The ins and outs of inventory

Inventory key performance indicators must consider how long it takes to find the correct amount of each product in the warehouse, stack it onto a forklift, and deliver the proper goods to the loading bay on time—and include complete visibility of the entire workflow.

For vendors still relying on traditional processes, adopting production control software is essential to enhance visibility of inventory levels, increase productivity, and improve customer service.

How can inventory management software benefit your business?

There are a number of inventory management systems on the market, but not all are created equally. A strong inventory management solution wil allow you to:

• Set up systems to track and record inventory
• Develop specifications and procedures for ordering and purchasing
• Develop standards and procedures to efficiently receive deliveries
• Determine the frequency and processes for reconciling inventory
• Analyze inventory data and determine any areas for improvement

This functionality has a range of important benefits for your inventory and dispatch processes, including:

Full traceability

Fast and accurate traceability is essential for any food producer. Software-controlled inventory management guarantees that you can quickly and easily perform a backwards trace if an issue arises after your product arrives to the customer, or a forward trace in the case of a recall situation.

Food safety and quality

In addition to the food safety benefits of traceability, inventory software ensures that perishable items are stored in the correct conditions and hit shelves quickly. This ensures that your product is fresh, free of contaminants, and at its highest quality by the time it reaches customers and end consumers.

Minimal food waste and maximum profits

Inventory management helps you manage a first-in first-out flow effectively, so that your products hit the shelves at the ideal time and have their fullest shelf-life instead of losing value or going to waste altogether.

Predicting demand and balancing stock levels

Data-driven inventory management not only provides full visibility of stock levels, it can also track and analyze the history of goods sold to forecast future demand. This information helps you to always produce the right amount of product available: enough to fulfill customer orders reliably, but not an excess that will spoil before you can sell it.

Streamlined dispatch process

An inventory system can help you plan your warehouse, so you always know where each product is located, where each product should go, where you have space to fill, etc. This saves your staff time and helps them get products on the right shelves or on the truck faster.

Outstanding visibility and communication

Good inventory software enables you to communicate with members of your supply chain and display real-time information about your products. This provides excellent visibility and insight into aspects such as food safety, shipping, and overstock issues.

How does inventory software work?

Innova Inventory provides complete visibility during every step of your workflow in the following ways and more.

Barcoding

To implement advanced inventory control measures, vendors start by serializing each unit of product with a barcode. In addition, each warehouse location is assigned a barcode. The movement of product around the warehouse is completely automated, with workers employing scanners at each inventory stage.

Palletizing

When palletizing, the production control software can automatically assign product to pallets. Workers can also use handheld scanners to build pallets. Digital records of printed pallet labels are automatically stored in an easy-to-use centralized database, accessible from an inventory control dashboard and connected to all scanners on the floor.

Put-away

During the put-away phase, workers use scanners to assign pallets to the appropriate warehouse location. The software includes business rules that prevent workers from storing pallets in the wrong location.

Order picking

Each box and each pallet are unique in the system. During order picking, the records of any split apart or consolidated pallets are updated in real time. The central database maintains restacking pallet records so if any pallet labels are lost, the pallet contents are still fully visible.

With these capabilities and more, your business will gain the visibility and efficiency to perfect your inventory management.

Want to learn more about how Innova Inventory can optimize your inventory and dispatch process?