ERP vs. External — Where each program lives
📦 Inventory — UMS/VGP Separation
Inventory Dept → ERP Database + UI
The ERP needs new fields, a transfer workflow, and a combined management view. The physical warehouse organization is boots-on-the-ground, but the digital side — ownership flags, location codes, audit trail, company-separated views — all lives in the ERP.
- Add company field to inventory items (UMS / VGP)
- Add warehouse_location field (rack/shelf/bin code)
- Add purchasing_entity + selling_entity fields
- New UMS→VGP Transfer workflow with immutable audit trail
- Inventory pipeline status field (Purchased → Inbound → Received → Verified → Put Away → Available → Allocated → Shipped)
- Auto-flag: negative qty, no location, wrong-company allocation, duplicate serial
- Management combined view (UMS + VGP total in warehouse)
- Dept-filtered views: UMS Sales sees UMS only, VGP Sales sees VGP only
🚗 Dispatch — September Bonus Tracker
Dispatch Dept → New sub-tab in ERP
The ERP already records completed pickups. This is just a new view that reads that data, calculates the current week's pool, highlights the tier, and shows each dispatcher's share.
- New "September Bonus" sub-tab under Dispatch
- Auto-reads completed pickup count for current week from existing data
- Highlights active tier and pool amount
- Per-dispatcher share calculator (enter hours worked)
- Week-by-week September log
- Running monthly average → monthly pool projection
🏷️ Pricing — Market Intelligence Sub-Tab
Prices Section → New sub-tab in ERP
The ERP already has Prices (Selling + Buying). A "Market Intelligence" sub-tab turns it into the full competitor tracking system Austin described — updated weekly, color-coded, with recommended UMS prices.
- New "Market Intel" sub-tab in Prices section
- Table: SKU | Our Price | Competitor | Their Price | Recommended | Delta | Last Updated
- Color coding: Green = UMS competitive, Yellow = within range, Red = being outbid
- Week-over-week price movement tracking
- Who verified + date verified columns
- "Update UMS Price" quick action button
🤝 Import/Purchasing — Vendor Commission Pipeline
Import Dept → Enhanced vendor management in ERP
The ERP has Purchase Orders and supplier data. Adding a vendor commission layer — new vendor flag, purchase milestones, lead source, and commission tracking — gives management full visibility and auto-calculates what's owed.
- "New Vendor" flag on supplier profile
- Track first + second purchase dates and amounts per vendor
- Lead source field (incl. Facebook)
- Commission status: Prospecting → 1st Purchase → 2nd Purchase → Commission Active
- 0.5% commission calculator (auto-reads volume from POs)
- Summary card: total milestone bonuses + recurring commission earned to date
- Full vendor pipeline view with all required fields from Austin's doc
📊 Analytics — VGP + UMS Full Dashboard ($5K Bonus)
Analytics Dept → Major expansion of existing ERP analytics
The ERP's Analytics dept already exists and has financial controls, the task queue, and system health. The $5K bonus requires building out the FULL metrics framework Austin described — for both companies. This is the biggest ERP build on this list.
VGP Metrics (new data connections needed)
- Executive: revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, cash position
- Sales: pipeline, conversion rate, CLV, CAC, win/loss
- Marketing: spend by channel, leads, ROAS, CAC by channel
- Purchasing: supplier count, avg margin per supplier, fill rate
- Inventory: turnover, days-on-hand, aging, deadstock
UMS Metrics (expand existing)
- Same framework as VGP, all already partially in ERP
- Combined UMS+VGP management view
- Trending charts (not just point-in-time numbers)
- Profitability by SKU, by supplier, by channel
- Automated alerts (margin drops, deadstock, AR aging)
📣 Marketing External
Social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) managed in native apps. Marketing channels tracked in a spreadsheet or the Bonus Tracker. Feed revenue signals back to ERP as channels become active. ERP can track acquisition costs in Purchasing once channels convert to actual vendor relationships.
🛒 E-Commerce External + ERP
eBay/Amazon/Shopify setup is external. But once live, sales should flow back into ERP as a sales channel — inventory decremented, revenue recorded. The Inventory dept's E-Commerce zone in the warehouse is already part of the inventory plan.
🌐 Web Dev External
Standalone website project. Seller leads it generates should feed into ERP's Import/Purchasing pipeline — every web submission becomes a vendor lead in the vendor pipeline. Long-term: API integration between the purchasing website and ERP.