inventory

  • Adopting a Smart Approach to Inventory Management

    • April 3, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Digital Transformation
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    You need to establish a solid inventory management plan so you know EXACTLY how much you have at any given time.

    Remember the old days of inventory management, when you had to walk up and down the aisles of the warehouse, carrying a clipboard and counting every single piece of inventory, comparing it to what you had on your printout? Everyone rejoiced when software companies came out with inventory management software, and they clamored to introduce

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  • How Do You Deal With Supply Shortages? How Can You Prevent Them?

    • March 10, 2021
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Manufacturing
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    An empty industrial hall. This is what a supply shortage looks like.

    Here’s a scenario. Let’s say you’re expecting a shipment of needed parts in order to fill an order of your own. Maybe you’ve got a customer who’s waiting on you, or you’ve got a big installation that you’re working on. Your supplier calls you and says, “I’m sorry, we’re out of this part you need

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  • What Is Standard Costing in a Manufacturing System?

    • September 11, 2019
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Manufacturing, Measurement
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    A factory warehouse filled with inventory. A prime example of ??

    If you’re new to manufacturing, you’ll soon learn about a standard costing system, which is the standard cost of an item including material, labor, and overhead. This creates an inventory value, which is not the selling price of the inventory, but the production costs of it. For example, if it costs you $150,000 to make

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  • Can 3D Printing Change Your ABC Analysis?

    • April 24, 2019
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Digital Transformation, Manufacturing
    No Comments
    This industrial 3D printer can print out furniture. It's the future of 3D printing and manufacturing. It's amazing what 3D printing can do to a company's inventory costs.

    Companies that regularly perform an ABC analysis on their products may be able to change how often they cut their products and reduce their inventory if they could embrace 3D printing. It would help them reduce the amount of inventory and raw materials they store, which could make some nonprofitable items profitable ones. Here’s how.

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  • How to Maintain the Right Inventory Levels

    • August 15, 2018
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management, Measurement, Productivity
    No Comments
    A forklift in a giant warehouse of tires in metal racks. Pictures like this make me shudder when I think of how companies have high inventory levels.

    A serious problem facing many manufacturers is tying up cash reserves by keeping too much inventory or too many raw materials on hand. Finished products don’t move as quickly as you thought, or you made more than you needed “just in case,” or you bought a lot of raw materials because you got a bigger

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  • How We Turned a 10-Day Inventory Process Into a One-Day Process

    • April 12, 2017
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Productivity
    No Comments
    This is what a pallet rack system in a warehouse looks like.

    It’s an inventory cage match! Justin Case versus Justin Time Can you imagine running a factory or business where it takes you 10 days just to do a basic count on your inventory? One of the problems is you might count something on Day 1 only to have to recount it because it’s been used

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