The prime objective for all supply chains is to provide customers with what they want, when they want it. Inventory management plays a central role in every supply chain’s need to satisfy its customers.

Inventory Solutions

Tompkins Associates helps companies develop an effective approach to inventory. We analyze the impact of internal and external factors to integrate inventory with purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sales to create inventory policies that make sense. Tompkins solutions take into account:

• Customer needs and their influence on in-stock/fill rates, lead time and accuracy
• Costs incurred from purchase transaction expenses, manufacturing set-up/changeover expenses, and more
• Operations changes driven by promotions or recalls and SKU proliferation
• Technology and its ability to provide trend, profiling and seasonality-based forecasting, trading partner visibility and planning collaboration
• Corporate goals whether revenue, unit sales, or RONA/GMROI or A/P increase

We look at every area impacting your inventory to create a comprehensive inventory management strategy that will enhance financial performance and customer satisfaction.

Understanding Inventory

Despite its importance to the supply chain, inventory is not universally well understood. It is variously characterized, both positively and negatively, as an economic asset to a non-income-producing use of capital funds. Only when considered in light of all quality, customer service and economic factors—from the viewpoints of purchasing, manufacturing, sales and finance—does the whole picture of inventory become clear. No matter the viewpoint, effective inventory management is essential to supply chain competitiveness.

Read Inventory Management for the essentials for creating an inventory management strategy.

Lowering Inventory Costs

Recent industry reports show that inventory costs as a percent of total logistics costs are increasing. Despite this rise, many organizations have not taken full advantage of ways to lower inventory costs. There are a number of proven strategies that will provide payoff in the inventory area, both in customer service and in financial terms. 

Some of these strategies involve having less inventory while others involve owning less of the inventory you have. Regardless of which techniques you employ, proactive inventory management practices will make a measurable difference in your operations.

Read 25 Ways to Lower Inventory Costs for some of the most common and not so common techniques for lowering inventory costs.