Modern Work in Manufacturing and Distribution: Digital Workflows for Improved Profitability

In today’s manufacturing and distribution landscape, companies are wrestling with unpredictable costs, supply chain volatility, and aging ERP systems that weren’t built for a mobile, data‑driven world. To explore how Modern Work tools can bridge those gaps, John Giordano (JG), partner and co-leader of the Manufacturing and Distribution Industry Practice, sat down with Jory Weissman (JW), parter in the Digital and Cloud Solutions Practice, to discuss how technology enabled initiatives can streamline operations and improve profitability for manufacturers and distributors.

Modern Work for the Manufacturing and Distribution Industries: More Than Email and Teams

JG: How does Modern Work function in the manufacturing and distribution industries?

JW: In manufacturing and distribution, Modern Work acts as a layer of flexible, cloud‑based tools — Power Apps, Power BI, CRM, Copilot — that extend and surround a company’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform so people can work the way the business really operates to today’s rapidly evolving market.

We design purpose‑built Power Apps that plug into ERP systems and CRM to give manufacturers and distributors mobile, intuitive workflows for inspections, receiving, inventory, sales, and even project evaluation. The primary goal is to capture qualitative and quantitative data where the work happens, then feed it back into core systems for analysis and decision making.

Managing Supply Chain Volatility

JG: Tariffs and supply chain volatility have been challenges in today’s market. How do these tools help manufacturing and distribution companies respond?

JW: Modern Work tools help businesses manage just‑in‑time inventory without compromising fill rates or leaving money on the table.

Through better analytics, you can optimize product mix in the warehouse, identify where you’re over‑ or under‑stocked, and simulate the impact of cost changes on pricing and customer churn. AI models can help predict where shrinking margins or rising costs are likely to hit hardest and which customers are at risk.

Turning Paper‑Heavy Processes into End‑to‑End Digital Workflows

JG: Can you give an example of how Modern Work has helped to improve efficiency in practice?

JW: One of my favorite examples is a food manufacturer that makes cheesesteaks for a national franchise. They already had basic mobile manufacturing capabilities, but they were drowning in USDA and FDA documentation — inspections, temperature logs, photos, lot tracking, employee information, and signatures.

They were doing something I see constantly: starting digital, going back to paper, then trying to get back to digital. They’d print forms, fill them out on the floor, scan them, and manually associate them with production lots. We built a comprehensive Power Apps solution that took them from receipt of goods through production, capturing subjective and objective data in one continuous digital workflow tied to lot numbers.

It saved an enormous amount of time and minimized risk. Now, if there’s ever a quality concern, they have a complete digital trail for that lot instead of digging through scanned PDFs in shared folders.

Extending CRM and Capturing Field Intelligence

JG: You’ve also mentioned customer relationship management (CRM) and field work. How does Modern Work change that experience for manufacturers and distributors?

JW: Anyone who’s used a traditional CRM form in the back office knows it’s not what a field rep wants to see on a mobile device. Our team uses Power Apps as a front end to Microsoft’s CRM database, so people in the field can capture only the data that matters in context.

In manufacturing, engineers and sales teams are exchanging emails with architects, contractors, and co‐packers. Modern Work is about pulling that flow of information into structured entities tied to a manufacturing order or a product design, instead of leaving it scattered across inboxes.

Power BI and ERP

JG: Where does Power BI fit into this picture for manufacturers and distributors?

JW: Power BI is the business intelligence side of the Modern Work story. It gives people mobile access to business data without running ERP reports, exporting to Excel, and accidentally creating fifteen versions of the truth.

We create structured interactions: Power Apps for capturing data, Power BI for consuming it. That means executives, planners, and customer‑facing teams are all looking at the same KPIs such as inventory, demand, margins, days sales outstanding (DSO) which are updated daily or near real time. This is critical when you’re managing volatility in tariffs, freight, and lead times.

JG: A lot of manufacturing and distributions companies are sitting on older ERP systems and are wary of replacing them. How do you address that hesitancy?

JW: Many manufacturers and distributors are hesitant to rip and replace their legacy ERP systems — it’s costly, disruptive, and they’re not convinced doing so will solve their underlying process issues. With Power Apps, Power BI, and Cloud infrastructure, we can extend the reach and capability of legacy systems instead.

You can tailor purpose‑built apps and analytics to improve and complement what you already have. You get the benefit of cloud architecture and mobility while preserving your ERP investment. For some clients, that’s the right long‑term strategy; for others, it becomes a steppingstone toward a future cloud ERP, but on their terms.

Modern Wins

JG: From a business outcomes standpoint, where do you see the biggest wins for manufacturers and distributors?

JW: I’d highlight three areas: inventory and demand planning, landed cost and margin visibility, and working capital — particularly DSO.

First, effective inventory management is all about using advanced analytics and AI to understand demand. We use business intelligence to define the demand curve by product and category, then structure supply planning around vendor lead times, minimum order quantities, shipping and pricing options. Sometimes that means deploying a dedicated demand planning solution; other times, we use Power BI to build the necessary analytics around an existing ERP system.

Second, landed cost is often a serious blind spot. Many companies receive inventory at “first cost” and let freight, duty, brokerage fees, and tariffs flow straight through accounts payable into the P&L. Those costs never get capitalized into inventory, so when you look at your on‑hand stock, you don’t really know your true landed cost. That undermines pricing, margin analysis, and forecasting. We help clients track those costs into cost of goods sold and inventory, giving them granular visibility by product line, country of origin, or customer segment.

Third, days sales outstanding (DSO) is a major lever. We use tools to manage collections workflows, create visibility into overdue accounts, and improve customer communication, often coupled with modern payment portals. That combination can materially improve cash flow and reduce write‑offs.

Plan for Success with Citrin Cooperman

Citrin Cooperman’s Manufacturing and Distribution Industry Practice delivers comprehensive professional services, complemented by digital transformation services powered by our Digital and Cloud Services Practice. Our customized solutions help companies optimize operations, manage risks, and drive growth. Our integrated digital solutions are tailored for manufacturing and distribution workflows to enable real-time production visibility, automated compliance reporting, and scalable supply chain management. With deep industry expertise and a strategic approach to technology, Citrin Cooperman is here to help your business modernize its infrastructure to make well-informed, data-driven decisions.