Physical Inventory Count: At the end of each year, you need to physically count each item in your inventory to verify that it matches up with your current inventory records. This step can help identify any discrepancies and reduce the chances of overselling or understocking your items.
Supplier Contracts: Review all contracts with your suppliers to make sure that they still fit your business needs. This could mean renegotiating prices, quantities, delivery schedules or even considering changing suppliers if necessary.
Equipment Maintenance: The efficiency of your inventory process depends a lot on the equipment used. Check your equipment and ensure all machinery is working optimally.
Seasonal & Promotional Inventory Adjustment: Year-end is a perfect time to review and adjust your seasonal and promotional inventories. Determine which items sold well and which didn’t. Use these insights to better plan your purchases for the coming year.
Returns and Exchanges: Monitor and track all your returns and exchanges. Understanding why these happen can help you reduce them in the future, saving you time and money.
Packaging Review: Packaging is an often-overlooked aspect of inventory management. A yearly review of your packaging could result in cost savings or more efficient packaging procedures.
Raw Material Inventory Adjustment: Ensure that you have an accurate count of your raw material inventory, especially if your business produces its products. An accurate count allows you to make correct predictions for future needs.
Production Planning for Next Year: Using the insights gained from the year-end inventory review, you can make educated decisions for your production plans in the coming year.
Obsolete Inventory: Remove any obsolete inventory from your warehouse. If it hasn’t sold in a while, consider whether it’s worth keeping in stock or whether it would be better to replace it with more in-demand items.
Quality Control and Assurance: Year-end is an excellent time to ensure that your products meet the highest quality standards. A robust quality control process reduces return and exchange rates and contributes to customer satisfaction.
Year-end inventory management doesn’t have to be a headache. Ask us how AtomIQ can help you improve accuracy, streamline inventory management and accelerate business operations across your entire supply chain. Start the new year right by getting your inventory management on track!
