You Can Be An Expert In The Inventory Management Process

The key to success in the inventory management process is no big secret; it merely takes some training and experience to learn the ropes. In order to become an expert, you have to strive to learn all the techniques and functions that will make control over your inventory successful. There are several ways in which you can increase your knowledge of the process.

Read

Whether you purchase books from a local bookstore or look up information on the inventory management process online, you’ll find that reading is necessary to learn the various tools and systems used to be successful at inventory management. There is an unlimited amount of advice and an enormous number of resources for you to consult, so don’t hesitate to start reading.

Observe

Before you get into inventory management, you will probably have worked in a particular warehousing location for awhile. Take advantage of the opportunity to observe the practices of your superiors, and make note of the inventory management process that you are given to follow in order to keep the supply chain linked together and smoothly controlled. Never take for granted any information that your supervisor is willing to share with you regarding his or her own inventory management process.

Attend

From time to time, you’ll find seminars given in your area regarding the inventory management process, including new tools that you can use and different techniques you can try to improve the current system. Be sure to attend these to learn about the latest software and tools, as well as to brush up on your knowledge and simply remind yourself of the proper tactics to employ to make sure your inventory management process is as efficient as possible.

Apply

Every time you learn something effective, apply it immediately in the best way possible. Hands-on experience is the best way to become an expert in the inventory management process.

Using Inventory Management Tools To Help Your Employees

While you may be familiar with the inventory management process and may in fact have years of experience in this area, your employees may be new to the idea. In order to better serve you and maintain proper control of inventory, you may need to provide some inventory management tools to your staff to assist them in their efforts to help you keep your department running smoothly. The key to choosing the right tools is to take into account the type of inventory you stock, the quantities that you keep, and the level of experience on the part of your employees. What sorts of tools are available to you and your employees to ensure that they are able to manage your inventory?

Choosing the Right Tools

The inventory management tools that will best assist your employees in learning and adhering to the guidelines you set forth for inventory control depend much on the type of business you have. If you own a small, independent enterprise, you may only need some specified filing habits that maintain organized packing slips and invoices in order to keep track of the incoming and outgoing stock. In some cases, you may choose to utilize a small database that will decrease the amount of paperwork required and store all the information electronically. For a larger warehouse, especially if you are dealing with items that are all quite similar with the exception of a few digits in a serial number, it is vital to have some sort of database or software management system.

Training Your Employees

Once you have these inventory management tools in place, you need to make sure that your employees are trained in how to use them. Having a database full of information is useless unless your employees can use the software with confidence and ease. Your employees should be able to search, enter information, print reports, and reference ordering information from the software you have chosen for your management tool.

Other inventory management tools that you may use to get your employees up to speed and able to help you maintain a controlled environment are training courses and seminars. There are several how-to courses that can be purchased, as well as general training videos that you can show your employees as a sort of initiation video, and any time a seminar is offered, you should plan to send new employees so that they can learn the importance and overall value of running a tightly controlled department with careful inventory management.

Electronic Tools

Anything that can be computerized is a great help in simplifying processes. Barcodes and scanners are excellent inventory management tools to make the tracking and placing of orders quick and easy for anyone in the department. You can also easily identify that stock is placed in the correct storage area much more efficiently with proper labeling.

These are just a few inventory management tools that can help your employees learn the importance of being organized and being able to keep track of all products that should be in your inventory. With time, implementing the use of such tools will assist in bringing your employees up to speed.

Getting Familiar With An Inventory Management Software System

Once you’ve been put in charge of a large amount of inventory, you’ll need to get acquainted with the inventory management software system that is employed in your department or warehouse application. Using these systems is usually quite simple, depending on which type of software is chosen by the company to keep track of inventory. Most are also excellent inventory management tools, with a lot of options for customization that allow you to set up the system so that it is optimized for your particular industry and use.

The Database

Most of the inventory management software system packages today are based on a simple database setup. A database is a program into which you can enter information that will then be stored and indexed into several categories through which you can search for specific “keywords”. The categories are determined by fields, or areas named in a specific manner, into which a particular type of information is entered.

For example, if you were to build a database of books, you might create fields for the title, the author’s first name and last name, the year the book was written, the book genre, whether it was hardback or paperback, the edition, and even a brief description. Then, when you wanted to index a particular book by author’s last name, you would set that parameter and type in “Smith”, or whatever the last name was. The database would then pull up every book in your database written by an author with the last name Smith.

Using the Software

The same principle is employed when using an inventory management software system. In these applications, you typically have fields with the brand name, the type of stock, the UPC, the product type, and when applicable, an expiration date, color, and size or quantity. If you have bin numbers into which items are stored, it is appropriate to also have the bin number indexed into the database for search options. The more information you can enter into your inventory management software system, the more efficiently you can track and control your stock.

The software system will help you to track incoming and outgoing items, keeping a running total of the level of stock you have in your possession at any given time. This allows you to run reports, provide information for periodic inventory control checks to reaffirm that nothing is out of place or missing, and to order stock more efficiently by cluing you in to what needs replenishment and what items are hardly moving.

Why It's Important

The more familiar you are with your inventory management software system, the more likely you are to feel confident that your stock is completely in order. By being able to follow the information provided and to update this information without any questions or concerns will help you maintain a tightly run operation and to manage your inventory supply better. It is also vital so that you can pass this knowledge on to your staff without hesitation, allowing them to take a little weight off your shoulders by being able to help you keep track of your inventory.

Being In Charge – Inventory Control Management

After several years of being a forklift driver or stocker, you’ve been promoted, and now you are in charge. What this means for you is more than a raise – it also means an incredible responsibility for inventory control management. Now, it’s your job to see that stock levels are maintained in a reasonable fashion and that all items are accounted for when inventory checks are made. It means that the organization of inventory for an entire department or warehouse is now your responsibility. What can you do to ease the burden of such a hefty load? Here are a few dos and don’ts to get you going.

• DO employ individuals who are willing to accept a great deal of responsibility. You cannot be present at all times, and it is vital that you have a staff you can trust to follow proper stocking procedures and maintain operations honestly when you are not around.
• DON’T depend completely on another individual. You are the manager, and inventory control management is solely your responsibility. While it is perfectly acceptable to delegate some of that responsibility to others in your employ, you should not place all the burden on the shoulders of another or even several others.
• DO perform regular reconciliation checks of your inventory in between formal inventory checks to verify that no items are unaccounted for. This will also help to check for any errors in the placement of items within your warehouse space, as well as in the documenting of incoming and outgoing items.
• DO regularly rotate the stock and teach your employees to do the same. Leaving older items tucked beneath new stock of the same product is poor inventory control management that results in the eventual loss of the older items due to expiration.
• DON’T overextend the budget. Part of good inventory control management is ordering smartly. Never purchase too much of a single item, even one that sells quickly. Especially if the stock is of high cost to you, make sure you only keep on hand what is necessary for any period of time. This also holds true with perishable goods.
• DO track the sales of items and determine what brings in the most profit for your department. These are the items that you’ll want to make sure you never to deplete in your inventory, always having enough on hand to meet the demand for the product. On the other hand, slow sellers should be maintained at bare minimum levels.
• DO make sure everything is properly organized and labeled for easy location within the warehouse. The larger your warehouse, the more important this level of organization is to the success and smooth functioning of your department.
• DON’T let employees get lazy; keep them motivated, and refresh their knowledge with brief training classes that provide an overview of the inventory policies in your department.
• DO be regimental and habitual about following guidelines, and set a fine example for others in your adherence to these regulations. They are provided to make your job and the job of your employees easier to do.