Despite the fact that inventory management is one of the most important areas of a warehouse that can be impacted by innovative ideas, its value is often underappreciated. It is easy to fall under the impression that warehouses are merely glorified stock rooms.
However, the reality is that good inventory management, when it has been given adequate funding, will reward you with faster moving SKUs, increased productivity and it contributes to better customer service and therefore satisfaction.
Good inventory management allows you to keep on top of what stock you have available in your warehouses. The risk of losing out on a sale due to being out of stock of a given item, or having too much stock and the consequential profit losses are both things that can be managed and reduced with good inventory management.
Customer satisfaction is a driving force of every company, if customers aren’t satisfied there is not only the chance that they won’t return to you for business, but there is also the risk that your company will begin to develop a poor reputation. If your poor inventory management results in orders not being shipped on time, customers become irritated and they question their loyalty to your company and chances of repeat purchases become slim.
Accurately putting away stock with the use of handheld scanners reduces the risk of products being misplaced and any resulting costs that might occur from such a human error. Various picking systems can be utilised in order to collect multiple orders at once, increasing efficiency and reducing the amount of trips a worker has to make around the warehouse.
Wearable technology allows warehouse employees to carry out tasks more accurately, since they spend less time diverting their attention between a screen or piece of paper and the warehouse.
The ability to increase accuracy within inventory management will have a direct impact on reporting. With better accuracy comes better reporting and analytics. Software creates reports, and then sends them to managers who are then able to see how much work has been done as well as how much is still outstanding in real time.
Improving inventory management should be a priority for every company that boasts big warehouses with a vast number of products. It is an area of warehouse management that is constantly changing thanks to innovative technology, and you don’t want to be left behind in the dust of your competitors! Amazon, for example, uses multiple data collection tools in its inventory management systems. By using a combination of methods, the market leader is able to ensure that all products move through their warehouses as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Inventory management is not only vital for balancing your stock, but also for delivering orders in line with your promises. Being able to store, organise, collect and distribute products accurately and efficiently (by assigning more budget to improving inventory management) can make a huge difference between your company and others in your competing market.