Companies approach their inventory planning in many different ways - from seat of the pants guessing, to team collaboration, to spreadsheets that may invoke more team collaboration and manual changes, to forecasting software and some to advanced planning solutions.
When it is all said and done most companies stay the course when it comes to inventory planning. There is fear to learning something new. Things can go wrong, lots of time to learn about new methods and ways of planning. Staying the course is felt to be safest route.
People are creatures of habit, which is one reason why spreadsheets and reports are reused from year to year. Unfortunately, after cutting and pasting information, the spreadsheet might not work the way it did before — formulas can be damaged, links can be broken, or cells can be overwritten. It is also a case of “you don’t know what you don’t know”. Meaning, people are unaware of the availability of easy to use affordable, automated inventory planning software.
Changes are occurring at lightning speed for all of us today. Consumers and companies alike have to contend with minute-by-minute information and change. The Cloud – Advanced Inventory Planning – Omnichannel – Social Media and much more impact today’s businesses. The options dazzle the mind, do we stay the course or change a little or change a lot.
Anthony "Tony" Robbins is an American life coach, self-help author, and motivational speaker. He said, “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”
You also need to consider is what are you competitors doing or likely to do. Are they staying the course or are they adopting new methods and technologies to improve their business performance? Using custom static reports and spreadsheets as the primary method in inventory planning is doing yourself, your company, and your customers a disservice.
The Cloud and an advanced inventory planning solution is a winning combination that allows you to work smarter by easily adapting all aspects of inventory management into one advanced, simple-to-use software product any time anywhere. The software lets all levels of employees understand and use the system. Instead of having one staff member dedicated to inventory planning, any employee can quickly learn and operate the software. Utilizing existing staff helps to keep costs low while expanding their capabilities.
Advanced inventory planning and optimization software not only automates the entire planning process, it dramatically increases the positive cash flow of a company. By smartly reducing inventory investment, reducing stock-outs, decreasing expedited shipping costs, and reducing planning time all contribute to more available cash. Add to that increased sales and productivity and the gains will also lead to an improved competitive advantage.
Change now for better inventory planning, more positive cashflow and greater customer service. To find out more schedule a quick demo!
