What is stock visibility and why does it matter for distributors?

Stock visibility is your team's ability to see accurate, up-to-date inventory levels — by product, location and rate of sale — at any point in time. Without it, purchasing decisions are made on stale data, leading to stockouts in fast-moving lines and excess in slow ones. For distributors managing thousands of SKUs across multiple locations, the inability to see stock clearly is typically the root cause of both problems — excess inventory and lost sales — happening at the same time.

What's the difference between stock visibility and stock availability?

Stock availability is the outcome; having the right product ready when a customer needs it. Stock visibility is the capability that makes it achievable — knowing exactly what you're holding, how long it will last at your current rate of sale and how it lines up with real demand. Most distributors focus on availability as the goal but lack the visibility to achieve it reliably or consistently.

What is weeks of cover and how does Phocas calculate it?

Weeks of cover measures how many weeks your current stock on hand will last at your current rate of sales. In Phocas Analytics, it is calculated from stock on hand quantity and sales quantity data pulled directly from your ERP. You can view weeks of cover at a product, product class, warehouse or supplier level, making it easy to see which lines need attention and which are well-stocked, without averaging across categories.

How does Phocas connect to my ERP for inventory data?

Phocas connects to over 200 data sources including ERP systems like Epicor, Infor, SAP, Sage, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics and MYOB. Your ERP data populates Phocas databases (such as a purchasing, sales and stock database) which refresh on a scheduled basis. Once set up, data flows automatically — your team doesn't manage the integration after implementation. The typical implementation timeline is 8–12 weeks from sign-off to go-live.

How does Phocas connect to my ERP for inventory data?

Phocas connects to over 200 data sources including all major ERP platforms used by distributors — Epicor, Infor, SAP, Sage, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, MYOB and more. The connection is set up during your implementation (typically 8–10 weeks) and data flows from your ERP into Phocas automatically. Your team doesn't need to manage the integration after setup.

How long does it take to get Phocas set up for multi-location inventory tracking?

Phocas typically takes 8–10 weeks from sign-off to go-live. During implementation, your team works with Phocas to configure databases, build your inventory dashboards and set up user access by location. Most customers are up and running in approximately 10 weeks, with a dedicated Phocas consultant managing the technical setup throughout.

See stock clearly, act before problems build

Your purchasing manager shouldn't need a spreadsheet to know which lines are running low. Your sales rep shouldn't be promising stock they can't see. When your ERP data only reaches the team via a weekly export, you're buying, selling and committing to customers on numbers that are already out of date — and both stockouts and overstock build quietly as a result.

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See stock clearly, act before problems build

The stock visibility gap

Most inventory decisions are
made with incomplete data

The data from our 2026 Inventory Trends in Wholesale Distribution Report tells a consistent story: when inventory data is disconnected or out of date, the costs are real — even when they're invisible.

18%

Don't know their inventory days of supply – can't manage what you can't measure

63%

Lose sales from not having the right stock available – the cost of acting late

22%

Hold more than 90 days of stock – working capital that could be elsewhere

Source: Inventory Trends in Wholesale Distribution Report 2026

Where it goes wrong

Why visibility breaks down in distribution

You don't have a data problem, you have a data access problem. Your ERP holds everything you need. The gap is getting it into a form your team can act on, at the moment they need it. Here's where most distribution businesses lose the picture.

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Your ERP holds real-time data. But if your stock reporting is a manual export or a spreadsheet refreshed weekly, every purchase order, pricing decision and customer commitment is made on data that's already out of date. The gap between what you think you're holding and what you're actually holding widens a little more every day.

One accurate view – purchasing, sales, stock

Phocas connects directly to your ERP and pulls sales, purchasing and inventory data into a single up-to-date view — refreshed automatically, no manual export required.

Your team can filter by product, warehouse or supplier in seconds and see weeks of cover, stock on hand and sales quantity together in one place.

When purchasing, sales and finance all work from the same up-to-date numbers, the conversations that used to start with "whose data is right?" stop happening.

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inventory-optimization-drives-efficiency

Know what you're holding
and for how long

See your real stock position: Up-to-date ERP data shows exactly what you're holding, where and for how long – updated automatically, no manual export required
Identify overstock lines: Surface the products where your stock coverage far exceeds your actual sales rates and free up the capital they're tying up
Align your teams: Give purchasing, sales, finance a shared, up-to-date view, so everyone understands the numbers behind decisions

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Know what you're holding and for how long

Filter down. Drill in.
See it across every site

Open your inventory database in Phocas Analytics and you're looking at your whole network in one view. Filter to a single warehouse to see its stock position, drill into an issue at SKU level, then switch dimension to see how that same issue compares across every location — all without leaving the screen or pulling a new report.

Stock levels by location: See what's on hand, committed and available at every warehouse in one view
Filter and drill by location: select a warehouse or branch to see its stock position, then drill to product or supplier level
Identify dead stock: Combine inventory and sales data in Analytics to surface slow-moving product by location

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Filter down. Drill in. See it across every site

Plan purchases around what's actually selling

Knowing what's on the shelf today is only half the picture. Phocas Budgets & Forecasts connects your sales forecasts, current stock on hand and purchasing data into a single demand plan — so your team can see projected stock levels by supplier, product class or SKU, period by period.

See stock month by month: Each month's closing stock is calculated automatically and carries forward as the next opening balance
Proactively spot shortages: See when stock is getting low or going negative so you can act before is affects customers
Factor in supply lead times: Add lead time data to your plan so you know exactly when to make orders

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Plan purchases around what's actually selling

Visibility that reaches further
than stock on hand

Stock visibility isn't just knowing what's on the shelf. It's understanding what it cost, what it's worth to customers and what it means for supplier relationships. Here's how the rest of the Phocas platform connects.

Factor rebates into stock decisions

Supplier rebate agreements affect what you should buy and in what volume — but most purchasing decisions are made without that context. Phocas Rebates tracks near-miss rebate tiers so your team sees exactly how close you are to the next bracket and what it's worth before placing an order.

Buy to demand, not to history

Historical averages miss customers who are growing, churning or changing their buying patterns. Phocas Insights uses RFM analysis to segment customers by recency, frequency and spend, so your team can adjust purchasing plans around real behaviour, not last year's numbers.

Keep sales reps in the picture

When reps walk into a call without knowing what a customer has ordered or how recently, opportunities get missed. Phocas CRM keeps customer activity, account history and pipeline in one mobile-friendly view, connecting to Analytics so every call is better informed.

Frequently asked questions

Understand the past, operate better today, and plan well for the future

Whether you want to get your data organized for your team or you’re looking to combine business intelligence capabilities with financial reporting, planning and forecasting… We can help.

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See stock clearly, act before problems build

Most inventory decisions are
made with incomplete data

Why visibility breaks down in distribution

Stale data at the point of decision

No SKU-level weeks of cover

Purchasing, sales, finance working from different numbers

Reporting tells you what happened, not what's coming

One accurate view – purchasing, sales, stock

Know what you're holding
and for how long

Filter down. Drill in.
See it across every site

Stock visibility across 50 branches

Plan purchases around what's actually selling