Inventory Management Software : The principles

Inventory Management Software : The principles and tips

To day, I would like to share 2 articles regarding Inventory Management.

The Principles Of Effective Inventory Management
by: Aaron Prather

Proper inventory management is all about having sufficient inventory to cover your actual or anticipated demand. Inventory management is the combination of knowledge, process, measures, and reporting that together maximizes availability while minimizing investment. Efficient inventory management allows the management of sales, purchases and payments. Inventory management is a vital function to and organization and helps insure the success of the manufacturing and distribution companies.

Inventory management is common factor to businesses in all industries. Inventory costs money and carrying too much inventory is an unnecessary expense. Inventory management affects organizations' internal operations through their cost accounting techniques, while inventory control is concerned with minimizing the total cost of inventory. Inventory is often seen as ‘set and forget’ asset, once inventory levels have been optimized it is not needed to revisit it again. Problems in inventory control are usually associated with the use of poor processes, practices, and outdated support systems.

Inventory management plays a central role in the supply chain in order to satisfy the customers, by helping to ensure that a proper inventory is maintained at all times. Inventory management can help make it so that a company has the exact supply needed to meet demand. Inventory management is also an effective method to keep track of exactly what products a company carries. Although inventory management appears as an asset on the company’s balance sheet, it also ties up money.

Millions of dollars on software and inventory management systems are spent by companies in an effort to maximize their return on investment from inventory. Proper inventory management is essentially a management discipline, by forecasting what quantity of stock is needed and when it is needed, as well as accounting of the stock so that you can keep track of it in the system. Manually conducting inventory management can be burden for most organizations, but through the use of automation, a business can improve their inventory management without a lot of additional cost. A successfully implemented inventory management system will carry just enough of each item to meet demand at any given time, and as a result reduce the cost of storage of extra stock or causing delays by not meeting demand. This Just In Time manufacturing method incorporates this idea into an inventory management system that industries, like retailing, have used with great success.

Proper inventory management is a delicate maintenance of the balance of supply and demand by maintaining the appropriate level of stock in a warehouse. Basically inventory management is about keeping two things in mind: don’t run out, and don’t have too much. Having the delicate balance of supply and demand firmly mastered, is what effective inventory management is all about.

About The Author
Aaron H Prather owns and operates www.inventorymanaging.com which covers the principles, tools, and methods in effective inventory management. Inventory Management

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Inventory Management Made Easy
by: Reggie Andersen

Devising an inventory management program that will generate maximum sales and profitability requires an advanced computerized program that is difficult and costly for a retailer to implement, but should be offered as part of the supplier program.

Failure to customize video sell-through programs to the needs of individual stores most often will result in erratic sales performance and lower than expected profitability. Because the dynamics involved in achieving sell-through success are different in each store, the program must be tailored to the individual situation. A cookie-cutter approach that treats all stores within a chain as essentially the same is a sure recipe for disappointment.

The supplier must devise an inventory management program -- including the size of the section, the category of titles to be stressed, the price points to be offered, and the sign age and promotions to be featured -- to the particular demographics of the store. As retailers often do not have the time or extra resources to manage the complicated section on a store by store basis, especially with the enormous number of titles involved in video sell-through, finding a supplier who provides that service is vital to cashing in on the category's full potential.

Although many suppliers are now jumping into the sell-through video marketing arena, choosing a company that has extensive video experience in the supermarket environment is important. Properly managing a sell-through section is not easy. Suppliers must not only have a large number of video titles available but also be able to analyze the section's potential for succeeding. To do that, the supplier should already be familiar with the supermarket industry and have a demonstrated ability to provide solid retail support at store level. A successful program requires constant, efficient in-store service by a fully trained, experienced service staff. The supplier must be able to execute at store level.

One solution to ensuring that the supplier selected can fulfill the program's promise may be for retailers to choose a company they already have a buying relationship with or that at least has considerable experience servicing supermarket departments.

Ensuring that the video sell-through program is managed primarily by the supplier -- rather than requiring extensive in-store labor -- can be crucial to maximizing in-store profitability. The difference between staffing the department and selling product and having to run the entire operation -- from selecting titles initially to charting sales to restocking the fixtures -- is significant and can tie up a tremendous amount of valuable time.

The best programs minimize the amount of in-store labor necessary to run the section by providing a complete inventory management service. The other option -- to manage the section in-store with minimal outside help -- is often frustrating and can eventually lead to failure.

About The Author
For the latest in inventory management software and systems, see: www.inventorymanagementinfo.net Inventory Management.

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previous topics:
1] Inventory management software : Introduction
2] Inventory management software system

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