When launching or growing a business in the US market, inventory management can often make or break a company’s success. From overstocking and dealing with waste to managing recalls and mitigating risks, properly managing inventory is a complicated yet essential task. 

As Founder and CEO of Preferred Depot, the global leader in white label operations management, I have made it my mission to help companies like yours strategize effectively, stock adequately, and prepare successfully. 

To get you started, I have detailed the best practices in inventory management in this easy guide — filled with tips I’ve learned offering seamless operations management and third party logistics services for some of the largest medical and health technology companies scaling in the US market. Keep reading to discover what you need to know to manage your inventory like a pro!

Assess Inventory

While it can be tempting to stock up from the start, this can pose a number of risks for your company. Instead, take the time to properly assess your company’s inventory management needs. Consider the four key characteristics of your product: cost, turnover, stability, and demand, by asking yourself:

• Are my products high turnover or slow moving?
• Are my products expensive or inexpensive?
• Are my products stable or unpredictable? 
• Are there any locations that have higher or lower demand for one or more of my products?
• Are there any regulatory compliance requirements for my products?

Only once you have fully answered these questions should you begin to strategize how to manage and stock your inventory.

Optimize Stock

Next, use the information you’ve gathered about your business to carefully plan how to optimize your stock, to maximize efficiency with order fulfillment, avoid the risk of wasting inventory, or failing to stay compliant. Here are a few best practices in stock management to get you started:

• Aim to strike an ideal balance between too little and too much inventory by setting maximum and minimum stocking levels
• Order and maintain higher quantities of high turnover products and lower quantities of slow moving products
• Avoid purchasing high quantities of expensive items that you may be more difficult to get rid of
• Avoid purchasing high quantities of unstable or unpredictable products at a time
• Leverage the demand of different locations to stock different 3PL locations strategically
• Remove the oldest inventory first to create a smooth transition between different models of your product
• Be sure to save space for returned, recalled, and waste items

Track Products

In order to employ these strategies effectively, it is critical to know what you have and how your products are moving. That is why it is essential to carefully track your inventory and keep careful records. 

• Use serial numbers and lot numbers to keep track of your inventory
• Conduct regular audits to ensure accuracy in your inventory counts
• Speed up your processes and improve accuracy with automation — such as barcode scanning

Proper tracking with these tips can help you optimize your strategies further and ensure your products are safely delivered to satisfied customers.

Maintain Compliance

It’s important to know that the risks when managing inventory go far beyond financial. For many companies, especially medical device and pharmaceutical companies, regulatory compliance concerns are essential to consider when managing inventory. Take care to follow these additional best practices in order to avoid running into compliance concerns:

• Track products and keep clear records to be ready in the event of recalls 
• Hire highly trained staff who understand how to handle your products
• Work with high quality, reliable suppliers
• Have a proper plan to dispose of inventory as needed 
• Work with an operations management and consulting experts

While all of these best practices are crucial to proper inventory management, they just scratch the surface when it comes to maximizing profits and minimizing risks for your business. Working with the top operations management and consulting professionals is not only the best way to streamline inventory management and order handling, but to ensure that all aspects of your company’s operations are too.

At Preferred Depot, we specialize in helping businesses like yours optimize their operations, save money, and avoid risks in order to grow and thrive in the US market. To learn more about our white label operations management, consulting, and third party services, visit us at https://www.preferreddepot.com/.