Top 5 Inventory Optimizations You Voted to Improve this Year

Hottest Inventory Optimization Goals Set for 2013

As we close 2013, let’s review the 5 most popular areas that supply chain people said they wanted to improve. Our research and resulting blog released January 7 of 2013 highlighted 5 areas you said you wanted to improve; how did you do? What areas of your supply chain improved and what areas still have opportunity?

Top 3 Inventory Management Concepts for Improvement in 2013

The inventory concepts included inventory optimization (IO), lead-time forecasting (LT), and supply chain visibility (SC). Oddly, Demand Forecasting (DF) was not one of the top 5 improvement goals of 2013, but that changed dramatically during the year. Sign up for our free blog to learn why and how in a few weeks. Below we have attached the original lead stories for you to review. We will be releasing the most popular supply chain stories and topics of 2013 soon, but let’s review where we started at the end of 2012 to help us learn where we need to go next.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” — Henry Ford

The Top Blogs of 2012 Became the Most Voted Areas to Improve in 2013.

-Click To Open Each-

The 3 Most Ignored (and Profitable) Factors in Inventory Optimization

The most Ignored (and profitable) factors of Inventory Optimization are demand forecast accuracy, supplier constraints, and warehouse (or store) capacity. We explore critical and often overlooked components to Inventory Optimization.

Has Inventory Optimization Left you Out-of-Stock and Over-Stocked?

True Inventory Optimization delivers profits by minimizing carrying and acquisition cost. We outline why Inventory Optimization performs poorly through Excel and highlight common problems.

Lead Time Forecasting – Solving the Inventory Optimization Puzzle

Bad lead times cost dollars. While some vendors will tell you that Lead Time Forecasting isn’t important, we’re here to show you how it is absolutely critical to your profitability. Read on to see why.

Lead Time Forecasting: Are Your Shelves Overstocked or Out-of-Stock?

Time is money – making poor Lead Time Forecasting a potential money pit for your business. Learn how you can improve your gross margin and increase your profits.

Predictions on the Future of Real-Time Supply Chain Visibility – A Reality in 2013

It’s hard to solve the problem that you don’t know exists. Supply Chain Visibility must provide real-time actionable insight to drive behavior changes and profitability in 2013.

Learn How to Become Demand Driven with Accurate Demand Forecasting

The success of Inventory Optimization and Supply Chain visibility ultimately depends on your use of an accurate Demand Forecast. We see in each of the 5 blogs that Demand Forecasting accuracy is central to the success of each process. Key industry analysts Gartner, IDC and AMR will increase their focus in 2014 on Demand Driven Retail, which requires accurate forecasting and End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility & Interaction. We believe the new opportunities for mid-tier retail and wholesale companies will continue to improve this year which is good for all of us.

Would you like to learn more about how we guide our clients into Demand Driven supply chains? Want to learn more about how we can deliver Inventory Optimization and Supply Chain Visibility in your company? Request a Demo, and we’ll show you a more effective way to Profit in your Data. You can ‘Tighten the Links in Your Supply Chain?™’ and start to see new profits in 90 days.

About
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Stuart D

Stuart Dunkin is a strategic visionary who leads by calling on his broad range of experience as a former retail executive as well as a consultant for top retailers and for the E3/JDA software company. He founded Data Profits to solve a real-world problem plaguing retailers today – the disjointed relationship between supply chain data, people and business goals. He has experienced first-hand the challenges and frustrations that occur when decisions are made based on wrong data, which often leads to the wrong actions being taken with crippling results like overstock, out-of-stock, and increased working capital.
Stuart graduated from Auburn University, with bachelor of science in business administration.