There are different qualities and habits that you can develop in order to meet customer demand and make this process easier. We have a few tips for you.
Making Good Use of Data
What if using data made you discover things about your business that you didn’t even suspect before? Data has a number of uses, including allowing you to see clearly the trends concerning the products which you have overstocked in the past, or if there is a certain time of the year you tend to experience more issues, for which you need to adapt.
You will be able to reduce your lead time with this information, by optimising and scheduling different stages of your production process. This way, you will always deliver on time.
Christmas is approaching, and this will be a busier period for business in most fields. However, your business is unique and might have other busy periods throughout the year. It is important to schedule your supply chain in order to foresee and plan for these busier times.
Tracking the Entire Production Process
Once you have the data, you can schedule your supply chain. In order to do this, you will need to have a good overview of how many products are in which stage of production, how many are in the warehouse, or being delivered.
This will help you optimise your production process, giving you the opportunity to reduce transportation costs and other overheads, communicate better with your suppliers and other business partners, or adapt to busier periods.
Reducing Wastage and Spoilage
Making sure no product goes to waste before being sold is a key part of managing customer demand, particularly for the food and pharmaceutical sectors. Labelling plays an important part in order to avoid wasting money on expired products.
You also need to make sure the expiry date, or more importantly sell-by date, is entered in your data. The easiest solution is to have software which will prioritise which products need to be sold first in order to minimise wastage.
Tracking Suppliers
Having several suppliers means running into situations where you will need to act quickly and be able to identify the products you stock which come from a specific supplier, and where exactly they are stocked.
This could happen if your supplier makes you aware of a faulty product which has been delivered to you and must not be sold. You will be able to act quickly and reduce stress.
Having Adaptability and Flexibility
During the past year and a half, we have seen a world of unpredictability and sudden changes, which demands flexibility from businesses. Products like hand sanitisers, which were seldom found in the average consumer’s household, have become in demand extremely quickly.
Who knows what the future holds, and which products will experience a similar rise? If customer demand changes, you will need to be able to register and reduce turnaround times. Nothing will beat stock management software when it comes to implementing those changes.
Stock management software will come with access to reports, containing data about your business which will allow you to optimise. Investing in it can allow you to save costs, as well as your employees’ time, in the long term.
This is because it will become extremely easy to locate a product in your stock, and know everything about it, including expiration date and supplier. The software will also make sure that you know which products are to expire sooner.
KMsoft offers three different options for its StockAssist software, including StockAssist Medical, specifically suited for the pharmaceutical and medicinal equipment sectors’ needs, as well as the possibility for a bespoke solution. It will be an invaluable tool in helping your business be as effective and adaptable as ever.
