WorldExecutivesDigest.com | 4 Ways Bad Inventory Management Hinders a Company’s Overall Performance | No matter what type of business you run, the core fundamentals are the same. It’s your job to deliver the product or service you advertise to your customer. That means that an efficient and effective inventory system is crucial to your continued success. Slow, delayed, or mishandled shipments can easily turn a prospective customer against you, and bad press travels fast, but bad inventory management can have devastating effects that go beyond your reputation. These are the things you need to concern yourself with.
Stock Supply Will Fluctuate Wildly
Having too much product means sitting on inventory you can’t sell, while having too little product means you can’t meet the demands of your customers. If your inventory system isn’t properly organized, both situations are equally likely. A properly maintained inventory management system lets you know which products are selling and which are sitting on your shelf indefinitely, and that’s crucial when you’re looking to adapt your stock to match the needs of your clients.
You’ll Lose Valuable Man Hours
Without a functioning and automated inventory management system, the burden of recording information is going to fall directly on your employees. That doesn’t just mean more time spent maintaining and cataloging inventory. It also means additional labor spent hunting around for stock, and a single misplaced item can lead to hours of time manually spent digging through a warehouse. That’s why making use of physical inventory systems like stackable plastic storage containers and a software-based inventory management system more complicated than Excel is so important.
It Hinders Communication in Your Supply Line
A quality inventory management system helps you make sure that everything is in its proper place, but it also helps facilitate the chain of command within your organization. When everyone has a smooth understanding of the supply chain, it’s easier to delegate tasks and avoid redundancies in job responsibilities. A clearly designated and orderly organizational structure for your inventory provides your managerial staff with the tools they need to run operations seamlessly and more accurately handle scheduling and staffing.
It Makes Theft Easier
Criminals thrive on chaos, and disorder makes it easier for crimes to go unnoticed and unpunished. If you don’t have a full account of where your products are stored, you won’t know when they go missing. Even when you do discover an imbalance in your manifests, it can be hard to determine a window of opportunity or even parse whether malice or mismanagement are to blame. Tight organization strips potential criminals of the opportunity to fleece from your company.
A streamlined inventory system can affect every level of your business, and once you have a system implemented, it’s far more efficient to maintain. There are a lot of options at your disposal, but it’s important to treat simplicity as your guiding value.
