Inventory Management Review: Make Time to Re-Order

March 12, 2006

Make Time to Re-Order

Chances are, you're pretty busy at work. You've got the boss giving you more work than you actually have time to get done, customers and vendors calling you throughout the day and your email box filling up faster than you can read it. Despite all of this, you've gotta take a 1-hour lunch break, right? Well before you take that break (and I am NOT about to tell anyone not to take a nice long lunch) and before you get all of that other work taken care, ask yourself, "is it time to re-order?"

If the answer is yes, DO IT. If your firm's main source of revenue is from the sale of physical goods, then you absolutely, positively need to make sure that those goods are readily available. Yes, failure to reorder will lower your average inventory, but this is not the way to do it. A shortage of inventory can cause many costs. Not to mention, think of all the work your firm did to develop the original product, and now all you need to do is place an order.

Essentially, as busy as things can get at work, just try to remember that re-ordering is one of the most essential parts of your business. You can invest all the money you want into inventory software packages, but at the end of the day, you still need to re-order. Re-ordering on time is such an integral part of business that large firms automate the reordering process using EDI.

Chances are, EDI may not be for you. Putting into place the needed personal to ensure prompt re-ordering may be a more appropriate course of action. What I mean by this, is that if the person in charge of re-ordering is very busy with other work, then maybe it's time to find someone else to deal with the orders, because if you don't re-order, you can't sell, and tracking the status of backorders for a small business is no picnic either. Believe me, it's easier to make time to re-order than it is to be forced to make time to deal with backorders.

So, do what you've got to do, but just make sure of two things: re-order, and take an hour long lunch. If your boss is pissed about the Pinsky file not being completed, at least you've got a warehouse properly stocked and a full stomache, and really, what more can you ask for?

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March 12, 2006 | Permalink