No matter the size of your business, inventory management is probably one of the most crucial tasks in your daily operations. From tracking raw materials to updating safety stock values, efficient inventory management can prevent:
- Inconvenient/surprise out of stocks
- Material shortages
- Spoiled products due to misplacements
- Failed compliance audits
- Abandoned shopping carts in e-commerce
If any of these issues have become commonplace in your business, then it’s time to reevaluate your inventory management system. While there are several software options available to accomplish this, large-scale changes can be disruptive to growing enterprises. That’s why many small and medium businesses have begun to implement the following practices.
- Categorize all inventory – Between finished products and cycle inventory, there may be varying levels of demand placed upon your inventory, which is why businesses are encouraged to separate products into 3 categories, high-demand, low-cost, and everything in between. Proper tracking mechanisms such as digitized computing can help keep categories updated in near real-time while eliminating paper-based systems.
- Standardize receiving docks – Incoming inventory and materials should be readily labeled before exciting the receiving docks to prevent misplacements and eventual spoilage.
- Preform a thorough audit – To preform quality inventory audits, products should be physically counted. Whether yearly or weekly, ample time should be provided to certify physical products match recorded numbers.
- Integrate the 80/20 rule – Most businesses attribute 80% of their profits to 20% of their inventory. By following this model, you can prioritize a smaller section of your inventory, thus simplifying inventory management.
- Actively communicate with suppliers – Because supply chains are now intricately connected, from production to point of sale, long-range connectivity can be useful to keep teams connected outside of the warehouse in the event of any changes and emergencies.
TPI empowers you to get it all done with simplistic inventory digitization
Operating within a fast-paced environment, small and growing businesses don’t have the time to test out various optimization solutions. Consequently, TPI partners with Zebra Technologies to deploy multi-purpose solutions that accomplish more goals with less training, expenses, and time. A few of these digitization options include…
- Increased data protection and easy navigation provided by Android’s familiar operating system.
- Consolidated data capture and mobile computing within one mobile device to eliminate paper-based inventory tracking and record keeping.
- Versatile mobile devices that maintain dependable performance and connectivity in and out of the four walls.
- Scalable future-ready options such as RFID, hands-free scanning, and real-time locationing tailored to match your workforce and inventory size.
- Customized digitization plans created by long-time optimization experts for seamless deployment, maintenance, and tech support.
As the warehouse industry continues to change, TPI is here to help growing businesses keep pace. Download Infographic Here to see how it’s done.
To see how you can successfully optimize your inventory management system, contact TPI today for a step-by-step assessment of your current system and uncover optimization opportunities in your workflows.