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NETWORK BALANCING SOFTWARE
Achieve perfect stock balance across your supply chain
Ensure the right amount of stock is in the right place at the right time, all the time.
MORE THAN 30 YEARS REVOLUTIONISING AVAILABILITY, INVENTORY & SERVICE LEVELS FOR 1,500+ CUSTOMERS
Companies using network balancing to drive results
AVOID STOCKOUTS AND EXCESS STOCK WITH SMARTER INVENTORY ALLOCATION
Why Slimstock?
In a multi-location, multi-echelon network environment it is difficult to correctly balance the distribution of inventory across all warehouses, distribution centres, and stores. Slim4 overturns that narrative to bring your business profits, optimisation, and – critically – balance.
- Guarantee stock where it’s needed most: populate the network in an optimised way.
- Minimise costs without sacrificing customer satisfaction: find the perfect balance between excessive stock and stockouts.
- Make stock redistribution a seamless advantage: avoid unnecessary orders and extract maximum value from existing stock.
BALANCE YOUR NETWORK TO ENHANCE YOUR BUSINESS
Benefits to help you lower costs, improve service levels, and optimise purchasing
Precise stock levels at all times
First and foremost, network balancing must ensure the right volume of stock. Fewer stockouts, constant availability, resources deployed according to precise supply and demand forecasts.
The right place at the right time
Network balance optimisation is also a matter of time and place. Slim4 ensures not only the right amount of stock, but the optimal positioning of it across different nodes, at any given time.
Remove unnecessary spending
If you have too much stock, you’re paying for the management of that excessive inventory, its repositioning back upstream, or even through premature markdowns to expedite sales. All of that can be avoided if your network balancing is optimised.
Guarantee customer satisfaction
In an omnichannel retail environment demand can shift quickly. Customers won’t excuse a lack of availability, and it’s no use to them if stock is available elsewhere across the network. Slim4 ensures availability, which ensures satisfaction.
Enhance supplier relationships
Accurate orders mean less back and forth with suppliers, while optimised stock levels may even reduce the number of orders you need to make. Margins can be improved while collaborations are strengthened.
Treat your supply chain holistically
Complete visibility of your entire network allows for seamless redistribution of stock between different locations. Excess stock in one location might suddenly become a much-needed addition elsewhere.
KEY FEATURES OF SLIM4 NETWORK BALANCING SOFTWARE
Solve supply chain challenges with intelligent transfers and improved cluster management
Make tactical transfers based on real-time data
Master network balancing by transferring inventory effectively between locations. Slim4 network balancing feeds off demand data across different locations to identify how that balance should look in real-time.
Reap rewards from redistribution
Slim4 identifies opportunities to redistribute stock to convert excess items in one location, into inventory allocation elsewhere.
Set business rules and identify workable clusters
Network balancing doesn’t always work across the board. Slim4 enables the setup of transfer clusters so the solution only suggests stock transfers that are logistically viable and financially sensible.
Remove unnecessary expenditures by making use of what’s already in the network
By knowing what’s needed and where, you can make complete use of already-ordered stock by moving it strategically. This removes the need for additional orders which would only create more stock to try and sell, and more resources to manage it.
Relieve burden from your ERP system
Slim4 is a best-of-breed supply chain management tool, with its redistribution functionality not available through general ERP systems. Allow your network balancing solution to integrate seamlessly with your ERP, while elevating your supply chain function.
Solutions aligned to your network balancing responsibilities
Spend less while making more
If you’re optimising stock that’s already in the network, then you can operate at the highest level for the lowest possible cost. All transfers are made with the specifications of your network in mind, ensuring all decisions not only lucrative, but viable and sustainable.
- Make the most out of every expenditure.
- Better understand your entire network.
- Reduce operational costs.
Overcome complexity, and stay agile to the unexpected
Managing inventory across a multi-echelon network is difficult. Forecasting customer behaviour and trends is difficult. Relying on Slim4 to make you adaptable to different supply routes, lead times, order quantities, and customer demands, is easy.
- Assess all distribution factors in real-time for informed, optimised decisions.
- Enable all locations to work to their full potential.
- Mitigate customer demand fluctuations.
Capitalise on complete cross-channel visibility
Most suppliers won’t take excess stock back and the ones that do are likely to penalise you for it. Slim4 sidesteps this possibility, as well as the need to order more to fulfil demand at just one location. Opt instead for rule-based redistribution of stock from where it’s not needed, to where it is.
- Redistribute excess stock to suitable locations in need.
- Avoid financial penalties for sending stock back to suppliers.
- Avoid extra orders to service just one node or location.
TESTIMONIALS OF OUR NETWORK BALANCING SOFTWARE
See what our customers think
1.4$
Million working capital improvement
10%
Increase in sales
50%
Reduction in excess stock
"Slimstock's platform has played a pivotal role in helping us reduce inventory levels by $1.4m while still enabling significant sales growth"
Marthinus Ferreira
Head of Inventory Optimisation
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Frequently asked questions
What is network balancing software?
Network balancing software is a supply chain solution designed to optimise the distribution of inventory across a multi-location, multi-echelon network, such as warehouses, distribution centres and stores.
Its purpose is to ensure that the right level of stock is held at the right point in the network, at the right time, while maintaining target service levels at the lowest possible cost. Rather than treating each location in isolation, network balancing takes a holistic view of demand and supply.
What are the key features of Slimstock’s network balancing software?
Slimstock’s network balancing software (Slim4) analyses demand and supply across the entire inventory network, calculating the optimal stock distribution to achieve overall service level targets. The main functions include:
- The ability to identify excess stock and suggest transfer orders between locations, reducing unnecessary purchase orders.
- The solution takes into account delivery times, supply routes, minimum order quantities and operational constraints, ensuring that recommendations are feasible.
- In addition, you can define transfer groups to control which locations can redistribute stock to each other, reflecting real-world logistical constraints.
You can also define transfer groups to control which locations can redistribute stock to each other, reflecting real-world logistical constraints.
How can business benefit from Slimstock’s network balancing software?
Businesses benefit from lower inventory and operational costs, as excess stock is redeployed within the network rather than replaced through new purchases. This improves overall stock performance while maintaining desired service levels.
By gaining a network-wide view of inventory, organisations can make better investment decisions, reduce waste and respond more effectively when demand does not behave as expected.