Understanding Inventory Management

The prime objective for all supply chains is to provide clients with what they want, when they want it. Inventory management plays a central role in every supply chain’s need to satisfy its clients.

Inventory Solutions

Tompkins Associates helps companies develop an effective approach to inventory. We analyze the impact of internal and external factors to integrate inventory with purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sales to create inventory policies that make sense. Tompkins solutions take into account:

• Client needs and their influence on in-stock/fill rates, lead time and accuracy
• Costs incurred from purchase transaction expenses, manufacturing set-up/changeover expenses, and more
• Operations changes driven by promotions or recalls and SKU proliferation
• Technology and its ability to provide trend, profiling and seasonality-based forecasting, trading partner visibility and planning collaboration
• Corporate goals whether revenue, unit sales, or RONA/GMROI or A/P increase

We look at every area impacting your inventory to create a comprehensive inventory management strategy that will enhance financial performance and client satisfaction.

Understanding Inventory

Despite its importance to the supply chain, inventory is not universally well understood. It is variously characterized, both positively and negatively, as an economic asset to a non-income-producing use of capital funds. Only when considered in light of all quality, client service and economic factors—from the viewpoints of purchasing, manufacturing, sales and finance—does the whole picture of inventory become clear. No matter the viewpoint, effective inventory management is essential to supply chain competitiveness.

Lowering Inventory Costs

Recent industry reports show that inventory costs as a percent of total logistics costs are increasing. Despite this rise, many organizations have not taken full advantage of ways for lowering inventory costs. There are a number of proven strategies that will provide payoff in the inventory area, both in client service and in financial terms.

Some of these strategies for lowering inventory costs involve having less inventory while others involve owning less of the inventory you have. Regardless of which techniques you employ, proactive inventory management practices will make a measurable difference in your operations.