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Too much stock! A simple guide to long tail management

In pursuit of a unique selling point, many businesses have developed extensive assortments encompassing many thousands of SKUs. While this approach enables businesses to provide customers with a huge amount of choice, managing such a large number of items brings with it its own range of challenges. When you consider that 80% of a business’s

Assortment planning to maximise value of your product range!

Businesses are under constant pressure  from customers to deliver goods as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, given that many organisations offer thousands upon thousands of items, its vital that the assortment planning process is effective. After all, with fierce competition from other organisations, stock outs and availability issues could force customers to make their

Automotive aftermarket: why is it stalling over excess stock?

Over the years, demand planning and inventory optimisation have always been a hot topic for discussion. For many of these businesses, excess stock is both a major speed bump and something which causes headaches for management, finance and supply chain teams alike. While there are a few specific segments of the automotive aftermarket where excess

Amazon’s assortment: The-sky-is-the-limit

If you look at businesses like Amazon, Alibaba or even your local super market, it seems that the-sky-is-the-limit when it comes to assortments. While offering literally millions of different products undoubtedly gives customers plenty of choice, keeping up with these exploding ranges can prove a constant battle. In pursuit of a unique selling point, many

What’s driving your availability levels?

Do you have enough stock to meet demand? Do you have too much? How can you ensure your service level targets satisfy the expectations of the business while still keeping investment in stock under control? Availability is everything for most businesses. However, while the commercial departments within the business may expect 100% availability, supply chain

The power of service levels on profitability

“I need a 100% service level” – a typical expectation of both management and commercial departments. Purchasing & operational divisions however, have a much better understanding of service levels and appreciate that attaining 100% is a utopia. In practice, determining an appropriate service level is an extremely complicated undertaking.  OPTIMISE YOUR SERVICE LEVELS For many businesses, the

No more ‘gambling’ with inventory management

In Asia-Pacific, many auto-parts distributors are small or medium family-run businesses, often with legacy technology systems to track their inventory. A lot of manual processes are involved in their inventory management workflow, which results in specific but common inefficiencies across the board. The gambling game Because of so much opacity in the delicate balance between

Whitepaper: The EOQ formula in 7 steps

The EOQ formula from theory to practice in 7 steps This paper discusses an indispensable inventory management figure: the economic order quantity (EOQ). Your ordering quantities highly affect inventory height. Since they also influence the number of replenishments, they are an important influencer of your day-to-day supply chain operations as well. Therefore, the determination of the

Supply chain projects 2018: Shred your obsolete stock

As we embark upon the new year, no doubt many of us are carrying a few extra pounds. The same holds true for businesses: there is always scope to trim down the excess inventory. Holding high levels of obsolete stock is bad for business. However, removing these items from your operation is often easier said

How can you construct a more robust forecast?

Businesses in the building trade typically rely on a global network of suppliers to satisfy the needs of their customers. Consequently, lengthy lead times of up to several months are the norm for businesses in this sector. As a result, suppliers and distributors of building materials depend upon accurate long-range demand forecasts in order to

Nail down your assortment strategy

When it comes to building products, customers expect suppliers to be able to provide anything and everything at a moment’s notice. In response to this demand, many businesses in the building industry have exploded their assortments to encompass many thousands of different SKUs. The problem is, however, how much do you really know about the