Managing inventory can be challenging if you keep your stock at more than one location. But it shouldn’t be. Rather, you should focus on how to grow your business. In this blog post, we will recommend the Top 5 Tips to manage your inventory stored at multiple locations.
- Having a Cloud based system for your inventory means you can access it from anywhere in the world. Removing physical boundaries is important if you want to store your inventory in multiple locations. An added bonus of a cloud based system is that you can update and view your inventory status in real time. This means that you can ship goods to a customer from your warehouse in Spain while sitting in your office in New York; and view all the details at the same time.
- Gaining full visibility of your inventory in each location is important for overall management. Visibility of your inventory will tell you how much quantity of each item is stored at each location without wasting time. This allows you to streamline decision making as you can assign shipments from a location that has sufficient stock and closest proximity. You should extend this to the trucks, vans, or other vehicles that you use to ship your items.
- Paperless picking and packing is a sure way to make your inventory management process efficient. If the number of goods going in and out of your locations is high, serialize your inventory items. Moreover, use scanners to track their movement. To improve accuracy and save time, use digital lists on your scanning devices. Furthermore, it can record all your transactions online and give you the data to predict your demand and required inventory levels.
- Automatic replenishment of your warehouses’ stock in different locations can help you avoid stock-outs. Set your established minimum, maximum and re-order points. The key is to automate the replenishment cycle and not do it manually. Get an inventory management system that re-orders your stock based on your set parameters. Let’s say your Location #3 is low on an item and if not restocked within the next two days, you may lose customers. Having a system that can replenish items on a low stock level automatically can save you the hassle and time.
- Assigning Return Material Authorization (RMA) at your locations allows you to track and manage your returns efficiently. With multiple locations, it is possible that an item shipped from one place is returned to another. Use RMA to monitor the status, the reason of return, and transfer them to the repair facility if needed. Tracking such activity becomes important to stand out against your competition. In addition, you can use the information to reduce service time, and decrease cost of returning goods.
Want to learn about a system that can help you do it all? Schedule a demo with an expert at Clear Spider!
