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Driving Profitability by Managing Your Biggest Asset

by Lee Schwartz
First published by LA/NTMA, April 2013

How would you answer the following question: On your balance sheet, what typically represents at least 20% of your company’s assets?� If you answered, “your inventory,” you’re spot on.

Inventory as a percentage of your balance sheet can reach as high as 60%.� So as the owner/ manager of your manufacturing company, where better to focus your operational energies than on management of your inventory? �Imagine the benefits.

Several years ago a client had a problem.� Management believed that their facility could no longer handle their production needs.� After assessing their state of affairs at the time, a startling realization occurred.� Space truly wasn’t their issue.� How they handled their inventory flow was the culprit.

Inventory is your business’ best friend . . . so treat it accordingly.� It is both a good idea and a sound business practice to manage your inventory through the use of some form of inventory management software.� It could be as simple as an ERP system or a more robust and sophisticated WMS and/or MRP package.�

By employing the software correctly, my client was able to reduce inventory by over 25% while sales grew 35%.� And, as added bonuses, cash flow improved and backorders were reduced.

The benefit of cycle counting.� Regardless of the tools or activities that you are using to manage your inventory, cycle counting will improve your management efforts.� As an adjunct to annual or semi-annual physical inventories, routine cycle counting will hasten the identification of inventory problems and will increase your inventory accuracy.

Another client was having inventory problems.� Too frequently what the computer said was in stock was wrong.� �A plan was hatched. Using velocity as the trigger, i.e., focusing on the most active items, every day we counted two handfuls of items.� At first the effort seemed daunting, as we encountered too many variances and spent way too much time diagnosing the symptoms rather than correcting the causes of the problem.

But over time the benefits surfaced.� The next full inventory was completed in half the time . . . with much less wasted time dealing with variances . . . and was significantly more accurate than ever before.� While it generally takes several years to achieve, the ultimate reward for cycle counting can be . . . no more physical inventories.� Wouldn’t that be great?

Inventory management is as much rooted in the cultural attitude of ownership/ senior management as it is in the tactical application of ERP systems and cycle counting.� I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve faced these responses . . . “I can’t” or “I won’t” . . . when recommending that obsolete or slow moving inventory be disposed of.� The thought of selling anything at a loss is simply unacceptable, or management’s judgment is clouded by the fear of, “What if an order comes in.”�

But consider the consequences.�

Inventory management requires commitment and resources.� But given the benefits, how can you not commit the effort?� Managing your inventory wisely, prudently and proactively will increase your competitiveness, productivity and profitability.