The expertise that keeps orders moving lives with frontline staff. Here’s how to build it into the systems distributors already run.
By Penn High, GM of Distribution at Advantive
- Distribution’s most valuable operational knowledge often isn’t in the ERP. Counter reps, buyers, and warehouse leads carry critical know-how in their heads, because the systems they use were set up years ago and never updated to reflect how the work actually gets done.
- Bigger tech budgets won’t close the gap on their own. New software can digitize existing inefficiencies at scale, while capturing frontline know-how extends the value of systems distributors already pay for.
- Current technology matters. An older ERP can still be a strong platform, but only if it’s kept current and its provider keeps investing in and enhancing it. Layering new tools on an outdated core rarely closes the gap.
- Knowledge capture has to happen on the floor, not in a conference room. Shadowing experienced staff, debriefing right after rush orders or errors, pairing junior and senior employees, and using “explain-back” sessions turn instinctive judgment calls into documented, repeatable standards.
- Captured knowledge only pays off once it’s built into the WMS and ERP. Turning frontline rules of thumb into system logic helps new hires perform like veterans, and it protects institutional memory as experienced employees retire.
Although distributors have dedicated years to digital transformation, many fail to tap into a crucial resource: the historical knowledge held by their frontline workforce, ranging from customer-facing counter staff to warehouse operators.
92% of wholesale distribution organizations use enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, making it one of the highest-adoption industries for digital business management systems. Yet the core bottleneck isn’t a lack of modern software – it’s that existing technology is too often disconnected or outdated from frontline domain knowledge.
When customers walk up to a counter, reps rely heavily on their own expertise rather than on an ERP to configure solutions and locate inventory. Many distributors implemented specialized software years ago, but because initial configurations were rarely updated to reflect day-to-day reality, critical operational knowledge lives in employees’ heads instead of in the technology they already pay for.
When distributors feel that friction, the reaction is to match a competitor’s tech spend. But that mistakes capital expenditure for operational execution. New software alone doesn’t fix operational inefficiencies, but it can digitize them at scale. A better advantage comes from capturing institutional know-how and building it directly into the workflows and systems teams already use.
That doesn’t mean technology doesn’t matter. An older ERP can still be a strategic asset, as long as it’s kept up to date and its provider continues to invest in and enhance it. Before adding new tools, distributors should ask whether their core system is still being actively developed and whether they’re running a current version of it.
Modest investments in knowledge-capture, embedded AI tools, or small automations can deliver measurable improvements in order cycle times and accuracy. While large-scale rollouts can take months to reach steady-state use, codifying frontline practices addresses immediate friction points and helps create consistent standard work.
Equally important is the human factor on the floor. Frontline workers frequently resist software rollouts that feel burdensome, overly rigid, or disconnected from daily realities. When systems are built around their own proven methods and heuristics, worker ownership increases, and a culture of continuous improvement can take hold.
There’s also the risk of institutional knowledge loss, and this is where AI can make the biggest difference. In an industry where critical operational logic often lives exclusively in the heads of veteran counter reps, buyers, and warehouse leads approaching retirement, capturing that tacit knowledge in digital workflows helps preserve institutional memory and shortens onboarding for new hires. AI can make that captured knowledge searchable and available in the flow of work, so a new hire can get the answer a veteran would have given, even after that person retires.
To operationalize frontline expertise without disrupting throughput, organizations need practical, floor-level methods designed to draw out and codify operational knowledge as it happens. When standard interviews fail to capture this frontline experience, structured observation can fill the gap through cognitive task analysis (CTA).
Experienced counter reps and warehouse leads make complex judgment calls automatically, which makes it difficult for them to explain their process in a conference room. By shadowing senior staff during high-variability tasks, operations leaders can ask targeted questions about the subtle cues and rules of thumb that govern frontline decisions, such as knowing which part can substitute for a discontinued SKU or which bin is routinely mislabeled.
Following up with quick debriefs immediately after a rush order, stockout, or shipping error captures these thought processes while they remain fresh, turning split-second troubleshooting into documented logic. AI can also lighten the documentation load, turning recorded walkthroughs, debrief notes, and order histories into searchable guidance instead of relying on someone to write it all up.
