Inventory Planning Blog

Valogix Advanced Inventory Planning and Optimization for NetSuite

Posted on Wed, Feb 01,2023@10:07 AM

As your business grows and gains in complexity, you may need to explore how advanced inventory planning and optimization capabilities can take your business to the next level. Valogix, a global award-winning partner of NetSuite. We offer a specialized multi-stage planning engine that more effectively plans inventories and compliments NetSuite.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, NetSuite, Demand Planning, Valogix, Inventory Planning Solutions, NetSuite Demand Planning

MRO and Aftermarket Spare Parts Planning

Posted on Mon, Oct 03,2022@11:00 AM

Spare parts inventory management is a prime candidate for advanced inventory planning and optimization solutions. With many diverse parts to manage and a lack of power tools, most companies with parts inventories have too many of the wrong parts. The result is unnecessary inventory expense, while still suffering service-limiting stock-outs.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, Demand Planning, Inventory Planning Solutions

Inventory Demand Forecasting Overview - Part 1

Posted on Mon, Jul 11,2022@09:52 AM

forecastForecasting customer demand is an important and necessary part of the chain of calculations needed to optimize inventory stocking levels. There are a wide variety of techniques that can be used, making forecasting a confusing and sometimes difficult process. If your goal is to not only forecast demand but also stock inventory at optimal levels, then forecasting must be combined with inventory planning and replenishment optimization algorithms to reach the goals of higher service levels with less inventory.

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Tags: advanced inventory planning solutions, Demand Planning, forecasting software,, optimized inventory planning

Incorporating a Value-Driven Inventory Planning Solution

Posted on Tue, Jun 07,2022@09:45 AM

There are some distinctions of business purchases, strategic and non-strategic. Strategic purchases are those that have a direct effect on the business and the bottom line. Non-strategic are those for everyday items like office supplies, travel, commodity items, etc. In the case of manufacturing companies, strategic purchases can be raw materials, production equipment, energy, skilled labor, computers, and business operating software.

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Tags: advanced inventory planning solutions, cloud computing, Demand Planning, forecasting, optimized inventory planning

Customers tell their inventory planing success story Part 1

Posted on Mon, Sep 10,2018@05:50 AM

UK Laboratory Equipment Distributor

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Tags: Demand Planning, Supply Chain, Balloon One, Inventory Planning Solutions

Investing in Advanced Inventory Planning Software

Posted on Tue, Sep 24,2013@10:00 AM

Investing in smart solutions that improve your inventory planning is an important business decision and necessary in today’s global and troubled economy. Sometimes the concept of spending money to save money is very hard to accept. There are no guarantees the investment will pay off, so there is some level of risk involved. But, is it any riskier to do nothing? To maintain the status quo?

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning, web based inventory planning

Enhancing the MRP Process and Inventory Planning

Posted on Tue, Sep 10,2013@11:00 AM

The basic purpose of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is determining how much of which products needs to be either manufactured or purchased based on it being a component or ingredient of another item. MRP also determines when the product is required. Every item can have either Independent Demand or Dependent Demand.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning, MRP

Advanced Inventory Solutions Complement ERP Systems

Posted on Tue, Aug 27,2013@12:01 PM

Advanced inventory planning solutions are known as decision support software. This means they are smart systems that forecast and plan optimal inventory requirements. They are superior to commonly used types of software; standard inventory transaction software and spreadsheets. Many of these solutions are both strategic and tactical tools. They cover long range inventory budget planning down to daily replenishment and problem solving.
 
Comparison to Spreadsheets
 
Spreadsheets are manual, time consuming. They do not provide intelligent part mix management and part specific forecasts. In addition, spreadsheets are extremely difficult to update and maintain current data effectively, plus they normally cannot be interfaced directly with enterprise and customer relationship software. Conducting quality assurance on the calculations and models is also difficult and based on a study by a leading international consulting firms over 90% of spreadsheets they audited contained significant errors. These errors led to the loss of millions of dollars.
 
Comparison with Standard Inventory Management other or Control Systems
 
Almost every inventory solution is a transaction (accounting) type system. This means they keep track of the physical movement of items on and off the shelf. These are “dumb” systems, meaning they are static and cannot intelligently determine what to stock, project demand, or create a complete replenishment plan. These systems are based on 40 year old plus, methods using ABC as the only part classification technique. They do not have leading-edge Exception Management capabilities which provide "alerts" to the User for unusually occurrences.
 
What Inventory Management Software can do:
 
• keep basic part information like: part number, description, cost, dimensions, etc.
• track parts movement: received, on order, on shelf, removed from the shelf, etc.
• provide a basic reorder point and min/max settings
• record the different bin locations where parts are stored
• provide an order for new parts needed, using standard reorder point, min/max, and safety stock
 
What Inventory Management Software cannot do:
 
• provide a system generated forecast or offer multiple advanced forecasting methods
• manage repair parts and their repair cycle (reverse logistics)
• provide an optimal inventory mix to improve service level while reducing cost
• offer multiple stocking and reordering policies
• manage parts specifically required for PM (preventative maintenance) schedules
• help to reduce overstock and excess part inventory
• manage by exception and provide key user alerts.
 
