3 main sins when managing your inventory

Good inventory control is essential for any company, regardless of its size, and can even become a competitive advantage for your business.

We know that having a good inventory management It is having the right products in the right quantity to quickly serve the market/customers and at the same time contribute to good financial health.

See some benefits of efficient inventory management:

•         Lower storage costs;
•         Greater productivity;
•         Optimization of search time for certain items;
•         Sales and purchases flowing in balance, without excess or surplus.

And when this inventory management is having problems, what are the main losses?

•       Loss of productivity;
•       Disorganization;
•       Loss of money;
•       Errors of expedition;
•       Rework;
•       Facilitates the occurrence of thefts and losses;
•        And, most serious of all: customer dissatisfaction.

To help you avoid these problems, we have separated the 3 main sins in inventory management. Stay tuned:

1. Missing or excess products in stock

A product shortage means a lost sale, and possibly an unhappy customer who will likely turn to the competition.

Excessive inventory means wasted money and wasted space. To avoid this problem, it's important to understand which items sell more or less and the seasonality of these sales. Good communication between the purchasing management of materials and the commercial area is essential to ensure not only good stock management, but mainly, good use of your capital.

The lack of balance Inventory management issues can cause serious losses for the company. To avoid these problems, it's important to conduct regular inventory, strictly monitoring incoming and outgoing materials, so you can properly monitor and manage them.

2.  Lack of communication

As we saw in the previous section, to ensure balance, it's important to align communication between product sales demands, the flow of these items within inventory, and their purchasing flows. Only then can the business's strategic objectives be achieved as a whole.

One way to help ensure the efficiency of this process is to have a good software of stock level control, which facilitates the carrying out of inventories, the performance of logistics and of shopping, understanding inventory flows, among other benefits. While this work can be accomplished using spreadsheets, for example, using software ensures greater efficiency and agility in the process.

3.  Not carrying out inventories periodically

Conducting periodic inventories is a way to identify possible failures and, therefore, minimize the risks and impacts of any problems that may arise.

This activity allows you to understand the real state of your inventory, have up-to-date information, understand item turnover, and identify how much these inventory products represent in terms of capital for your company.

To define the ideal frequency for your store, you need to understand your business profile and needs and, from there, create an appropriate schedule.