Efficient supply chain management relies on key indicators for assessing inventory accuracy. Whether you are a manufacturer, retailer, multinational corporation, or start-up, achieving high inventory accuracy is essential for optimizing customer satisfaction and increasing profits. It is crucial to quickly identify and address any inventory discrepancies to improve overall business performance.

Importance of Inventory Accuracy

Having an accurate inventory hinges on maintaining a dependable, current perspective of your stock, whether it be stored in a warehouse, production facility, or retail outlet. Simply providing this information to office staff and a select few is insufficient for a smooth, integrated supply chain. Real-time visibility of stock should be accessible to every employee who handles inventory to ensure seamless operations. The positive effects of this can have a far-reaching impact.

Efficient Order Processing

Once an order is received, it is essential for staff to have accurate inventory data in order to fulfil the order quickly and accurately. Inventory accuracy plays a critical role in the speed and accuracy of the picking, packing, and shipping process. Ideally, staff should be able to locate and quantify any product instantaneously. Inventory accuracy is a key factor in determining the speed at which customers receive their orders. Timely delivery is crucial for maintaining competitiveness and customer satisfaction.

Streamlined Warehouse Operations

Visibility of accurate data at an operational level allows staff to complete day-to-day tasks more efficiently. A common issue on the warehouse floor is workers spending unnecessary time searching for misplaced, out-of-stock, or expired items. By improving inventory accuracy, these challenges can be minimized.

Efficient Stock Counts

The process of counting stock accurately plays a key role in improving overall efficiency. By utilizing the right technologies and processes, businesses can enhance accuracy and streamline their counting operations. If your current method involves disrupting warehouse operations and delaying order fulfilment for stock counts, it can lead to inefficiencies. Implementing solutions such as mobile data collection allows for simultaneous counting of multiple designated zones without interrupting day-to-day operations. Regular stock counts eliminate the need for time-consuming annual stock takes, improving overall productivity.

Increased Cost Efficiency

By employing mobile data collection, your workforce can become more productive, leading to significant cost savings. Studies indicate that daily productivity and accuracy can be boosted, allowing your team to accomplish more in less time and with fewer errors. Ultimately, these results in substantial time and money saved.

Challenges Impeding Inventory Accuracy

Moving away from entrenched routines and practices can pose a challenge for operations. A prime example is utilizing manual paper-based processes, which is still prevalent in many businesses for recording goods received at the warehouse. This involves jotting down item details on paper upon arrival and manually inputting this information into the ERP system later on. Unfortunately, this manual practice increases the likelihood of human error occurring in both stages. The consequence of relying on such practices is a lack of visibility within operations. It is imperative to accurately record and access inventory data in real-time to avoid potential issues that may emerge across the supply chain.

Methods for Improving Precision

To achieve inventory accuracy, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of your current processes. By pinpointing any inefficiency within your operations, you can develop a targeted strategy to address and improve those key areas.

• Assess the quantity of touchpoints for each product as it moves through the warehouse; aim to minimize these to a minimum. Multiple interactions increase the risk of misplacement or inaccurate recording in ERP system. If relying on paper-based inventory tracking, reducing touchpoints is a temporary measure to mitigate human error.

• Ensuring consistency in item names, numbers, and descriptions across all platforms is crucial. Discrepancies between pick slips and product labels can lead to wasted time and potential errors in picking. This could result in returns and dissatisfied customers.

• Barcoding items provide a more advanced and reliable identification method. By equipping products and storage locations with barcodes, warehouse staff can efficiently match items to pick slips with minimal room for error.

Inventory Management on Mobile

Deploying a mobile inventory management solution includes employing handheld devices in both the warehouse and on the shop floor. Workers can conveniently scan stock items at various stages, from receipt to counting, picking, and shipping. This process enables the seamless integration of real-time data into your ERP system, allowing for better decision-making. The ability to quickly access item quantities and locations enhances order fulfilment efficiency, while sales and support teams can provide customers with accurate product information, thus improving customer satisfaction.

Implementing mobile inventory management is crucial as it helps eradicate inaccuracies associated with paper-based procedures, leading to time and cost savings. Utilizing handheld devices upon stock arrival minimizes the need for manual counting and data input, thereby decreasing the likelihood of mistakes caused by human error. Moreover, mobile solutions offer user-friendly interfaces that are simpler to navigate compared to complex ERP systems, enabling swift adoption by warehouse and shop floor employees. This streamlines the training process, eliminating the need for extensive familiarization with multiple systems.

Benefits of Cloud Computing and Mobility

Mobile inventory management helps address many functional challenges that can hinder inventory accuracy. However, without seamless access to inventory data, the potential for human error and manual processes remains a concern. Many enterprises are transitioning from on-premise supply chain management (SCM) systems to Cloud SCM solutions equipped with mobile capabilities for inventory management, human capital management, asset management, and shop-floor management. This shift allows organizations to eliminate the need for data backups and enhances accessibility. With Nirmalya SCM accessible from any device with an internet connection, team members can address warehouse issues in real time without requiring a secure connection though VPN. By capitalizing on these advantages, businesses can now offer a two-day delivery window for their customers.

• At the distribution point, workers utilize handheld devices to scan incoming stock, immediately updating product information in the database. This allows for optimal storage location suggestions during inventory placement and pre-selection of pick paths and preferred locations during picking. The logging of packing and shipping activities enables accurate updates for customers regarding order status. These streamlined processes lead to cost savings, increased productivity, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

• In the manufacturing industry, leveraging mobile inventory management can significantly improve production efficiency. With mobility, manufacturers can easily track each phase of the assembly process and categorize tasks based on completion stages. Additionally, all components utilized in the manufacturing process can be accurately recorded, promoting adherence to best practices and maintaining a real-time inventory count of produced quantities.

• Businesses often face challenges when it comes to label printing due to the need to gather content from multiple data sources and use various printers with different template requirements. These limitations can complicate the label printing process unnecessarily. However, integrated label printing technology offers a solution by allowing businesses to print labels from both ERP and third-party systems through a single interface. By connecting existing printers to create a network and utilizing drag-and-drop design tools, businesses can simplify the label printing process. Adopting a consistent labelling approach and implementing a more connected printing solution can help businesses improve inventory accuracy and efficiency.

Enhance Inventory Accuracy using Nirmalya Enterprise Platform

Implementing supply chain technology can enhance connectivity within your enterprise, but the decision to invest in and adapt your business practices is ultimately yours to make. If you are facing challenges in maintaining inventory accuracy, it is worthwhile to explore potential steps for improvement. This may involve adopting operational best practices and incorporating technology to drive positive change that benefits your business. Nirmalya Enterprise Platform offers cloud and mobile-based solutions for various enterprise functions such as supply chain management, human capital management, customer relationship management, manufacturing execution systems, warehouse management, MES, EHS, LMS, and enterprise asset management. By leveraging Nirmalya platform, enterprises can achieve increased connectivity and efficiency, leading to improved accuracy, productivity, and profitability.

To learn more about how enterprises are experiencing tangible benefits through the use of Nirmalya Enterprise Platform and Mobility, please reach out to us today.