Systematizing this knowledge also requires leveraging daily floor interactions through structured apprenticeships and paired shifts. Placing junior staff alongside senior staff during complex quotes, special orders, or peak-season picking creates a natural environment for observing non-standard procedures firsthand.
To formalize this knowledge transfer, organizations can employ the “explain-back” technique: as the senior expert performs the task, the junior employee articulates what is happening and why. This active dialogue turns real-time observation into updated, repeatable operating standards.
Capturing collective knowledge is only half the battle; the real ROI comes from systematizing it within the software platforms that control inventory, routing, and order execution every day.
Once institutional knowledge is captured, it must be embedded directly into the daily systems that run warehouse and logistics networks; otherwise, it becomes just another binder on a shelf. Translating frontline heuristics into software logic turns individual human insights into automated, repeatable business rules across primary systems, including warehouse management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP):
- Warehouse Management System: Senior warehouse personnel hold critical knowledge regarding space, timing, and error prevention, such as dynamic cross-docking rules during demand spikes or specialized packaging heuristics for complex SKUs. Codifying this knowledge within purpose-built distribution WMS platforms allows distributors to automate daily warehouse workflows and reduce picking bottlenecks. It also cuts error-prone manual touchpoints and provides real-time floor visibility, helping new hires execute optimized picking paths and packing standards without relying on verbal direction.
- Enterprise Resource Planning: Order allocation and inventory control often depend on “gut-feel” rules held by veteran buyers, such as buffering vendor lead times or prioritizing specific margin-sensitive accounts during shortages. Translating these frontline insights into business logic and automated workflows inside distribution-tailored ERP platforms establishes a single source of truth. This supports more accurate forecasting, simplifies complex pricing, and applies consistent replenishment rules that help protect margins with less manual intervention.
When frontline heuristics are converted into dynamic rules, the platform actively guides day-to-day decisions instead of passively recording historical data. This creates a flywheel: as new operational challenges arise and frontline workers adapt, refreshed techniques are continually integrated back into the system, so the existing technology stack grows smarter and more resilient alongside its workforce.
Embedded AI can extend that flywheel further. When captured knowledge lives inside the systems teams use every day, AI can surface the right guidance in the moment, from a substitute part at the counter to a replenishment exception in purchasing, without replacing the judgment of the people who built that knowledge.
The opportunity isn’t technology for technology’s sake. Used as an intelligence layer on top of established, well-supported ERP platforms, AI can act as a gateway to more value from the systems and expertise distributors already have in place, connecting what veterans know with the data those systems already hold.
Not necessarily. Many distributors can get more value from the ERP and WMS platforms they already run by updating outdated configurations and turning frontline rules of thumb into system logic. Small, targeted steps, such as knowledge-capture workflows, low-code extensions, or simple automations, often address immediate friction faster than a large-scale rollout.
Start where the knowledge is used. Shadow experienced counter reps and warehouse leads during complex tasks, hold quick debriefs right after rush orders or shipping errors, and pair junior employees with veterans on special orders or during peak season. Then build what you learn into system rules so it becomes standard practice rather than a document no one opens.
About the Author:
Penn High is responsible for the Distribution line of business at Advantive, driving sales, professional services, support and product for the company’s largest business segment.
Penn joined Advantive from Billtrust, an AR and Payments SaaS provider. As the Vice President of Sales at Billtrust, Penn’s team drove ARR at a material rate, contributing to a significant increase in value and the sale of the business in late 2023. Prior to Billtrust, Penn held progressive leadership roles in professional services and sales with Epicor, Activant and Prophet 21, focused primarily in the Distribution sector.
Penn’s career spans 25 years of Professional Services and Saas Sales leadership within family-held, publicly traded and private equity-owned businesses across the ERP, FinTech, distribution, and supply chain landscape. He has excelled in driving value for those businesses and their customers, rapidly scaling operations, setting strategic vision, and creating strong team-focused organizations.
Penn holds a degree from Vanderbilt University with double majors in Music and Psychology.
