Sponsored Content: 5 Signs Your Inventory Is Out of Control
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For service contractors, having the right supplies on hand is a must. Having adequate stock of commonly-used items is good for business, but the tendency toward preparedness can cross the line into hoarding for some technicians, leading to higher carrying costs, obsolete inventory, lost productivity and fewer completed jobs.
Here are five signs your inventory management processes may need help:
- Inventory is disappearing. By not having a way to keep track of what inventory lives where or who has touched it, it’s hard to know whether an item has been used or moved, or whether it’s been broken, lost or even stolen.
- Your trucks are packed to the brim. If your technicians are only using a small fraction of what’s in their trucks each month, and they’re not sure what’s at the bottom of the pile, they probably have a lot more product stored in their truck than they really need.
- Your technicians are storing inventory in their garages. If your technicians are hoarding materials at home, it’s probably not due to a lack of space in the company stockroom. More likely, it’s because they don’t know if there’s enough inventory back at the office to meet their needs, so they keep things at home just in case.
- You’re noticing jobs are getting postponed or taking longer. When technicians don’t have the materials or tools they need, they risk delaying the start or completion of a job, slowing your organization’s sales growth and negatively effecting customers satisfaction.
- Your technicians make trips to the store to buy just one or two common items. When technicians waste valuable time running to the store for materials, they have less time in the day to complete jobs, which hurts your bottom line.
Even if you’re seeing multiple signs of poor inventory management in your business, there’s still hope. Each of these signs stems from a lack of inventory transparency, which is easily remedied with the help of a modern inventory management system.
MarginPoint’s mobile inventory management solution tracks your team’s material usage in real time down to the user, job and customer level regardless of where materials are stored, giving you a fully visibility to what you have on hand and what you need. It also enables automated replenishment by linking your own system with your suppliers’, ensuring you’ll always have the materials you need to get the job done while keeping costs down. If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of a mobile inventory management solution, download our free eBook for service contractors.
MarginPoint Mobile Inventory is ideal for HVACR, electrical, plumbing, facilities management and other service contractor organizations. Learn more at www.marginpoint.com.
Posted In: Money
