You’re struggling with inventory management. What’s the best way to get feedback?

1 Feedback from customers

Your customers are the ultimate judges of your inventory performance. They can tell you if you are meeting their needs and expectations, or if you are losing their trust and loyalty. You can get feedback from customers through various channels, such as surveys, reviews, ratings, testimonials, social media, or direct communication. You should ask customers about their satisfaction with your product quality, availability, delivery, and service. You should also listen to their complaints, suggestions, and preferences. Customer feedback can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, adjust your inventory levels and mix, and improve your customer service.

2 Feedback from suppliers

Your suppliers are your partners in inventory management. They can provide you with valuable information and insights about your supply chain, such as market trends, demand fluctuations, lead times, costs, and risks. You can get feedback from suppliers through regular meetings, reports, audits, or contracts. You should ask suppliers about their performance, reliability, flexibility, and innovation. You should also share your goals, plans, and challenges with them. Supplier feedback can help you optimize your sourcing and procurement strategies, negotiate better terms and prices, and mitigate supply disruptions.

3 Feedback from employees

Your employees are your internal experts in inventory management. They can offer you practical and operational feedback on your inventory processes, systems, and policies. You can get feedback from employees through various methods, such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, or suggestion boxes. You should ask employees about their roles, responsibilities, and challenges in inventory management. You should also encourage them to share their ideas, opinions, and solutions. Employee feedback can help you streamline your inventory workflows, enhance your inventory data quality and accuracy, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

4 Feedback from peers

Your peers are your competitors or collaborators in inventory management. They can give you benchmarking and learning feedback on your inventory practices, performance, and results. You can get feedback from peers through various sources, such as industry reports, publications, events, or networks. You should compare your inventory metrics, such as turnover, accuracy, fill rate, or carrying cost, with those of your peers. You should also learn from their best practices, innovations, and mistakes. Peer feedback can help you evaluate your inventory performance, identify gaps and opportunities, and adopt best practices.

5 Feedback from experts

Experts are your external consultants or advisors in inventory management. They can provide you with professional and objective feedback on your inventory issues, goals, and solutions. You can get feedback from experts through various services, such as audits, assessments, training, or coaching. You should seek experts' advice on specific inventory problems, such as overstocking, understocking, obsolescence, or theft. You should also follow their recommendations, tools, and techniques. Expert feedback can help you diagnose your inventory challenges, develop action plans, and implement changes.

6 Feedback from yourself

You are your own critic and learner in inventory management. You can give yourself feedback by reflecting on your inventory experiences, outcomes, and lessons. You can get feedback from yourself by using various techniques, such as self-assessment, journaling, or feedback loops. You should ask yourself questions, such as what worked well, what didn't work well, what can be improved, or what can be learned. You should also act on your feedback, such as by celebrating successes, correcting mistakes, or applying learnings. Self-feedback can help you improve your inventory skills, knowledge, and confidence.