Encouraging Inventory Accuracy

Most distributors realize the importance of inventory accuracy – that is, having the available quantity of an item in your computer agree with what is actually on the shelf in your warehouse. Management realizes the bad things that happen when inventory accuracy...

Forecasting Items with Long Lead Times

A demand forecast (also referred to as a usage rate) is a prediction of the amount of each product that will be sold, transferred, used in an assembly, or otherwise consumed in the future. It’s easy to see that inaccurate forecasts can cause major problems for...

Pot of Gold Turns to Lead

Imagine one day picking up your local paper and finding that the front page story is about one of your largest customers filing bankruptcy. Overnight you go from a feeling of security and prosperity to one of fighting for survival. This very scenario recently happened...

How Much Is Free Freight Worth?

Many vendors offer to pay freight charges if an order exceeds a certain minimum requirement. Many buyers are “brainwashed” into thinking that they must always place an order that meets the free-freight minimum, even if it means bringing more inventory than...

Implementing Effective Inventory Management

Through the end of the 1980’s, most software packages for distributors placed an emphasis on sales and accounting related modules. In the early 1990’s, many distributors recognized that they needed help controlling and managing their largest asset, inventory. In...

Accurately Measuring Customer Service

Your customers often don’t know what material they’re going to need before they actually need it. As a distributor you stock material to fulfill these immediate requirements. How well your inventory provides what your customers want will, to a great degree, determines...