Having the right people, processes, and tools can make a dramatic difference for an inventory-based business. Without the right resources, you may constantly scramble to keep things moving smoothly. It could result in lower production times, abysmal employee morale, and a decrease in revenue.
Your business will be much more successful with the right people, processes, and tools. Let’s dive into everything you need to know about this strategic advantage.
The Key Elements
Having the right elements in place across your organization can significantly improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. Here’s how.
People
Hiring the right people is one of the first steps in raising efficiency and increasing profits for your business. With the right team members in place, you will often find that your team runs much more smoothly because they can rely on one another.
You’ll need people who:
- Have an aptitude for the work you need them to accomplish
- Fit well with your existing team
- Understand your company culture and work within it
There’s no such thing as a perfect resume. However, team members with the right attitude and soft skills, including overall cultural fit, can often be trained in the fundamental hard skills they need to succeed.
If you have the wrong people in place in your organization, on the other hand, you may feel they are working against you or are unable to offer the support necessary to help take your business to the next level. Furthermore, if your team members do not have the proper training or skills, you may spend excess resources getting them caught up to speed or risk losing them earlier than expected.
In addition to ensuring you have the right team members, it’s also essential to have the right roles filled. As your business grows, you may need to manage more of those tasks internally, and you may need to hire for various positions. For example, you may need to grow your inventory management team so you have full insight into inventory needs in all areas of your business, including warehouses, retail stores, and even manufacturers.
Processes
Once you have the right people in place across your business, you must institute the right processes. Your business likely already has processes for many activities it performs regularly, but as it expands, so do your procedures.
For example, you may have a marketing process that helps guide interested customers through your sales funnel, or you may already have a specific hiring process enabling you to move the right people into your organization and provide them with the training they need.
You may need processes for:
- Selecting the technology solutions you want to use for your business
- Ordering
- Training
- Managing your supply chain
In addition to larger, overarching processes, you may need smaller ones that help you better guide your business. You may need processes allowing you to choose the right supplier or notify when you need to change suppliers. Another instance might have you needing one for informing you about supply chain snarls or other problems as they come up.
Putting clear processes in place ensures that employees know what to do and when to do it. It lets them learn how to oversee specific issues and concerns as they crop up and provides more information about how to respond to an emergency or challenge.
Tools
The right tools can substantially improve the overall management of your inventory-based business and allow your employees to function more efficiently. Because you use a variety of tools daily, some may need updating or replacing. It’s always a good idea to review which ones are working and which ones aren’t.
In addition, as an inventory-based business, you need to ensure that you have the right tools to manage that inventory. You may need solutions that will handle:
- Demand forecasting
- Replenishment planning
- Analyzing inventory
- Tracking supplier performance
- Managing your promotions
If your business does not have those tools, employees will have to take care of those processes on their own. As an outcome, they may have significantly less time to dedicate to other tasks. The right tools make their jobs easier, resulting in better production.
The Benefits
When you have the right key elements in place, you can experience several critical benefits, outlined below.
Improved Efficiency
Having the right people, processes, and tools can help improve efficiency across your business. You can take care of any issues more efficiently, manage inventory effectively, and decrease overall costs.
Increased Customer Satisfaction
The right people, tools, and processes can help improve satisfaction for many of your customers. When you have those elements lined up, you can provide better overall customer service because you can keep up with customer needs. As a result, customers will be more satisfied with your business as a whole, increasing the likelihood they’ll return in the future.
Decreased Costs
Your people and tools, in particular, often involve considerable up-front investment. Many businesses will delay hiring new employees or purchasing new tools because they do not want to experience those increased costs. Ultimately, however, having the right people and tools can help decrease overall costs and improve profits for your business.
Decreased Time
If you do not have the right processes and tools in place—and the right people in those roles—you may find that your employees spend much more time on essential tasks. As a result, they will not have that time to spend on other business areas. You may end up paying overtime.
At StockIQ, we help ensure you have the tools to manage your inventory effectively. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions and how we can help you more efficiently manage your business.
