Every business owner who deals with perishable items know that lost inventory is a fact of life. When you are dealing with perishable products there is always going to be some loss. Vegetables rot and refrigerated items don’t get chilled enough, things happen and inventory is lost. However, those lost inventory costs can be reduced with an automated warehouse management system.
How an Automated Warehouse Management System Helps Manage Perishable Inventory
The biggest reason why perishable items become lost inventory is that the inventory isn’t being properly monitored. If you’re dealing with perishable items it is absolutely essential that you know how much inventory you have and when it came in so that you don’t end up buying more inventory than you need. It is also important to send out the items that are the closest to expiring first so that they can be used before they expire.
It is very difficult to keep up with the inventory changes of perishable foods if you are doing manual inventory counts, even if you are doing them regularly. Only an automated warehouse management system has the capacity to monitor your inventory in real time and track items as they are purchased so that you can find any item in the warehouse no matter what stage of the order process it is in. Real-time updates, better analytics, and a thorough suite of metrics make an automated warehouse management system the best choice for any business that sells perishable items.
When you sell perishable items and those items expire before they can be sold you are not just paying the cost of the item. You are paying the cost of shipping the item to the warehouse and the cost of the labor hours needed to unpack and put away those items. You are also paying for the electricity needed to store those items in a climate controlled facility or cooler for a period of time. When those items aren’t sold and are past their expiration you have to pay the cost to dispose of them. All of these hidden costs add up and make it very expensive to have lost inventory.
Upgrading to an automated warehouse management system will help prevent lost inventory. It also will give you the analytical tools you need to take a close look at your sales and make a better assessment of how many products you need to keep on hand to satisfy demand without keeping so much extra stock that you end up with lost inventory. The metrics provided by an automated warehouse management system give you the insight to determine how much inventory you need to have in stock and when you should, and should not, be ordering more inventory.
Automated Warehouse Management System for SAP Business One and Macola Software
WiSys Agility solutions have been designed to achieve efficient warehouse management and automated inventory management. Are you trying to cut costs in your warehouse? Contact us to learn more about automated warehouse management.