Let's face it, inventory is money waiting to be sold to customers, yet all too often it seems to disappear at your expense. Commonly, thousands of dollars are written off with no understanding of what happened.  But, how do distributors accurately keep track of their inventory without halting business operations? Especially when your SKUs are in the 100s or even 1000s. The answer lies in cycle counting.

For small to medium sized distributors, stopping business operations - even for a day - can be a large expense. Cycle counting allows you to count smaller portions of your inventory on a regular basis. Daily or weekly inventory counts ensure that each item of inventory is counted and tracked in a timely manner.

An automated route accounting system equips you with the efficiency of cycle counts. Tight inventory control gained from cycle counting provides for multiple benefits such as: 

1. Unmatched accuracy - Inventory is easily counted with an automated system. Accurate data and a full audit trail is provided to report exactly what inventory is or isn't present.
2. Cost and time savings - Because cycle counts are electronic and ongoing, business operations are no longer disrupted by full physical inventory counts that halt business operations. In addition, problems and discrepancies are more easily spotted and corrected. This saves you labour costs and hours of time.
3. Operational efficiency - Real-time accurate visibility into the location of your inventory allows for greater productivity. For example, if a customer wants a particular item, you can locate it on a truck, in a warehouse, or in another store, without having to purchase another item and wasting your customer's time.
4. Enhanced sales - Understanding product movement can also enhance your sales. For example, if a product line performs better than expected, you can expand the amount of those items that are on hand and sell more.
5. Staff diligence - When staff understand inventory is accurately counted, they become more diligent in caring for your inventory.

   
Inventory counting and reconciliation doesn't need to be a tedious job, but it does need to get done. An automated system such as Solid Route Accounting™ provides your distribution business with electronic count sheets, reconciliation, adjustments, and valuable audit information, which helps take the stress out of managing your inventory. For more information about how your inventory can benefit from Solid Route Accounting™, contact Nancy at nsagardia@solid-innovation.com, or call  1-888-667-3769 Ext. 306.