The Go-To List of Ways to Improve Inventory Management!

Today’s warehouse managers need to improve inventory management strategies. Shareholders want to increase profitability. Customers wish for better customer service. Amazon wants to take over the world.

This is nothing new, but as the world has evolved, the ability to improve inventory management has evolved in stride.

Supply chain leaders should follow these key strategies for ways to improve inventory planning services and inventory management. 

Continue reading “The Go-To List of Ways to Improve Inventory Management!”

Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!

Inventory is often the single largest asset in most companies across any industry. It consumes a lot of cash, impacts return on investment and profitability, enables or impedes growth and customer satisfaction, and requires a tremendous amount of resource to manage it. Inventory Management is critical.

Yet a lot of companies big and small, well known and startups, struggle to manage Inventory effectively.

In this “Featuring” series article we are putting the spotlight on Inventory Management. We are presenting our Top 10 Inventory Management articles with techniques and approaches which will have something for everyone to learn from and apply in their own situation.

Continue reading “Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!”

Effective Inventory Management Keeps Your Business Thriving!

Effective inventory management is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. It can be the difference between having the right products in stock when your customers need them and being caught short.

Good inventory management means having visibility into your inventory levels at all times, so you can make sure you have enough products on hand to meet customer demand. It also means having efficient systems and processes in place to track inventory levels, so you can quickly and easily reorder products when necessary.

Continue reading “Effective Inventory Management Keeps Your Business Thriving!”

A Basic Guide to ECommerce Inventory Management!

In this digital age, one of the best ways to earn money is to sell unique products online with the help of an eCommerce platform, such as Amazon, Alibaba, etc. However, to have a profitable online selling business, it’s crucial to understand the importance of inventory management in eCommerce. 

An effective inventory management system is one of the most crucial elements of running a sustainable eCommerce business. It helps businesses arrange their products systematically and ensure all products are released on time to increase fulfillment rate and promote positive customer satisfaction.

Continue reading “A Basic Guide to ECommerce Inventory Management!”

The Supply Chain Detective™ and The Case of the Missing Cash!

We were tremendously excited!

We had just completed the acquisition of a company that had great, complementary technical capabilities, a broader geographic footprint, new customers, and accretive profitability.

The CFO and I took over day to day management of the acquired company.  A few weeks after the excitement of the acquisition had died down the CFO called me into his office.

“We are out of cash.  Next week we have to decide to either pay the employees or pay our suppliers.  We don’t have enough cash to do both.” How could we be missing cash?

We were in trouble.

What happened to the cash? How were we going to become solvent again and keep the business afloat for the long term?

It was another case for the Supply Chain Detective™!

Continue reading “The Supply Chain Detective™ and The Case of the Missing Cash!”

What is Inventory Shrinkage?

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.

Continue reading “What is Inventory Shrinkage?”

Process Based Inventory Turnover Improvement!

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.

Continue reading “Process Based Inventory Turnover Improvement!”

Our 2019 Top 10 List! (Part 2)

As we come to the end of our 3rd year here at Supply Chain Game Changer it is time to publish our semi-annual 2019 Top 10 List.

First we want to thank our readers. Our audience and reach continues to expand with Supply Changer now being ranked as one of the Top 20 Supply Chain blogs in the world and one of the Top 15 Procurement blogs in the world. Both are record achievements for us.

Second we want to thank our guest contributors. With dozens of writers and articles we continue to fulfill our vision of sharing expertise and experience from all over the world.

We thank you for your ongoing support and ask you to continue to spread the word about Supply Chain Game Changer. There is truly something of value for everyone no matter what challenge you are facing each and every day.

Here we present our Top 10 list for the second half of 2019. Enjoy!

Continue reading “Our 2019 Top 10 List! (Part 2)”

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

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.

Continue reading “Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Drew Morgan !”

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

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?

Continue reading “The Fear of Running Out (FORO) in Supply Chain!”

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

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.

Continue reading “4 Important Steps to Inventory Reconciliation and Why It’s Important!”