INTRODUCTION
Do you have inventory accuracy problems? Typical symptoms:
o Lots of inventory errors
o Surprise backorders, unplanned shortages, "lost material"
o Nobody believes the records-- numerous calls to "check" on availability
o Air freight bill exceeds the national debt
o Nasty financial reporting "surprises"
o Lack of consensus on importance of accuracy
o Lack of consensus on how to measure it
o Inability to reconcile inventories, cycle counts
o Error causes largely unknown
o Weak/no company tradition of data accuracy
o New systems/software implementation causing more confusion
Solution recommendations are presented as follows...
ORGANIZE PROJECT
Results are usually best when there is a bit of a crisis atmosphere established. Business as usual won't usually serve to get serious inventory accuracy problems fixed within two months. Sometimes a humbling blow, such as losing millions in an inventory "write-down", or an unfavorable "write-up" by a customer, is helpful to shatter the status quo and energize an organization to begin work in earnest on a solution. Top level executive action works best to motivate and mobilize people. At a minimum, perception of a costly problem is needed, with some realization of a need to correct it.
No comments:
Post a Comment