Damaged inventory, inaccurate inventory counts and other inventory-related issues occur everywhere; from the small business that houses bicycle parts to the 1 million-square foot best-in-class facility with automated storage and retrieval systems. Identifying the root cause of these inventory issues becomes part of the process improvement plan to decrease or eliminate them altogether.
1. Inaccurate Quantities
Inaccuracy remains one of the biggest problems facing all warehouses. Inaccuracy takes shape in many forms, such as inaccurate quantities, inaccurate storage locations, inaccurate pricing and inaccurate identification. At some point in time, most companies experience an inaccurate quantity of one or more products in their warehouse. This happens very often with retail companies, especially big-box retailers that have millions of product stock-keeping units, or SKUs. Often, an inaccurate quantity of products stems from one of the other areas of inaccuracy. An item placed in the wrong location of a warehouse can get overlooked when searching for inventory. This leads to an inaccurate count of the inventoried item.
2. Capacity
For warehouses large and small, capacity issues often equate to inventory issues. Often when a warehouse becomes crowded with pallets and cases of inventory, basic rules for managing the warehouse get overlooked. In an attempt to store more inventory, products often get damaged, lost and not accounted for in the inventory management system. Storage problems can also create obsolete inventory issues. A company may have one carton of a product left but is unable to find it because of storage problems. The product then becomes obsolete and gets written off the company’s balance sheet.
3. Damage
Inventory typically gets handled multiple times in a warehouse. Each time it gets touched or moved it becomes susceptible to damage. Many companies try to recoup some of the financial lose of damaged inventory by selling it at substantial discounts to the public--think about those furniture liquidation centers that sell scratch and dent merchandise. Damaged inventory happens in numerous ways. If a company experiences an abundance of damaged inventory it should consider additional employee training along with conducting a root-cause analysis to determine the origin of the problem.
4. Product Identification
Warehousing inventory issues occur when inventory arrives with incorrect labels, barcodes, product SKUs or packaging. For example, an orange plastic cup has an SKU of ABC123 while a blue plastic cup has an SKU of DEF456. Both cups are packaged 100 units per carton. The outside of each carton includes the product’s SKU and description plus a barcode for scanning the product into the inventory software. Upon arrival, the warehouse scans the barcode on the cartons marked orange plastic cups, but the manufacturer inadvertently placed the blue plastic cup’s barcode on the cartons. The warehouse personnel accept the barcode scan without verifying the box contents. This act creates an immediate inventory discrepancy.
5. Training
Unfortunately, a large number of warehouse inventory issues results from improper or a complete lack of employee training. Typically, issues involving inventory accuracy, damage and product identification can get traced back to human error. Improperly trained warehouse personnel create inventory issues that better-trained personnel regularly avoid. For example, an under-qualified forklift driver is more likely to damage products during inventory put away and retrieval than an experienced forklift driver. Proper training increases a warehouse’s efficiency and productivity and decreases inventory management issues.
Source:
Warehouse Inventory Issues
by Kenneth Hamlett : http://smallbusiness.chron.com/warehouse-inventory-issues-4038.html
Greatest information about Warehousing services with affordable range.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing such a nice blog with useful information. I hope you will share some more info about https://merchandiseusa.com/sell-us-your-closeouts.php
ReplyDeleteThe blog post highlights the top 5 warehouse challenges and provides solutions to overcome them. While it doesn't delve into the specific details of a warehouse management system (WMS), implementing a robust WMS can help address these challenges effectively. A warehouse management system streamlines warehouse operations by automating processes such as inventory tracking, order fulfillment, and resource allocation. It provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, improves accuracy in picking and packing, optimizes space utilization, and enhances overall operational efficiency. By leveraging a WMS, businesses can effectively tackle warehouse challenges and achieve smoother, more streamlined warehouse management processes.
ReplyDelete