What Is Inventory Management?
One of the key elements driving the future success of your business is an efficient warehousing system. To that end, it’s essential to partner with warehouse management professionals who know their way around the details of inventory management.
You and your colleagues would benefit from insight into the significance of managing your inventory and warehousing setup and how they fit with the logistics and supply chain capabilities of B&C Logistics.
Inventory Management vs Warehouse Management
When considering your supply chain, you will hear people discussing inventory management and warehouse management. These are not interchangeable terms.
Inventory management has to do with receiving orders, predicting demand, and determining how many items you need to keep on hand, based on the season as well as customers’ sales histories.
Warehouse management focuses on picking and packing activity to move inventory through the system as efficiently as possible. Managing your warehouse will rely on data such as product expiration dates and the most popular units to determine where to place them inside the warehouse for faster processing.
How do Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) work and its Effective Use?
Warehouse Management Systems are special software solutions designed to help businesses manage their crucial warehouse activities whether for B2B or B2C distribution.
Use a WMS to verify how many items you have left in stock, adjust prices, and monitor the rate of picking and packing tasks and the state of your shipping processes.
Best Practices for Managing Warehouse Inventory
You can rest assured that B&C Logistics follows industry best practices when it comes to managing our customers’ warehouse inventory.
For example, our warehouse inventory management experts focus on:
- Evaluate the layout of your warehouse, such as to set up zones for maximum efficiency of workers in their supply chain tasks
- Install warehouse inventory management software
- Hire a manager for the warehouse
- Create an efficient workflow system
- Continuously monitor the system to verify all is working to plan
Ways a 3PL Can Enhance Your Warehouse and Inventory Management
Stakeholders in your organization who are evaluating the potential benefits of a 3PL need to be aware of the various ways a third-party logistics firm can enhance your centralized warehousing and inventory management:
- A 3PL, like B&C Logistics, has years of experience working in warehouse environments and managing their activities for maximum efficiency.
- A dedicated team that knows how to pick and pack items safely and efficiently will ensure that all orders are fulfilled accurately and on time.
- Your 3PL will be able to quickly react to product recalls, to notify recipients about sending back items that do not meet quality standards.
B&C Logistics Warehousing and Inventory Management Solution
With so many moving parts to keep track of in warehouse inventory management, it makes sense to work with third-party logistics experts who have years of experience in the industry, such as the team at B&C Logistics. We handle fulfillment for subscription box companies and retailers as well as D2C businesses.
If you have questions about our 3PL approach or would like to know more about how our customized services will enhance your warehouse and inventory management, contact us today.