Without effective inventory management in place, an industrial business can haemorrhage money in misplaced or overconsumed parts.
More importantly, a smart inventory solution provides round-the-clock access to essential parts, consumables, or PPE – with automated controls in place – reducing supply chain costs and downtime.
According to Brenton Finch, B2B eCommerce manager at Motion Australia, an inventory management system – such as a vending solution – can reduce product usage by up to 50 per cent. Motion Australia offers the widest range of vending machine options than any other distributor, from coil and locker machines to tool crib tracking management.
“Our machines are supported by the CribMaster software, which is really the key to monitoring stock levels and configuring things like controlled access,” he explains.
“It lets the customer know exactly what they’ve got on hand, notifying them when they need to re-order. It gives the customer the ability to track and measure everything coming out of the machine, including who is using it and what job it is being used for. This allows for smarter resource allocation for each particular job, team, or individual employee.”
Each system can be tailored to suit a business’s individual requirements. For example, some businesses might prefer the automated replenishment option where consumables or MRO products are restocked via the nearest Motion Australia branch.
While other businesses may prefer a simple but regular stock report. Either way, having a good level of traceability of the stock is beneficial to a business.
“It reduces downtime spent looking for and ordering items, because it can ensure constant product availability,” says Finch.
“Using one of these solutions, there should never be an instance where something is inconveniently out of stock, because it will have already flagged the system and triggered a re-order ahead of time.”
In addition, the solutions are fully configurable, meaning that individuals only have access to equipment that they are qualified or permitted to take out.
“For example, not any tradesperson on site can take a piece of calibrated equipment from the solution – it will depend on their access level,” says Finch.
“Any of the machines or the tool store is configurable to the individual so that you can control equipment or stock, providing access only to those with certain skill sets or qualifications.”
The onsite inventory management solutions also reduce waste and overordering.
“The other key benefit is that – and this may sound ironic – but it reduces stock on hand, because it’s constantly reporting on what’s there and needs to be replenished,” explains Finch.
“Often, businesses overorder on what they require and so it’s common for there to be redundant stock on site. And on top of that a huge cost saving can be realised by reducing the amount of lost, damaged, or even stolen stock because the solution has a record of everything.”
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