Rolling out one DMS across two markets in a year

The context

A Distributor Management System (DMS) is the software distributors use to take orders, deliver, invoice and manage stock and promotions. In FMCG it sits between the brand's ERP and thousands of small shops.

At LTIMindtree I was functional lead for an ERP-integrated DMS for a global FMCG company. It covered order management and outbound logistics across two South-East Asian markets, serving 80+ distributors, 50,000+ retail outlets and 800+ salesmen, and was delivered within one year.

The problem

One global template, two markets with their own rules, and one year to go live:

• 200+ global user stories had to be checked for fit in each market.
• Each market had its own regulatory framework: tax, invoice and credit-note numbering, and legal reporting.
• Orders, prices and promotions had to match across SAP ERP, the salesman mobile app and a route-optimisation tool.
• Master data had to be prepared and reconciled before deployment.
• A 10+ member cross-functional team needed one consistent way to write and groom stories.

My role

• Ran requirement elicitation workshops with business, product and technical teams in both countries.
• Mapped and benchmarked as-is processes and designed to-be processes for order management, outbound logistics, promotions and claims.
• Prepared gap analysis and Key Design Decision (KDD) documents and obtained business sign-off.
• Wrote around 80 user stories with Gherkin acceptance criteria, traced through the requirements traceability matrix.
• Supported UAT to sign-off, led defect triage, raised change requests and prepared Train-the-Trainer material for go-live and hypercare.

The order-to-cash flow

Each column is a team or system. Green badges mark the points the design had to get right.

The approach

1. 1
   Map and benchmark the as-isWalked through order management, outbound logistics, promotions and claims with each market, and compared them with the global design.
2. 2
   Review the global templateReviewed 200+ global user stories for fit in each market and recorded every gap.
3. 3
   Decide, then sign offTurned gaps into Key Design Decisions and got business sign-off before build.
4. 4
   Write the local storiesWrote about 80 user stories with Gherkin acceptance criteria: 30 legal and fiscal, 50 localisation.
5. 5
   Define the integrationsWrote integration requirements and source-to-target mappings for SAP ERP, the salesman app and a route-optimisation tool for beat planning, plus requirements for an ML-based recommendation and KPI module.
6. 6
   Configure and testConfigured and tested six promotion types (on-invoice and off-invoice), pricing, tax rules and user roles, and reconciled master data before deployment.
7. 7
   Run deliveryFacilitated Scrum events and backlog grooming for a 10+ member team, set up a common story template for four BAs, and used Microsoft Copilot to speed up analysis and documentation.
8. 8
   Take it liveSupported UAT to business sign-off, separated genuine defects from change requests, and prepared Train-the-Trainer material for go-live and hypercare.

Sample work: fit-gap analysis extract

Results

• DMS live in two markets within one year.
• Orders from 800+ salesmen flowing to 80+ distributors serving 50,000+ outlets.
• Every market requirement traced from workshop to user story to UAT.
• One user story template shared by four BAs.

What I learned

• Agree the core flow before discussing market differences, or every workshop turns into a list of exceptions.
• Master data ownership is a business decision, not an IT task.
• Returns are often where pricing and promotion errors show up. Test them as hard as the order itself.

Client and system details are anonymised. Diagrams are redrawn and all figures are approximate.