Expert perspectives on AI, data engineering, and digital transformation from the 3ALICA team
DistributionDelivery drivers see what no system records: a customer that moved, a dock that closes at 2, a competitor's cooler in the back. Here is why that intelligence never reaches the ERP and how to capture it.
AIAI is the buzzword everyone is selling in 2026. For a $20M to $200M business, a minority of what gets pitched actually works. What is real, what is hype, the vendor red flags, and a four-question test.
DistributionDigitizing phone orders retires the typing, not the person. What the order entry role actually becomes, what BLS data honestly says about the job, and why the same team can cover more volume.
AIAI prediction built on data you cannot yet see is the most common way for an SMB to waste an operational tech budget. The reliable order is see, understand, automate, then predict, and here is why.
DistributionThe 2026 tariff picture keeps shifting, and SMB distributors without real-time inventory and landed-cost visibility are making buying decisions blind. What the current rates are, how they hit HVAC and food, and three moves that help.
DistributionA composite scenario of a distribution branch manager's morning before and after a data visibility layer, from five spreadsheets and manual reconciliation to one real-time dashboard.
AutomationAutomating a task replaces the busywork, not the person. Why SMB automation stalls on trust, not technology, and how to start with the work a team already hates.
DistributionMost food distributors know their overall margin but not their margin per route. When they finally measure it, 15 to 25 percent of routes are running at a loss. Here is why, and how to see it.
PricingIn most SMB distributors, pricing knowledge lives in one person's head. When they retire, margin drifts, and a 1% price change moves operating profit about 8%.
AS/400An AS/400 rarely needs replacing. It runs transactions with near-perfect uptime. Visibility, mobile access, and lot traceability can be added with a layer around it.
Software SprintsOperational software does not have to cost six figures. Here is what a fixed-scope $30,000 to $80,000 sprint covers, and how it compares with hiring or buying.
Demand ForecastingA weak cooling season forecast leaves HVAC distributors holding overstock that costs 20% to 30% a year, plus lost sales and rebate margin. Here is the fix.
OperationsYour best operations people cover software gaps with private spreadsheets. That builds key-person dependency, and replacing them costs 50 to 200% of their salary.
ERPMost distributors do not need a new ERP. A reporting and automation layer fixes the gaps in 4 to 8 weeks, while full replacement fails 55 to 75% of the time.
Phone OrdersRegional food distributors still take 60-70% of orders by phone. Manual order entry costs $50 to $150 per order. Here is how to keep the call and cut the cost.
Sprint Implementation50% of ERP projects fail on first attempt. A sprint-based implementation delivers one working module on real data in 6 to 8 weeks, before you sign a $200K contract.
operations software68% of mid-market businesses regret their last software purchase. Learn why frontline teams reject new systems and what to do before implementation to prevent it.
Custom ModulesCustom operational modules replace bloated enterprise ERPs by delivering targeted workflows. This prevents massive spending on unused software capabilities.
Epicor P21A Data Visibility Layer extracts real-time Epicor P21 insights, solving margin leakage and manual reporting without relying on slow SSRS or Crystal Reports.
ERPERP augmentation provides a low-risk framework to modernize legacy systems by integrating specific new capabilities, avoiding full replacement costs.
Data EngineeringHow mid-market HVAC distributors can prevent $2M in Q2-Q3 seasonal stockouts by decoupling Infor SX.e analytics using Snowflake and AI telemetry.
AILearn how to design and deploy retrieval-augmented generation systems that scale. We cover vector databases, chunking strategies, and real-time inference optimization.
Data EngineeringDiscover how to unify your data warehouse and data lake with modern lakehouse patterns using Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, and cloud-native solutions.
Machine LearningA practical guide to monitoring machine learning models in production. Learn about concept drift, data quality checks, and automated retraining pipelines.