For many businesses, the busy season begins at the start of the fourth quarter. For others, the first. Regardless of when your unique business experiences its busiest period, a more efficient inventory management strategy can help you navigate even the most stressful of months with ease.
This article will zero in on eight proven ways to prepare for the busy season with optimized and efficient inventory management.
1. Revisit what occurred last year
Regardless of your business’s industry, reviewing the details of last year’s busy season is always the first step in preparing for the next. Take some time to review whatever records you have to figure out precisely what occurred one year ago. Everything from old inventory records to conversations with hands-on employees can help.
Once you have all of this data, organize it to illuminate possible trends and highlight your business’s needs. For example, you may find that a particular vendor consistently delivered inventory late when you needed it the most. Or, you may find that you ran out of storage for perishable items, causing both inventory shortages and cash loss.
Examine these challenges and think creatively about how to solve them should they arise again this year. Examples of solutions would be:
- searching for a new and more reliable vendor
- attempting to improve the performance of the existing vendor
- investing in additional storage for perishable goods
- asking a vendor to deliver those perishables in smaller amounts more frequently
2. Get organized
Now that you’ve looked at the data from last year, it’s time to start getting organized for this one. This is, by and large, a physical process–at least at the beginning. After all, truly organized physical storage is the cornerstone of efficient inventory management.
Carve out some time to ensure that your storage facilities (i.e., closets, rooms, and warehouses) are optimally organized so your team can handle inventory more rapidly and accurately.
Consider investing in the storage supplies required to create a more efficient space. This could mean shelves and bins or even an inventory system that allows you to barcode or QR code the inventory you have on hand.
3. Set forecasts
To properly prepare for a busy season, it’s also important to forecast exactly how much inventory you’ll need. Using the data and anecdotes you’ve gathered from step one, take some time to determine how much inventory you’ll need to meet demand during the busy season.
There are many different ways to forecast demand, and you’ll need to combine that forecast with other information. This includes details and knowledge your vendors share, predictions on upcoming trends that may affect your business, and confidence in your supply chain.
4. Choose an inventory system that saves time and money
Another critical step in preparing for the busy season is selecting an inventory solution that actually saves your business time and money. There are three different types of inventory systems: manual, spreadsheet, and software.
Inventory management software is considered the gold standard for efficient inventory management because it offers key automation features that not only speed up inventory-related tasks but also reduce the risk of costly human error. It also automatically creates and archives inventory data that will inform forecasts for years to come.
What’s more, inventory software is often highly intuitive, and that ease of use can shave hours off of inventory responsibilities. From using barcodes and QR code scanners to check items in and out to helping companies maintain an accurate inventory list, there are many ways that inventory management software can make a business more efficient—even at its busiest.
This easy, comprehensive guide will help you:
Free Ebook: Getting Started With Inventory Tracking
5. Create a standard operating procedure for your busy season
Most businesses understand the importance of creating a standard operating procedure for inventory-related tasks. But one little-known best practice is to create an additional standard operating procedure for your business’s busiest months. This is especially important if, during times of high demand, your business works with additional vendors, maintains significantly more inventory, or places orders with suppliers more frequently.
This seasonal SOP can articulate all the details regarding your high-demand inventory practices and ensure that all team members do everything possible to provide the most efficient inventory management.
6. Practice perpetual inventory
One of the chief reasons inventory management software is so popular is that it enables businesses to utilize barcodes and QR codes to keep track of inventory. More specifically, these barcodes and QR codes can be scanned every time an item is checked in or out of a business, automatically creating accurate inventory records that can inform business decisions.
It’s worth noting that perpetual inventory is virtually impossible to practice without a barcode or QR code inventory system. After all, your team members would need to update a spreadsheet or a sheet of paper every time an item arrived, was consumed, or was sold—which would be the opposite of efficiency.
7. Set up low-stock alerts
Another benefit of utilizing inventory management software, especially during a company’s busiest season, is enabling low-stock alerts. These alerts, at least with an inventory solution like Sortly, are entirely customizable. Users can set a minimum inventory threshold for every item in their inventory and then choose how and when they’d like to be notified should inventory levels dwindle too low.
By aligning these alerts with your company’s unique safety stock numbers, you won’t have to worry about frantically counting inventory every day. After all, you’ll have an always up-to-date inventory list, and you’ll be notified via in-app notification or e-mail the moment any given item’s stock levels plummet to unacceptable levels.
8. Audit frequently and improve for next year
Finally, close the loop on your busy season with an audit of your business’s performance during its most demanding months. Just like in step one, sift through both data and real-life experiences to determine your business’s strengths and weaknesses during this time and how you can improve your inventory management strategy for next year.
About Sortly
Sortly is an inventory management solution that helps you track, manage, and organize your inventory from any device, in any location. We’re an easy-to-use inventory software that’s perfect for large or small companies. Sortly builds inventory tracking seamlessly into your workday so you can save time and money, satisfy your customers, and help your projects succeed.
With Sortly, you can track inventory, supplies, parts, tools, assets, and anything else that matters to your business. It comes equipped with smart features like barcoding & QR coding, low stock alerts, customizable folders, data-rich reporting, and much more. Best of all, you can update inventory right from your smartphone, whether you’re on the job, in the warehouse, or on the go.
Whether you’re just getting started with inventory management or you’re an expert looking for a more efficient solution, we can transform how your company manages inventory—so you can focus on your next build. That’s why over 15,000 businesses globally trust us as their inventory management solution.
Start your two-week free trial of Sortly today.
