How to streamline and optimise your inventory

One of the most important ways to grow as a small manufacturer is to streamline and optimise your inventory. But, that's far easier said than done.?

So here are some of the best methods for streamlining your inventory!

How to optimise your inventory and streamline order management

Use KPIs and metrics

The first tool you should use to optimise your inventory is KPIs. KPIs and metrics should be your bread and butter, providing you with rich data on your most important processes.?

Data is essential for streamlining your inventory so we've included this step first.

Want a list of the best KPIs to track? Check out our blog post!

Identify obsolete or slow products in your inventory

Next, you should use your KPIs and metrics to identify slow or obsolete products. These are known as SLOB products. This includes products with low sales compared to the rest of your inventory.?

Removing these products from your inventory frees up space and lets you focus on more important products.?

Reduce your overall number of products

Not only should you look to cut down on SLOB products, but our next tip for optimising your inventory is to reduce the total number of products you carry on the whole.?

Opt for fewer products if you can. This allows you to increase the quality of each product and gives you more time to focus on each one.?

Improve your forecasting

Forecasting is essential for good inventory management. If the last few years have shown us anything, it's that nothing is set in stone.?

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools (like Workhorse!) that make forecasting more manageable and more effective. You can anticipate many trends and supply chain disruptions by using the right tools and keeping a close eye on your metrics.?

Reevaluate your supply chain

Reevaluating your supply chain is less of a one-time process and more of an ongoing practice.

When doing this, you want to look for factors like pricing, quality of materials, routing, and more. Checking these factors and comparing them against the competition will help you be sure that you're being as efficient and cost-effective as possible.?

Spot and reduce warehouse inefficiencies?

Similarly, you should be regularly looking for warehouse inefficiencies. This includes any aspect of your warehouse that is running less than optimally. And — you guessed it — to track this, you need to keep a close eye on your KPIs!?

On occasion, there will be a slow spot that you can't work around. But most of the time, you can optimise these issues through automation and reorganisation.?

Reduce uncertainty wherever possible

Another important part of streamlining inventory is reducing uncertainty. We've touched on this a bit with forecasting, but that's not the only area of your manufacturing cycle that can be affected by uncertainty.?

Some products are purchased predictably year-round. But others, like seasonal foods, will have changing demands over time. Keeping a close watch on these less predictable products and understanding how their demand changes will help you reduce uncertainty.?

Use a powerful inventory and order management system

Our last tip to optimise your inventory is to invest in a powerful inventory and order management system. These software solutions automatically track KPIs, performing extremely valuable analytics and calculations.?

Additionally, inventory management software goes a long way toward automating your inventory and order management. It can perform tasks faster, with fewer errors, and without manual intervention.?

And if you’re looking for a great inventory and order management platform that can grow with your business, we have a great one for you to try — Workhorse!?

Send me a message or reach out on our website today to learn more!?