Skip to main content
Smartup expert center
Articles
Practical answers for teams that manage distribution.
Clear explanations of distribution terms, comparisons and operating models: from a concise answer to the process, checklist, scope boundaries and related solutions.
Topic navigator
Your operational context
Start with the area where your team needs to agree on a term, a process or a criterion for a management decision.
- 01Field and salesVisits, routes and orders
How to connect the field team's plan with actual work at the outlet.
→ - 02Shelf and promotionsAvailability, standards and execution
How to turn shelf requirements into verifiable steps and evidence.
→ - 03DistributorsSales, inventory and visibility
How to see distributor execution without waiting for a consolidated report.
→ - 04FinanceReceivables and decisions before shipment
How to connect outstanding balances, credit limits, payments and the next action.
→
Start here
What SFA is and why a field team needs it
A concise guide to routes, visits, in-store ordering and the data that connects field work with management control.
Read the guideKnowledge base
Resources for better-informed decisions
Search by term or business task: metric definitions, practical guides, architecture comparisons and a platform overview video.
27 resources found
No matching resources
Change your search or reset the filters to return to the full knowledge base.
- Plug and Play invests in SmartupSilicon Valley's Plug and Play has invested in Smartup. What the investment means for the product and the future of distribution in Central Asia.
- What is SFA (Sales Force Automation)SFA is the class of systems that automates a field sales team: routes and visits, orders taken in the outlet, shelf data and field employee performance.
- What is DMS (Distributor Management System)DMS is the class of systems for managing distribution: a distributor’s warehouse and shipments, stock balances, movement across the network and secondary sales reporting.
- What is strike rate and how it is measuredStrike rate is the share of visits that ended in an order. How the indicator is computed, the views it is read in, and what distorts its value.
- What is the active customer baseThe active customer base is the number of outlets with an order or a shipment in the period. How it is computed, what distorts it and what it is read alongside.
- OSA and OOS: availability of a product on the shelf and its absenceOSA is the share of items from an agreed list actually standing on the shelf; OOS is the share missing. How both are computed and why they diverge.
- What is Perfect StorePerfect Store is a set of standards for a brand’s presence in a retail outlet and a regular assessment against them: assortment, display, planogram, POSM and price.
- What is an MML matrix (Minimum Must List)MML is the minimum list of items that have to be in a retail outlet. How the matrix is built per outlet format, who owns it and how compliance is checked.
- What is van sellingVan selling is selling off the vehicle: the goods travel with the seller, and the deal, the shipment and the payment happen in one call. How it differs from pre-selling.
- Digital marking of goods in Uzbekistan: what it changes in accountingHow digital marking works: a DataMatrix code on a unit of goods, the code travelling along the chain, and the codes passed into the electronic invoice on shipment.
- SFA vs CRM: the difference in field salesA practical SFA and CRM comparison for FMCG/CPG: process ownership, visit data and the right boundary between customer management and field execution.
- Offline-first SFA: field work with unreliable connectivityA practical guide to offline-first SFA: local visit data, synchronisation, conflict handling and visibility for field teams working with unreliable connectivity.
- Credit control before shipment: designing the decision flowHow to connect orders, credit limits, overdue receivables and recorded payments before shipment, with clear exceptions and an auditable decision trail.
- Distribution route planning: from rules to executionHow to prepare field sales and delivery routes: source data, constraints, plan release, deviation control and the feedback loop into the next planning cycle.
- Perfect Store: five controls for retail executionA practical Perfect Store model for FMCG/CPG: assortment, availability, price, shelf execution and promotion managed as one verifiable visit cycle.
- ERP and the distribution execution layer: dividing responsibilityHow to connect ERP with SFA/DMS without duplicating ownership: master data, field events, documents, integration errors and operational decisions.
- SFA/DMS and accounting: where the boundary sitsHow to separate operational execution, accounting records and integration ownership across SFA, DMS and ERP without duplicating data.
- Existing ERP or a native ERP core: choosing the architectureHow to choose between a distribution execution layer beside the existing ERP and a native ERP and accounting core for the agreed scope.
- Connecting receivables, credit limits and accounting factsA practical model linking orders, receivables, credit limits, payments and accounting facts before a shipment decision.
- Managing tasks created by distribution exceptionsHow to turn a distribution exception into an owned task with a due point, evidence and verification of the result.
- Purchase, receipt, stock and shipment: controlling the dataHow to connect purchasing, warehouse receipt, available stock and shipment through data ownership, document statuses and exception control.
- Distribution period close: which data must reconcileWhat to reconcile before period close: sales and return documents, stock movements, payments, receivables and integration statuses.
- Implementation data-readiness checklistReview owners, master data, integrations, migration and acceptance of the first production scope.
- Receivables and credit-control auditAudit the sources of receivables, limits, payments, exceptions and the decision before shipment.
- SFA/DMS/ERP responsibility matrixAssign the owning system, exchange event, business owner and control for each data type.
- Perfect Store control checklistReview assortment, availability, price, display and promotion with evidence and a next action.
Learning paths
Areas to continue with
Three focused paths connect the concepts with platform capabilities and operating scenarios.
Working session · 30 minutes
See Smartup in your own processes.
We trace the flow from plan to payment, expose the gaps between plan and execution, and define the first pilot workstream. No generic slide deck - we work with your processes and data.
Working-session outcome
- A gap map across field sales, shelf execution, distributors and cash.
- A first workstream with an owner and clear pilot boundaries.
- 3–5 KPIs to measure impact against the baseline.
- The data and integration checklist for launch.