how can you improve stock control

^{Tips for Effective Stock Control and Inventory Management}

1. Check All Incoming Stocks. Your first focus should be checking on whether the delivered stock is exactly what you ordered from your supplier.
2. Store Stocks Wisely. It is easier to place your stock wherever it fits. ...
3. Create Clear Labels. Large enterprises make use of radiofrequency identification or RFID to easily track, update, and monitor their stock items and levels.
4. Track Expiry Dates. If you offer expired products, then you will be liable for hefty fines if the product gets delivered to the customers.
Avoid Compounding Problems. When you miss something like keying in important details, you are bound to compound your problems. Let’s face it.
Set Threshold Stock Levels. Every business has different peak times for sales. Different suppliers also have different lead times.
Manage Returns Effectively. One of the biggest issue surfaces when businesses don’t document returns well. This does not only create inefficiencies with quality control.
Monitor Stocks Consistently. You should always keep track of your stock in real-time. In fact, you should have it on a dashboard.
Keep Priorities in Check. Keeping track of inventories altogether is a time-consuming and exhausting task. So, you should keep your priority straight.
Use an Automation Solution. Today, it is best that you consider using automated solutions for inventory management and controlling of your stock levels.

How can you improve your stock management?

Advanced reporting on stock control, providing accurate and live data that lets you stock take more efficiently and can automatically suggest inter-branch transfers of stock, depending on what sells best and where. Keep your stock in order and your customers will love you!

What are the tips for stock control and inventory management?

Tips for Effective Stock Control and Inventory Management. 1 1. Check All Incoming Stocks. Your first focus should be checking on whether the delivered stock is exactly what you ordered from your supplier. 2 2. Store Stocks Wisely. 3 3. Create Clear Labels. 4 4. Track Expiry Dates. 5 5. Avoid Compounding Problems. More items

What are the benefits of stock control?

If done right, proper stock control can optimize logistics costs while ensuring you have just enough stock stored at all times. In order to control stock, you will need access to tools and data to make better predictions on supply and demand. What are the different stock controlling methods?

Should retailers improve their stock control?

Understandably, it’s easy to say retailers should improve their stock control, but the reality is that, often there are large complex systems in place blocking the way. If a retailer can’t adapt to the way people shop, then biting the proverbial bullet and overhauling stock and retail management systems is a must.

What happens if you have an improper stock control system?

As we’ve already mentioned, an improper stock control system not only leaves you ignorant of the stock you have, but also leaves you blind to any surplus items you may have . It’s very easy for stock to become hidden and forgotten about in overcrowded warehouses, leaving less successful products to go unnoticed until someone stumbles across them.

Why is there a surplus of stock?

Surplus stock can be caused by a number of factors, including a decrease in demand. By having greater visibility of high stock levels, you can make more informed business decisions not just about your stock levels, but about the products you manufacture in the future.

Can low stock cause problems?

In the same way that stock levels can rise, low stock can pose big problems for manufacturers — potentially grinding processes to a halt. Without an effective system in place, stock levels become a guessing game, relying on whoever used it last to flag its dwindling numbers. In this scenario, there is a risk you will be unable to meet demand, resulting in decreased customer satisfaction.

Why Stock Control is Important

If you produce, maintain or sell a physical product, chances are that you’ll have stock on hand that’s essential to your business. Whether you’re managing raw materials, parts, finished products or all the above, stock control procedures are necessary to keep your business well-stocked and running smoothly.

Looking to improve your stock control?

WorkGuru can help you manage your stock, projects and much more all in one place. With loads of powerful features, including par levels, production jobs, and FIFO stock tracking, you can improve the way you manage your inventory.

Why do we need a clear system?

Another reason for having a clear system is that you don’t want to rely on a single person to get you the stuff you need. You want your system to be learnable that in case something happens to your key personnel, your business can still operate. Many times, entrepreneurs do their stock keeping their way.

Is getting a good solution the whole battle?

However, getting a good solution is not the whole battle. It is even not half of it. Inventory managers and warehouse professionals need the right skills and understanding to perform well. So, let’s get on with some tips to help you improve your inventory management knowledge and stock control skills.

Does inventory management software improve inventory?

However, having inventory management software doesn’t automatically improve inventory management. This article shines a light on the best practices as well as nifty tips and tricks to work with your inventory. It also serves as a guide on how to improve your inventory management skills.

Can you get short stocked?

In cases where they don’t manage their inventory and orders well, you too can get short stocked. This puts your sales and credibility at risk as well. In other cases, you might get more stock items than you actually wanted. Without checking, you wouldn’t be able to make necessary returns in time before the next order.

Is it good to double check inventory?

