edited by Catalina Del Castillo
4 Ways To Avoid Mistakes On Inventory.
It was only a year ago that businesses were starting to panic in what would be the most devastating economical year in decades. However, according to a 2021 study from logistics consulting firm GEP Worldwide, “supply chains globally have not only been disrupted by the pandemic, but also impacted by other factors such as cyber-attacks, commodity prices, tougher environmental regulations, and trade disputes. “
The Pandemic has proven us both right and wrong on where each business stands when it comes to being creative or innovative, as well as how easy it is to lose it all when you depend too much on labor force and not enough on a high level operating data system.
Today’s consumers expect a full omnichannel shopping experience. They want immediate service and seamless shopping across all sales channels.
So what can you learn from others' mistakes to help your business during an economic crisis?
Inventory Visibility
A few of the common mistakes organizations make with their inventory is the lack of visibility.
What is Inventory Visibility? Why is it important?
The only way to guarantee that you can live up to that expectation is with inventory visibility.
Inventory visibility simply means knowing what inventory is in stock, how much is on hand, and where it is located. With consumers purchasing through so many different sales channels, inventory visibility is of utmost importance. You don’t want to lose a customer because they ordered something for pickup in store (BOPIS) and upon arriving at the store they discover the item is actually not in stock. The reason can be either because the store is actually out of stock and the inventory wasn’t updated properly, or it can be because the employee is unable to find it because it is not stored in the usual place. Either way, this is not a scenario you want to have, as the probability of losing that consumer is high.
Secure Central Data System
Another main component to keep in mind is protection of your systems. As the GEP report explained, many of the ripple effects of the pandemic was not only trade disputes and low stock, but also cyber attacks. Yes, cyber attacks. And although you might think this could never be you, it happens more often that you would imagine. Axonious revealed in their latest report “ the extremes to which the pandemic escalated lack of visibility into IT assets and how that is impacting security priorities.”
According to ESG, “organizations report widening visibility gaps in their cloud infrastructure (79%, which was a 10% increase over 2020), end-user devices (75%), and IoT device initiatives (75%), leading to increased risk and security incidents. Around nine out of 10 respondents report that automating IT asset visibility could materially improve a variety of security operations.”
Having a high quality warehouse management system like SkuNexus for example, would not only protect your information but also keep impeccable accuracy on your automated systems.
Advanced Management System
Tied together with pick and route, AI allows you to customize a predefined set of rules. With an order management system (OMS) it can be determined which packaging should be used for each order. This will take the guesswork out of the packaging process and ensure more uniform results. In addition, AI can determine the correct shipping speed for each package.
Ability to Customize
If you have the ability to track all your inventory through one central system, you are able to anticipate the needs of your customers and fulfill orders through many different channels. A consumer can purchase an item online, and if the central warehouse is out of stock, the order can be fulfilled by one of your brick and mortar stores. Or a consumer can walk into a brick and mortar store looking for an item, and if it is unavailable, it can be shipped to home from another location.
Using SkuNexus, a fully customizable commerce operations platform, it can help you automate most of your warehouse operations, live inventory updates, visibility, picking, packing and shipping.
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