Looking for the latest ways to manage your inventory?
Noël Thomson Supply chain expert & CEO at Synergic Technologies
5 March 2023
If good inventory management is an essential part of your business’s success, then understanding today’s best practices can help you achieve a competitive advantage. Effective inventory management involves tracking and controlling the flow of goods accurately and in a timely manner to ensure that products are available when needed, while optimising the cost of holding inventory.
One of the key principles of inventory management is forecasting demand for products, which also involves assessing and understanding potential demand scenarios. When planning supply for the required inventories, it is important to understand the different types of inventories required, including order cycle stock, safety stock, anticipation stock, goods in transit, work in progress, and strategic stock – especially considering the global and local supply chain disruptions experienced recently.
Classic ABC analysis uses the Pareto principle to categorize inventory based on its usage and value to the business. Applying the Kraljic matrix prioritizes which goods should be kept in stock according to the degree of supply risk and impact on the organisation’s profit. To these dimensions Stringent© adds your business’s strategy to optimise every inventory item. Many studies show the significant impact that managing inventory well has on competitiveness and profitability. Optimizing inventory can help businesses increase sales, be more resilient, and reduce costs, allowing them to gain a competitive advantage in their industry.
Businesses can use push inventory or pull inventory strategies to optimize their supply chain. Best practice inventory management relies on accurate inventory, timely transactions, and quickly locating stocks at all times in order to make the right decisions on inventory in a timely manner to delight customers and minimise costs. MotionWorks Enterprise empowers business to improve their operational efficiency, reduce costs, and increase productivity by accurately capturing inventory transactions in real-time, track materials usage, and trigger actions to manage inventory well.
Imagine being able to track and automate management of every inventory item in real-time? This is where MotionWorks Enterprise excels. Counting stock, tracking sales, and automatically triggering replenishment when inventory levels fall below their optimum threshold. It can be used to automate managing warehouse operations, supporting barcode scanning and RFID tracking to improve inventory accuracy and reduce errors. It monitors for movement of goods to capture accurate up-to-date data, which improves trust in logistics networks. In manufacturing settings the automation engine is used to improve accuracy, efficiencies, and materials flows for production operations. The advanced data analytics and insights tools of MotionWorks Enterprise provide valuable insights into inventory performance and help businesses optimize their inventory management processes.
By implementing these best practices and utilizing advanced technologies like MotionWorks Enterprise, Stringent©, and S&OP offered by Synergic Technologies, businesses can optimize their inventory management and achieve their inventory goals. With effective inventory management, businesses can improve customer service, increase efficiencies, reduce costs, and increase resilience leading to long-term success.
Thank you for taking the time to read about inventory management best practices. If you would like to learn more about how Synergic Technologies and the solutions we offer to help optimize your inventory management and achieve your business goals, please visit our website or contact us today.