Everybody thinks that the cause of inventory issues is bad tracking and poorly designed software.
In real life, the cause of inventory issues isn't tracking.
It's structure.
Structure defined in inventory
What does structure actually mean in inventory?
Product definitions (SKU, UPC, GTIN)
Grouping levels for quantities (unit, pack, case)
Management of locations (warehouse, store, aisle, bin)
Data flow between systems
When structure is lacking, no amount of tracking tools or software can solve an inventory issue.
When do things begin to fall apart
The inventory issues typically begin to appear when:
the same item is entered in multiple ways
stock is tracked at different levels (e.g., units and cases)
different teams don't enter data consistently
systems don't agree on what a product is
In essence, the system isn't broken, just not clear enough.
Why it becomes an even bigger issue as a business grows
When a business grows:
more SKUs are added
more packaging varieties begin appearing
more locations are introduced
more individuals will begin touching the inventory system
Without structure to tie everything together, these small inconsistencies stack up to larger inventory errors.
What will really boost inventory systems?
There are two things that will improve inventory performance:
Consistent product hierarchy (unit pack case)
Clear SKU / GTIN mapping rules
Standard update processes
One single system of record
The key is not more tools, it's proper data structure.
Final word
The failure of inventory systems is not that they fail to track items.
The cause of their failure is not tracking enough about a product at the first point of entry.
Fix structure, and tracking becomes by default quite capable.
There is more about structured inventory systems at https://theinventorymaster.com
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