Inventory – The word itself sounds boring, then imagine doing it. No doubt that a minute and repetitive task like this would annoy anybody. But work is work. And there is no other way, especially when it comes to the service sector.
Let’s focus on one such sector, i.e. fire and security companies. Here are some of the essential factors that come into play specific to this industry.
- No importance for asset tracking
To begin with, as mentioned inventory previously is not interesting at all. But at the same time, not doing it might mean no track of assets. Now be it a big company or a small one, whatever assets there may be, one needs to account for them. This helps to avoid the situation of understock and to prevent the money wastage.
Due to the sheer disinterest in keeping an inventory, one might lose out on stocks which could be efficiently used. But understanding the nature of work, the next best option is to make use of software specifically designed for the same, which makes the whole process easy. It should be discussed more in detail in the end.
- Absence of vendor communication plan
A smooth vendor communication plan requires transparent and accurate inventory levels. However, the reality is probably much different. Companies have specially designed software to address this need for inefficiency in inventory.
Let’s look into what happens when there is no such software being employed. Improperly kept inventory would affect the vendor communication in the following way. You end up reaching out to the vendor multiple times, back and forth, because you are not sure about the exact requirements. Now this miscommunication might cost you more than anticipated.
On the other hand, regular and effective communication with the vendor would keep them informed about the requirements from time to time. This would help them, in turn, to help you with inventory forecast as well.
- Absence of inventory accountability
For a small company, with a small inventory and team members, the easiest way out is to maintain check-in and check-out sheets. These can be then put into spreadsheets, and the work is done. It seems easy and free. So, why not? Now imagine the case when the company has grown in size. This means more room for not just proper storage, but for the growing team too. A couple of misplaced items and forgotten check-out sheets can turn your inventory system upside down in no time. This is where the lack of accountability poses a problem. When the situation goes out of control, even then one might fix it. There is no way the source could be found, or such a situation can be prevented from happening again. On the other side, with a fire and security management software, every action is fed into the system with a person’s name, thus, helping to track the root cause.
- Inaccurate inventory forecast method
Inventory forecast are made based on these previously mentioned spreadsheets. Now with the scenarios explained above, there is a great possibility that the spreadsheet contains incorrect information. Next, comes out is the forecast which follows the pattern and sets incorrect order for the stock needed. The understock situation continues to exist. The whole purpose of the inventory forecast goes in-vain.
To fix this situation with the existing methods, it would need to go through the incorrect spreadsheets and look for the error. In any real-time situation, this is highly unlikely because of the sheer lack of time. Things get busy, and this means that there’s little time to spare for thorough admin.
- Overstock and understock at the same time
One of the employees happens to leave the equipment in the car and forgets to return it. The next day it’s someone else, and this goes on for a couple of days till the equipment is no longer there for the usage. For the manager, it means the tool ran out of stock and gets another bunch, only to find the employees got them back, all at once.
An overstock wouldn’t seem bad, but for space and money wasted over it. Had there been a fire and security software in place, the same money spent on that tool could instead be put into a good which was running out.
The same situation can be used to explain the understock aspect, which was the source for all this. Now, what happened, in this case, is nothing intentional but a simple error due to the situation during work. It is something that can happen to anybody.
- Inefficient employees managing inventory
Any change is not acceptable well when it is bought. This applies to all the situations. When talking about an organization, it applies all the more. From the employee perspective, it would mean changing to new work methodologies. Now when there is no proper training given for the same, it might not be an easy task. Thus, the execution lags and what was brought to improve the condition leaves the things worse.
Computer Weekly reports that fear of change dominated the staff that confronted the new software. At the same time, “the biggest challenge businesses face in digital transformation is issues around culture and bringing people on the way.” Hence, proper training is key. High-quality training can help improve the hesitation posed by the employees and thereby, smoothening employee-employer relation as well.
So before bringing in a highly efficient fire and security work order management software discussed with the employees and walk them through the process. This way, they will co-operate better, having understood the motive behind such a change.
Conclusion
Implementing software might not sound like the easiest thing, but it’s the only way to tackle all these challenges and many others that come with big contracts.
The software offers the following features:
- Elimination of the possibility of understock
- Reduce excess stock through efficient inventory control.
- Avoiding misplacement or damage to tools, thus draining your resources.
It all comes down to make work more effective and efficient. Change might be difficult to accept but not a bad idea after all!