The management of inventory and the ability to control loss has always proven to be a difficult task, mainly due to the unpredictable and arbitrary nature of the construction and service industries. While this may be a challenge for many businesses, the good news is that this can typically be rectified by enhancing security measures to help control loss and leveraging software to better manage inventory. By improving your business in these two key areas, steps can quickly be taken to ensure you know how much inventory you have on hand, and help keep those numbers accurate at all times.
Controlling Loss
We are all aware of the major concerns relating to lost or stolen inventory, which are reduced profitability, delayed deadlines, and even declining employee morale. With inventory that must be written off, whether the inventory is simply stolen or damaged, there is money being wasted as that inventory must be restored to ensure the job continues as planned. However, with that being said, there is a higher risk of deadlines being pushed back as there is usually a waiting period to order in new inventory. Also, employee morale may decline if they feel responsible for possibly leaving something unattended or if they can’t work due to a lack of inventory. Needless to say, inventory loss is not good for business.
Luckily, there are measures that can be put in place to help reduce inventory loss and maintain a functioning construction or service business. The first step is to ensure security is in place during all hours at a particular jobsite and there is appropriate inventory tracking for field technicians. By ensuring there is security present, whether that be with physical security guards or video monitoring, this will help to effectively eliminate theft and reduce inventory loss in the process. Another tip is to setup blockades and barriers to make your jobsite less accessible, while maintaining a well-lit site to ward off potential thieves. For more service-based companies, installing tracking devices on inventory will help to recover any lost or stolen items. In addition, it is good practice to lock up all unused inventory at the end of the day to make sure nothing is left unattended and unprotected.
Software for Inventory Management
When it comes to managing inventory, many companies are still using pen and paper, or even worse, nothing at all to track their inventory. With this method of managing inventory, it is easy to see how things can become disorganized. With parts being used on a daily basis, and customers relying on these parts, it is imperative that inventory is available to get the job done right in a timely manner. Without proper inventory management, your business will always be playing catch up and it will be hard to determine what part was used for what job, further expanding the problem of inventory loss.
When it comes to managing inventory, many companies are still using pen and paper, or even worse, nothing at all to track their inventory. With this method of managing inventory, it is easy to see how things can become disorganized. With parts being used on a daily basis, and customers relying on these parts, it is imperative that inventory is available to get the job done right in a timely manner. Without proper inventory management, your business will always be playing catch up and it will be hard to determine what part was used for what job, further expanding the problem of inventory loss.
By investing in a software that offers inventory management, your business will be able to scan, enter, store, track, and manage inventory across all areas and locations. Not only will you have the ability to search to see if a part is in stock, but you will be able to set minimum quantities allowed in stock to ensure parts are reordered on a regular basis. This will help improve the bottom line, as your business will drastically reduce the amount of physical assets being written off, while helping to make more efficient use of your working capital. In addition, reports can be generated to determine profits or losses each month, which will enhance overall inventory visibility across the business.
To mitigate inventory loss and better manage inventory overall, two simple steps – enhancing security and investing in software – can really make a big difference. By increasing security presence and properly tracking inventory, theft and damage can be greatly reduced. Also, by taking small steps such as ensuring all unused inventory is locked up and not easily accessible can go a long way as well. While securing all inventory can help reduce inventory loss, implementing a software solution with inventory management will help control loss even further. With the ability to have all inventory stored with stock quantities in a single software solution, your business will have real-time access to inventory numbers. With less inventory being written off due to loss or damage, profitability will increase and the focus can be shifted to completing jobs and growing the business.
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