Inventory counts and analysis – just for year end?

As December 31st arrives, for the vast majority of companies with a calendar fiscal year, inventory

physical counts and reconciliation loom large.  The challenges of obtaining and scheduling resources to complete the actual counts and reconcile those counts to the accounting records and resolve discrepancies amidst holiday vacation requests during what is often the busiest time of the year can be nerve-wracking.  It’s a key part of inventory planning at year-end – but shouldn't this be occurring more frequently?

Your inventory represents a major asset for your company – do you know what’s on hand and available to ship?  What about breakage or obsolescence?  Are you maintaining the optimal level of inventory based on both your historical and forecast sales rates?  These are key metrics you should be using to manage your warehouse operations and expedite fulfillment throughout the year, and not just at year end.

Inventory control and management is often overlooked in warehouse operations. At Vision we strategically monitor your inventory – specifically your order velocity and inventory turn rate – to ensure inventory placement in the warehouse is optimized for both efficiency and cost.  You can manage inventory levels based on actual data rather than a seat-of-the pants feeling.  Maintaining the right inventory levels maximizes your use of resources while supporting the sales operations – and that can translate to increased cash flow and contribution margin.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

How to meet the needs of e-commerce logistics

2014 is projected to see U.S. e-commerce sales increase year over year by 13% per IBM, and for the first time, e-commerce sales outpaced brick and mortar sales over the Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales period although overall sales were actually down from 2013.  The composition of sales for many companies is shifting to a heavier weighting of e-commerce transactions.  But how does warehouse fulfillment for e-commerce differ from that of traditional sales?  And how do you manage those changes?

First, the opportunities to drive efficiencies of fulfilling and moving product in bulk that are found in traditional logistics disappear, to be replaced by direct-to-consumer orders that are one-by-one ane-commerce fulfillment lifecycle can be a lifeline when managing the challenges of e-commerce logistics efficiently.

This would require a pick, pack and ship operation.  Second, e-commerce sales are highly promotion driven, resulting in large swings in order volumes (even changing from day to day).  And last, online orders tend to be unpredictable, both in terms of overall volumes and product popularity (a single mention in the right social media venue can drive sales through the roof unexpectedly).  A partner experienced in supporting an

Vision Media Management can help you manage the e-commerce challenges of individualized orders and quickly changing volumes through effective use of technologies such as intelligent order sequencing, predictive packaging, and pick to voice adaptive technology. Call us to learn more about the solutions we offer to support your e-commerce business – which can result in reduced costs and an improved customer experience.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

Planning Year-end Inventory Procedures

One of the less than pleasant tasks at for inventory planning at year-end is the review of inventory for
obsolete items.  Any company can find itself with inventory items that have a decreased net realizable value, or exceed the foreseeable demand. Whether the result of an economic downturn that depressed sales, a new product release that replaces an older product, or other factors, the end result is an overvalued inventory asset.

The management of obsolete inventory is an important step in the product life cycle – even more so at year-end.  The assessment of inventory and the handling of any obsolete items can be a key component of the year-end procedures, providing valuable information to the organization for financial and tax reporting, budgeting and forecasting.  Identifying the underlying cause of the obsolescence can help minimize future occurrences, and also make your warehouse fulfillment operations run more smoothly. And how the diversion or liquidation of such inventory is handled can have a positive or negative impact on the company’s reputation, brand value, and financial position.

When your program is ready for inventory diversion or liquidation, Vision Media Management can help you find the most cost effective solution without leaving our fulfillment warehouse.  Call us to learn more about the solutions we offer for year-end obsolete inventory planning strategy – which can result in an increase return on investment (ROI) for your organization.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com
CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

Automation makes us Dumb!

There’s a controversial statement.  After all, it takes a great deal of intelligence and expertise to create the automation in the first place.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal suggested the trend of automation “de-skilling” workers rather than “up-skilling” them was growing even more evident, and is now reaching beyond just factory and into the white-collar world.

This is very relevant to warehouse fulfillment, since beautifully executed fulfillment and shipping is a combination of both warehouse automation and the operational strategic planning behind it.  Not only is successful automation dependent on the implementation, but equally so on the decision of when and where to use automation.

Some situations are clearly perfect for automation in a warehouse or in assembly/production work.  However, in many cases a carefully crafted production plan, which blends manual staging based on repetitive hand motion, coupled with some automation can pay the same or higher dividends with a great level of flexibility at a lower cost.

Let Vision design an operational strategy for you that enhances customer support using the right mix of automation and manual expertise.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com