Every inventory movement costs effort, and money. Thus, it is good to deal with issues immediately, like documenting the ebb and flow of items in real-time, as they go. Moreover, it is best to double or triple check each move, item, update, and order.

Is inventory management a siloed process?

As many people know, inventory management is intertwined with other processes. However, some treat it as a siloed aspect of the process. This makes for very bad business. So, like you have a system for storage and quality check, you should also have a process for returns.

The lost art of stock control

Retailers nailing their stock control is an art and should be part of the foundations of increasing revenue. At GCSE business studies, you always learn about the ‘Four P’s’ – Product, Place, Price, Promotion and going back to basics is often the best way to move forward.

Five benefits of improving stock control

Real-time, accurate view of stock across all locations, letting you see what is selling in each store and moving stock around to maximise sales and ultimately your bottom line.

How does stock control help logistics?

If done right, proper stock control can optimize logistics costs while ensuring you have just enough stock stored at all times. In order to control stock, you will need access to tools and data to make better predictions on supply and demand.

What is stock control?

Stock control, also known as inventory control, is the process of optimizing stock levels in a warehouse (s) to stabilize inventory storage costs while maintaining enough stock to meet customer demand. If done right, proper stock control can optimize logistics costs while ensuring you have just enough stock stored at all times.

How does Shipbob help with logistics?

Optimizing stock levels isn’t the only way to reduce logistics costs. Along with our inventory management tools, ShipBob offers the ability to split inventory across multiple fulfillment center locations to reduce shipping costs and speed up last-mile delivery .

Why is historical order data important in ecommerce?

Historical order data helps with forecasting demand, which can also help to provide insights into which items you need to reorder at the SKU level in given time period.

Why is it important to store inventory across locations?

You can easily visualize where your customers are, and compare your current and ideal distribution to optimize product allocation: Another benefit of storing inventory across locations is that it allows you to have backup stock in case of emergency ( e.g., unexpected warehouse closure due to bad weather).

What is JIT inventory?

Just-in-time (JIT) The JIT inventory method refers to ordering as much stock required to meet customer demand, but it also requires the ability to order quickly soon after to meet the next batch of orders.

What happens if you don't order enough stock?

But not ordering enough stock can cause items to be out of stock, can lead to backorders, and cause a decline in customer satisfaction. Obviously, each scenario is less than ideal.

Why do we carry safety stock?

Carry safety stock to reduce risk of stock outs. Safety stock, also called buffer stock, is the layer of inventory kept to prevent stockouts and back orders in situations where the forecast is exceeded or supply is delayed.

What is inventory policy?

Inventory policies ensure you’re stocking the right goods in the right quantities – a must for good inventory control in the warehouse. Make sure you have a set of ‘rules’ for every SKU you carry. Inventory classification, such as

Can you optimize stock levels?

It’s impossible to optimize your stock levels without considering supply and demand variables. Effective inventory control techniques therefore rely on stock optimization tactics. Many businesses use standard ERP or WMS systems to execute their stock control procedures while others still resort to spreadsheets.

How to know what you have in stock?

Another way to know what you have in stock is by creating a stock keeping unit, or SKU . Danna Crawford, a business consultant and marketer, said that she uses an SKU to keep track of the inventory for her online business so she can easily find items when they sell.

What is safety stock?

Safety stock is the amount of extra stock in your inventory that is kept in case there is a shortage of stock. This can be useful for unexpected rises in supply and demand or other unpredicted scenarios. Marks once again suggested that businesses use an accounting system.

Why is it important to keep your warehouse clean?

It is vital to keep your warehouse clean and to avoid carrying old stock. Sidell stresses that the visibility of your inventory is vital for inventory management. Whether your product is on the road or waiting to be shipped from a different location, you must know where your product is.

Why is inventory management important?

An important aspect is to pay attention to any inventory that isn’t turning. “Because of the maturity of inventory systems, you want to segment to product line inventory,” said Marks.

Why do companies use barcodes?

A barcode system can help your company be better organized and more efficient for your present inventory. “Proper inventory management is all about real-time and accurate information,” said John Sidell, the Principal and Founder at New Course Group, a consulting organization. “You have to know what you have in stock.”.

Is it good to manage inventory?

It may seem like the easiest and most reliable solution, but it can be slow, inaccurate, and it will make it harder to recognize important patterns. Periodic systems, going off the books, or counting off and going into the system are not effective ways of managing inventory.

Is inventory control important?

Storage and inventory control is a crucial part of any business – big or small. However, there is much more to inventory control than people think and there are a lot of ways to improve your inventory control to make your company run more efficiently. To ensure that you are getting the most accurate and useful information, ...