What Advanced Inventory Planning Solutions CAN DO:
 
• forecast parts demand with multiple models appropriate for different demand patterns
• plan for unlimited part and location combinations (scalable)
• provide advanced calculations for calculating shelf stock and reorder points
• calculate the optimal mix based on dynamic demand changes
• provide time phased plans and order for both new and repair items
• manage by exception and provide alerts to the planner
• identify overstock and excess inventory and provide redeployment strategies
• plan parts for preventative maintenance schedules
• multi-echelon or theatre planning - can plan at every stocking level both real and virtual
      (from master warehouse to stock kept with a field or service engineer)
• plan part life cycle, substitutes and supercedes, and end-of-life parts
 
Combining Transaction Systems + Advanced Planning Solutions
 
Advanced planning solutions do not replace the existing transaction systems. Instead, they are designed to complement and improve existing software. The best of all worlds is to add an advanced planning solution to an existing transaction system. This provides a more complete, robust system that dynamically plans based on what is happening now and projected for the future. Download our free whitepaper to find out more!

DMRP Smooth Flow Whitepaper
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Tags: Inventory Planning, cloud, inventory optimization, web based inventory software, cloud computing, Demand Planning, replenishment planning, Spreadsheets

Service Management Software - Part 2

Posted on Mon, Apr 15,2013@09:57 AM

Multi-location planning adds complexity.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning, service management software, Valogix

Service Management Software Part 1

Posted on Mon, Apr 08,2013@09:58 AM

Service Parts Planning Concepts

Service or spare parts inventory management is a prime candidate for advanced inventory planning, i.e. service management software.  With many parts to manage and a lack of power tools, most companies with parts inventories have too many of the wrong parts.  The result is unnecessary inventory expense, while still suffering service-limiting stock-outs.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning, service management software, Valogix

New Advanced Inventory Planning – Generate Positive Cash Flow

Posted on Mon, Mar 25,2013@07:56 PM

The Business Problem

Until recently, Small and Mid-size Enterprises (SME) did not have affordable, easy to use software tools to help them effectively manage and balance their inventory investment. Software solutions that forecast, plan and optimize an inventory are found in widespread acceptance in large enterprise companies but these solutions can cost between hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions and are generally not affordable by SMEs.

In most cases, spreadsheets are the common tool in use! They are time-consuming to build and maintain, are usually static data repositories, and according to a study by a major consulting firm over 90% of them contain significant errors.

For organizations that carry an inventory, like manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, that investment is often their largest asset.  The cost of carrying excess and obsolete stock, as well as not having sufficient saleable inventory to meet demand is enormously high.  It is common to find excess and obsolete stock representing 30% - 60% of inventory and to find that 5% - 40% of the time, customer demand cannot be met. The latter often results in expediting vendor orders at a premium cost that cannot be passed through (based on Valogix’s research and experience).

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning, Valogix

Demand Planning Software Overview for SMBs

Posted on Mon, Mar 18,2013@09:00 AM

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Tags: Inventory Planning, inventory optimization, Demand Planning

The Competitive Advantage of Inventory Planning and Optimization

Posted on Mon, Feb 25,2013@09:04 AM

Maximize Your Profits and Competitive Advantage at the Same Time

Congratulations!  You have survived another challenging year. In some cases you survived by holding off investing in much needed hardware and software. Now may be the time to surpass surviving and start thriving again.

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Tags: inventory optimization, Demand Planning, Valogix

With Inventory Planning is "Status Quo" the Way to Go?

Posted on Mon, Jan 07,2013@11:24 AM

Why it pays to invest in inventory solutions

There are many reasons or excuses for not upgrading to a modern, easy to use advanced inventory tool.  Which Category do you fall in?

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Tags: Inventory Planning, SAP, cloud, SaaS, Demand Planning, Valogix, inventory management

Business One - Inventory Planning Effective and Easy

Posted on Tue, Jan 31,2012@07:00 AM

Discover an affordable, seamlessly integrated inventory planning optimization solution to SAP Business One for small and midsize businesses. A solution that frees up your resources (including cash), reduces losses from obsolescence, and increases service levels. The tools you need to forecast, plan, and optimize inventory, manage your business more efficiently and meet the demands of customers and suppliers are powerful and affordable.

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Tags: Inventory Planning, SAP, SAP Business One, inventory optimization, Forecasting Inventory, advanced inventory planning solutions, cloud computing, Demand Planning, replenishment planning, Wholesale Distribution, Supply Chain, Partner Awards, Valogix, inventory management