so much more time,” says Jim Manno, Facilisgroup’s vice president of marketing. “It’s obvious the vast majority [of promo companies] are midsize or smaller, and there’s only a certain percentage of the industry that ultimately could afford or even consider going down the path of customizing something from scratch,” Graham says. Of course, Graham believes in what commonsku and others might have to offer, and she also fundamentally disagrees with the notion that, in the future, competing with the biggest distributors will require building your own ERP. “I think it’s going to be a requirement that they have a sophisticated technology stack,” Graham says. “That doesn’t mean they have to build and customize their own. I categorically do not think that is a requirement.” Perhaps most notably, Graham pushes back against the idea that a company needs its own ERP for the reason that its problems are solely their own. “I think there’s a misconception by larger distributors that they think that their workflow is unique just to them,” Graham says. “And what I would argue is that workflow for the promotional products industry is workflow, period.” Manno agrees that the point of any system is simply to make a business more efficient, and each company must determine what that means for its own present and future. “It’s just bringing technology to the forefront and helping distributors of all sizes,” Manno says. Business service providers typically focus on the fact that promotional products are a sales-driven industry, and they are most likely to help you with solving problems directly related to that end. PPAI provides every PPAI member a license to SAGE, which includes order management and other features designed specifically for managing orders in the promotional products industry. Mileage may vary on the uniqueness of a company’s problems, but the point stands that any company’s investment in software should be focusing on the problems they truly face or will face, and not specifically what their competitors, large or small, are doing. In The Future The nature of technology is that no advantage is permanent. Digital solutions will continue to evolve, becoming both better and cheaper, which makes them more attainable for small firms. At the same time, maintaining data security becomes ever more important, as cybercriminals have increasing tech sophistication of their own, and security standards, such as PCI compliance, evolve in parallel. This all combines to only deepen the need for ongoing investment and attention. The larger firms and service providers add value to the promotional products industry by spreading the return from their tech investments among thousands of users. This is the good fight. And in the promo industry, it is undoubtedly the battleground of the future. “If you’re on a college campus today, they say every company is a technology company” Muzzillo says. “That’s the reality. That’s where the world’s going.” Auping is a news editor at PPAI. Speaking Of Security It may not be the sexiest facet of a company’s technology stack, but security systems play a vital role. This year alone, a handful of unfortunate instances show how distributors are at risk from cybercriminals. • In May, Washington-based distributor Color Graphics reported multiple breaches when an attacker who had access to the company’s passwords cost it $35,000 in false orders. • Also in May, HanesBrands – which does business in the promo industry as suppliers Hanes/Champion/ ComfortWash and Alternative Apparel – reported a ransomware attack to the Securities and Exchange Commission. • In September, Houston-based supplier Hirsch Gift reported two instances of distributors logging fraudulent orders from criminals posing as their past clients, each costing the distributor more than $50,000. Piyawat Nuchjumroon / Shutterstock.com Jim Manno Digital Transformation | FEATURE | NOVEMBER 2022 | 49
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