Metal distributors and fabricators have busy warehouses and distribution centers already stuffed full of inventory. Maintaining certain types and volumes of inventory is necessary for certain customers, but how much is too much? Businesses can quickly lose money on overstocking the warehouse or find themselves stuck with obsolete materials. Take a strategic approach toward inventory management, and protect your bottom line, with RealSTEEL.
Managing inventory is particularly challenging for businesses in the steel and metals industry. It’s difficult to maintain insight and control over multiple warehouse locations, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities when fast-moving inventory is being shifted between locations. Disconnected business systems only make matters worse, locking data in silos, making it hard to reach and use when needed. How do you get the control and confidence you need with inventory and purchasing decisions?
Control Inventory and Save Money with RealSTEEL
Steel service centers, metal fabricators and suppliers within the steel and metals industry maintain a variety of inventory with multiple attributes. RealSTEEL accurately and efficiently supports complex inventory with these features tailored for the steel and metals industry:
- 1. Know your inventory: Bar code labeling streamlines inventory as it comes into the warehouse, is used on the floor, and as it’s delivered to the customer. Track materials by dimensional, physical and chemical attributes. Know what you have on hand, reserve items for individual jobs, or return them to stock.
- 2. Know your yield: Link jobs with available inventory, including remnants or scrap. Use accurate yield calculations to determine what you can get from available inventory before purchasing more product.
- 3. Strengthen vendor relationships: Send quotes to multiple vendors and capture their replies within RealSTEEL. Establish primary or preferred vendors and keep key information at your fingertips, like price agreements, discount schedules and shipping arrangements.
- 4. Negotiate vendor discounts: Establish terms with vendors to take advantage of discounts for minimum quantities, units of measure or time period. As you forecast inventory needs and plan manufacturing operations, you will be able to obtain the best prices possible.
Maintaining too much inventory puts pressure on cash flow, reducing your ability to invest in other parts of your busineshttps://www.realsteelsoftware.com/s. Contact The Wolcott Group to learn more about RealSTEEL and start making better decisions about inventory and purchasing.
By The Wolcott Group, providers of RealSTEEL, ERP for the steel and metals industry.
