Invest in Your Success with Inventory Management Best Practices

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Inventory management best practices are often something that companies don’t consider until a problem happens. Unfortunately, by then, you may have lost customers, and/or your employees become frustrated due to the resulting downturn in productivity. And, from just a day-to-day operations standpoint, an inventory management system can help eliminate major headaches. It’s challenging for any company to figure out how to manage their inventory as they grow and add products to their lineup. An inventory management system can effectively bring all company stakeholders into the conversation, so that there are no gaps, guesswork and/or costly errors.

The time to implement inventory management best practices, then, is now. Here are a few best practices for your consideration:

Kick the Excel spreadsheets to the curb. It’s shocking but true: Some companies out there are still relying on manual inventory tracking and management systems – in other words, Excel spreadsheets. Inventory is a living, breathing entity. Manual systems simply can’t keep track of all of the parts as they move. Nor does it allow for a 30,000-foot view of your company’s inventory. Spreadsheets become outdated very quickly, and they’re subject to human error and oversight. Finally, manual systems don’t facilitate communication among all affected parties or allow you to make corrections or adjustments to your inventory quickly.

Keep it low. In general, companies should keep inventory levels low, which helps them avoid overstocking, and which adds significant costs to their respective bottom lines. An inventory management system can help organizations determine the right volume of inventory to keep on hand. It can also help them examine such factors as sales patterns and seasonal ebb and flow, and then make informed decisions about when it makes sense to replenish.

Automate. Imagine being able to track and view in seconds your inventory as it moves into or out of your warehouse. Automation allows you to scan items quickly and eliminate the hassle of manual inventory counts. In other words, you save time, money and frustration. Reordering, too, is made easy through automation. You can set up parameters to trigger reorders and avoid sell outs. In this day and age, a customer who has to wait will probably just take her business elsewhere, or even worse, share her negative experience with friends and family online. Inventory management means better customer service.

Never miss maintenance. Your equipment requires periodic maintenance to stay in good working order. But the daily demands of running a business all too often result in missed maintenance, which can cause premature breakdown or even necessitate a replacement. A good inventory management system will also allow you to track and manage the vital assets you depend on, helping you stay on top of maintenance schedules.

Asset Panda offers the most powerful, yet simple to use inventory and asset management platform in the world. It’s powered by free mobile iOS and Android apps that sync with the cloud and include a mobile barcode scanner, so you won’t need a separate handheld barcode scanner. Nor will you need any additional hardware or software to use Asset Panda – just the mobile devices you and your employees already carry. From the palm of your hand, you have access to the complete lifecycle of your inventory and assets. You’re entitled to an unlimited number of users at no additional cost, enabling you to close the loop among everyone involved with your inventory processes. Create and send reports, make adjustments as necessary and access your data in real time 24 hours a day. Review maintenance histories and insurance policy information, create custom notifications and alerts and so much more. It’s powerful, completely customizable and flexible enough to adapt as your needs change. And you won’t need any extensive training to use Asset Panda; it’s intuitive with a streamlined user interface, so anyone can use it easily.

Try it free for 14 days. For information or to get started, go to assetpanda.com

 
By:

Courtney Roush

Courtney Roush is a freelance writer, editor, and communications strategist with 25 years of experience. Her favorite discipline is crisis communications – and it’s a highly relevant one in our present times.

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