What does it take to effectively manage your inventory? It takes constant vigilance to keep your inventory in equilibrium, not going overboard on leanness or hoarding.
As I mentioned in my blog post “Inventory Management Made Easy (Yeah, Right)” I define inventory management as the proactive planning and control of how many products are kept in stock at specific locations. I should have clarified in that definition that I was trying to define good inventory management, not just any form of it.
If you want your business to succeed, you should follow the pattern I set forth in my definition. How can you be proactive in your inventory management and control your inventory levels on an ongoing basis? I’ll show you.
Proactive Inventory Management
To be proactive in your inventory management, you should use inventory planning software. Each time you scan a barcode or reorder a product, this software records the information and generates reports so you can see trends in consumer demand. So when certain times of year come along, you can be prepared with the right products at the right quantities.
Ongoing Inventory Control
In addition, inventory planning software lets you set up automatic reorder levels, so you won’t get product orders too early or too late. A big part of the inventory balancing act is knowing when to reorder and how much to order. It might seem like a good deal to order a lot of products at once to save on shipping costs, but if those products are just going to sit idly in your warehouse, then you’re better off ordering fewer at a time and paying a little more for shipping.
Using inventory planning software is a giant step towards having good inventory management. Make this software part of your business strategy by scheduling an inventory software demo.
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