Our new series End-to-End Series will take you step-by-step through the supply chain. By the end, you will learn how inventory management software can improve performance across the supply chain.
The series will have five posts covering manufacturing, storage, distribution, transportation, retail and reverse logistics practices. Integrating a system across your supply chain can greatly improve performance and boost efficiency.
Manufacturing is where the product is created and where most supply chains start. This stage is especially important when it comes to inventory. Having an inventory system integrated into your manufacturing operations can help improve demand forecasting, product tracking, and tracking analytics. An inventory system is able to automate many tasks to help with overall efficiency.
Demand Forecasting
Firstly, many inventory management systems include auto replenishment functions. This takes pressure off decision makers and helps organizations make more proactive demand choices. The systems will use a combination of historical data, min and max quantities, and reorder points to ensure you always have the inventory you need. Whether you produce based on forecasted demand or direct demand, having automation in your demand planning can help you react more quickly to customer needs.
Product Tracking
Using an inventory system in your manufacturing operations can also help with product tracking. With the use of barcode or RFID scanning, you can easily keep detailed information on even the smallest parts of your inventory. Simply put a barcode directly on a product or storage location. With a quick scan, you can record transactions and update your inventory system. This is especially helpful when it comes to light manufacturing or kitting. You can group related products together and attach a new label to the group so they can easily be tracked and moved together.
Reports and Analytics
Finally, with the help of an inventory management system, you can automate many reports and analytics. Quickly view inventory data week-over-week, month-over-month, or year-over-year. Easily compare product performance, view inventory levels, and view monetary performance. By automating these reports you can gain further insight to help find deficiencies and unseen opportunities.’
Implementing an inventory system in your warehouse can greatly improve efficiency and performance. You can improve your ability to meet dynamic customer demand, simplify the way you track products, and quickly gain insights into inventory performance.
Manufacturing is only the beginning of the supply chain. As this series continues, we will go over how implementing an inventory management system can help with storage and distribution, transportation, retail, and reverse logistics.
