intuitive process. The user only needs some setup to activate the link in some cases. And in many other cases, you don’t have to look and pay an implementor to do so but simply contact the respective solution providers. They know the best about their solutions and how to make things work.
The Cloud Computing technology
Cloud computing is not just a buzzword that marketers use for fun. It is the critical technology that makes Manufacturing Sales happen. Before the birth of cloud technology, there was only the on-premise model, where the software and hardware were running on servers or computers inside the office or the factory floor. This has restricted SMEs from using sophisticated software solutions due to the lack of resources and computing power, forcing them to rely on make-doing with barebone software such as Excel.
With cloud computing, software solutions are now free from their physical restrictions. Every business can now run its systems on full strength without investing in computer hardware or a server room. Such easy access to manufacturing data and sales reports anytime and anywhere has opened the new factory-to-customer route.
Advanced and Integration-ready Manufacturing Planning Solutions
planeus is an advanced production planning powerhouse covering almost every need for a flexible and comprehensive production plan. However, unlike other solutions, planeus can be integrated into much other business intelligence software, such as inventory, supply chain management, CRM, and ERP systems.
Our latest endeavor is our integration into Weclapp, a robust ERP software among many SMEs in Europe and overseas. Connected directly via the App Store, we have enabled the ultimate planning functionalities for every manufacturer in Weclapp and helped extend the power of Weclapp’s intuitive ERP solution.
But we will not stop here. We will continuously serve more manufacturers on various platforms as a sophisticated and advanced add-on, making the option of D2C Manufacturing available to everyone.
If you want to experience D2C Manufacturing firsthand, planeus is now open for everyone to test out, and it is entirely free of charge. No credit cards and zero strings attached.
Further Reading:
Vaccaro, A., 2016. Lessons From Ancient Commerce. WSJ
Kovačević, A., 2022. Direct-to-Consumer: The Future of Retail as We Know It.
