Inventory optimisation is a high-wire balancing act for manufacturers and distributors. From raw materials to finished goods, how do you decide what and how much to stock, when, and in what form?
On one side, you need to satisfy customers who expect product delivery at warp speed. You may also want to hedge against cost volatility by stocking higher quantities. On the other side, keeping products and materials on the shelf can be really expensive. In manufacturing, as much as 50% of your capital can be tied up in inventory.
Discover how SYSPRO’s inventory optimisation solutions empower your team to solve these challenges. Forecast and control over what’s in transit, at the warehouse and on the shop floor – so you can identify issues before they occur. The payoff can be significant.
Benefits: What you can do
As your business grows in complexity and you support multiple sales channels or global locations, accurate forecasting and planning become even more challenging – and mission critical to driving profits. If you’re using manual processes and guessing what and how much inventory to carry, there’s a better way.
4 ways to smarter inventory management with SYSPRO ERP.
Forecast demand more accurately
In your business, you need to purchase raw materials wisely, taking into account issues like seasonality and favourable purchasing terms. SYSPRO ERP Software provides advanced forecasting, demand planning, and modelling with “what-if” capabilities that show the trade-offs related to inventory and fulfilment time.
In addition, SYSPRO enables you to conduct an analysis of stock codes (SKUs) by multiple algorithms at a granular level, so you can see each item’s historical demand behaviour and impact on profits. Then you can create segments and balance ordering based on that behaviour – basic, seasonal or safety stock.
No history? SYSPRO’s proxy functionality enables you to forecast demand for new products based on the sales history of similar superseded products – particularly useful in industries where product life cycles are short.
Improve sales and operations planning
With SYSPRO’s integrated scheduling, inventory forecasting and Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) solutions, you can order just what you need in response to demand, reducing both costs and waste. This functionality is complemented by features such as “available-to-promise” and various time fence indicators, which give sales and production staff a reliable view of what they can promise to customers and when.
In addition, SYSPRO ERP Software features advanced business analytics reporting so you can analyse KPIs such as lost sales, days of stock cover and days out of stock. When you identify slow-moving, excess, active and static stocks, your sales team can then create targeted promotions, and your operations team can accurately handle obsolescence provisioning.
Drive efficiency with budgets and inventory targets
With SYSPRO Inventory Optimisation connected to our MRP solution, your team can use demand forecasting to calculate budgets and targets for purchasing raw materials. You can develop ordering policies by stock code at the warehouse level, and then calculate time-phased minimum and maximum levels dynamically based on demand forecasts. With set targets, you can further improve efficiency by automating processes like standard reorders.
Troubleshoot daily inventory gaps – fast
When you have real-time access to inventory information, you can pinpoint and address issues quickly before an out-of-stock situation occurs. SYSPRO ERP Software can show you where and why inventory is not in balance (excess or shortage), with tracking signals to indicate when forecast accuracy might be in doubt. You can also leverage alerts to automatically notify you of supplier issues, so you can speed up resolution.
