Inventory Management Archives - Supply Chain Game Changer™

What is Inventory Shrinkage?

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Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!

There are many terms for inventory shrinkage: warehouse shrinkage, product shrinkage, loss of product. They all amount to the same thing — your merchandise is missing from the warehouse shelves.

For businesses that sell physical things, some amount of shrinkage is unavoidable. At point of sale, stores can experience retail shrinkage from breakage and shoplifting. ECommerce businesses experience inventory shrinkage when items are damaged on warehouse shelves or disappear during shipping or receiving.

It’s important to understand your shrinkage rate because it affects your bottom line. Here’s everything you need to know to calculate and prevent inventory shrinkage.

5 Inventory Management Tips for Manufacturing SMBs!

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Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!

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Inventory management is a holistic and logical methodology for handling both raw materials and finished products. It encompasses several manufacturing SMBs processes such as tracking stock levels, planning production schedules, and liaising with vendors.

Raw material inventory management represents a vital stage in the successful supervision of any manufacturing company’s supply chain. Without it, the overall productivity and profitability of your businesses would likely plummet. You can’t manufacture shiny new goods without raw materials, after all.

Later stages of the inventory management process include organizing finished goods and (depending on your product offering) works in progress.

Contemporary manufacturing represents a complex and diverse sector, so many small to mid-sized business (SMB) owners have trouble getting to grips with inventory management. If you’re new to the world of stock counting and supply chains or are simply looking to hone your existing processes, we’ve put together a handy guide to inventory management below.

Process Based Inventory Turnover Improvement!

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Inventory management is a critical area for most companies. And breakthrough improvements require a process based inventory turnover improvement strategy.

Too much inventory, especially the wrong inventory, can negatively impact cash flow, return on investment, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Too little inventory, especially the wrong inventory, can result in lost sales, inability to delivery to customers, and also impact cash, ROI and profitability.

Despite these devastating and far reaching implications of poor inventory management too often this area is not given the respect and attention that it deserves. You cannot just wave a wand a wish inventory levels will be magically lower.

Brute force approaches will at best result in short term gains. In our experience the best way to systemically, and sustainably, optimize inventory is to take a process based inventory turnover improvement approach.

7 Ways the Right Pallet Racking Optimizes Warehouse Efficiency!

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Pallet Racking Selection!

Are you thinking of streamlining your warehouse operations to increase efficiency and productivity? If so, worry no more as this guide gives practical insights on selecting the right pallet racking, which is critical to optimizing your warehouse efficiency.

Warehouse professionals face a lot of challenges, such as inaccurate inventory, avoiding product damage, and poor space utilization. Fortunately, having the appropriate pallet racking system can help address these challenges.

There is a wide range of pallet racking systems on the market, and choosing the right one could be downright confusing.

So, here are several tips to help you decide on the pallet racking system that would best meet your warehouse needs.

Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Drew Morgan !

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Our 2021 All Star Seasoned Leadership in Action™ Interviews!

At Supply Chain Game Changer we believe in sharing experiences and expertise from people in every industry and from across the globe. As such we have introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action™” Interview series at Supply Chain Game Changer. This interview is with Drew Morgan, Director, Global Supply Chain and Procurement at ModusLink.

The Fear of Running Out (FORO) in Supply Chain!

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Confessions of a High Priced Expediter!

By definition, Supply Chain is responsible for the continuity of supply and inventory of goods and services. If supply lines are disrupted, or if inventory runs out, Supply Chain is on the hook to restore supply.

Supply disruptions can bring a company to a grinding halt, compromising customer deliveries, revenue and profitability. With the stakes so high it should be no surprise that the very prospect of supply continuity issues can create fear and wreak havoc on the time, focus, and mental well-being of Supply Chain professionals.

How does this Fear of Running Out (FORO) manifest itself in the planning, processes and attention of those in Supply Chain?

4 Important Steps to Inventory Reconciliation and Why It’s Important!

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Are Ghost Assets Haunting Your Inventory Control?

Keeping track of your business’s inventory is essential to its success and profitability. To help accurately account for what’s coming in and out, and what is stored in a warehouse or at an external storage facility, businesses need to reconcile their inventory records with actual stock levels—a process known as inventory reconciliation.

This process involves tracking inventory transactions, calculating quantity differences, and performing balance checks to ensure the accuracy of records. Read on for more information about why inventory reconciliation is important for the health of your business, and how you can go about doing it effectively.

Our 2021 Top 10 List!

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In the middle of our 5th year here at Supply Chain Game Changer we are proud to publish our 2021 Top 10 List. Here we are showcasing our 10 most popular articles for the first half of the year.

Since we’ve started we have amassed an extensive library of over 750 articles. There is something for everyone no matter what your interests, challenges and needs may be from one day to the next. And that fulfills our mission of sharing experiences and expertise for the benefit of all.

Still there is always more to right about to help our readers.

So let’s take some time to reflect, and look back on our 2021 top 10 list … so far!

The Toilet Paper Supply Chain!

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Coronavirus Exposes Global Supply Chain Fragility!

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Our recent trips to Costco and Walmart, in mid March 2020, had one thing in particular in common. Both stores were sold out of toilet paper, with no knowledge as to when more was coming in to the store.

A few weeks ago, in mid February 2020, when the panic was starting to set in with respect to the Coronavirus we saw some people buying a lot of toilet paper. At the time we bought more packages than we should have, just in case, not realizing there was going to be a full blown run on toilet paper.

This seems to be the story everywhere, even on Amazon. Every store is sold out of toilet paper. Why is it sold out? It’s such a common product that’s merely made out of paper. Does it all come from China, where their factories are shut down? Is that the problem?

In light of the current situation we thought it was time to learn more about the Toilet Paper Supply Chain.

Supply Chain Scams and Fraud!

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3 Most Common Freight Forwarding Scams (and How to Avoid Them)! (Infographic)

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Very early on in my career an associate of mine was fired because he was found to be taking kickbacks from packaging suppliers to whom he had been preferentially and inappropriately been giving business.

Most recently I have received lots of emails and messages from unknown people offering to sell me masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for really low prices. A cursory investigation into some of these finds that the items are substandard at best, and the commensurate price gouging during the pandemic reeks of fraudulent behaviour.

One of our most popular articles is Freight Forwarding scams. Every couple of weeks I will get an email from someone, from anywhere in the world, who has been the victim of a freight forwarding scam, and is looking for help.

All of this, and more, has caused to me consider that this is a very important, very real, and very prevalent issue. So let’s discuss Supply Chain scams and fraud.

What is Supply Chain Management (SCM)? (Video)

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Thesis Ideas for Supply Chain Students!

What is Supply Chain Management?

The term was coined over 35 years ago but still to this day there are a large number of different definitions of SCM.

To someone who is starting out their career, or who is new to the field of Supply Chain, it is understandable that there may be confusion as to the definition of SCM.

But the reality is that there are many expert individuals and organizations who define Supply Chain differently. Are they really that different or are there just subtle nuances in what some people consider SCM that others do not?

Watch our video to learn more about how people define Supply Chain Management!

The Target Canada Story and the Brand Impact of the Supply Chain!

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Brand Protection – The Definitive Role of the Supply Chain!

The responsibility for protecting and promoting your product or company brand is often thought to be generally held by the Marketing Department. But in reality the Supply Chain organization has an enormous role to play as the Supply Chain can positively or negatively impact your brand in many significant and different ways. This was the case with Target.

One of the most pronounced examples of the role of the Supply Chain in serving and protecting your brand is found in the story of Target Canada. Faced with unprecedented plans for expansion in Canada Target had to close its entire operation only two years after beginning operations.

The performance of the Supply Chain was a central element leading to this massive failure and damage to the Target brand.

7 Strategies to Optimize Your Medical Equipment Supply Chain!

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How to Increase Transparency in the Medical Device Supply Chain!

In any business, supply plays an important role. It ensures you dispose of your manufactured goods to your ideal customers. It’s the only way to get output from your investments in the production process. Based on this, an efficient supply chain is a must-have, despite the industry. Suppose you’re in the medical equipment business.

How can you optimize your medical equipment supply chain?

What Gets Measured Is What Gets Done!

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On Time Delivery – Get that right First!

There are a myriad of variables and factors which affect your ability to achieve your objectives. Deciphering this complexity to determine what should be measured is critical for driving improvements and change.

As with many aspects of your business there can literally be dozens and dozens of different metrics. The same is true in sports. So if you are trying to drive breakthrough results in your company or win on the field how do you determine what is important to measure?

Manage Your E-Commerce Store With No Inventory!

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Drop Shipping Teddy Bears!

A successful new business model has come to the forefront, and it doesn’t require you to have an inventory. E-commerce stores are now trendy, and their online sales are projected to make up to 18.1% of global retail sales. It is easy to learn how to manage your e-commerce store without the extra work required to stock and ship goods.

Read on to learn more about the methods you can apply to manage your e-commerce store and business venture.