Inventory management and stock optimisation

Achieve the right stock balance across your distribution network

Inventory management is a balancing act. Hold too much stock and you tie up working capital, increase the risk of obsolescence, and inflate storage costs. Hold too little and you face stockouts, missed orders, and emergency sourcing at short notice. Getting the balance right across a distribution network requires planning that accounts for forecast reliability, target service levels, lead times, and supplier constraints — simultaneously.

In order to manage the inventory and to optimize the stockvendor management inventory is handled directly by the company:

  • Plans monthly target stock profiles, finding the best trade-off between service level, coverage depth and inventory management costs.
  • Configures different coverage policies at different product/market aggregation levels and calculates target stock for every logical node in the logistics network
  • Generates a Master Production Schedule by conciliating monthly strategic targets with real stock availability according to a set of inventory policies
  • Calculates the replenishment plan for every logical node in the logistics network and allows top-down and bottom-up analysis of stock coverage, replenishment and trends
  • Forces service levelssafety stock, target stock and replenishment values

What inventory management software does for your business

The benefits of adopting a vendor-planned inventory management software affect all levels of the logistics-distribution chain:

  • Service-level improvement, limiting stock-outs
  • Inventory cost reduction, by reducing surplus stock
  • Improved profit margins, through the application of targeted replenishment policies
  • Supply cost reduction, with the option of forward planning
  • Optimized stock control in relation to individual distribution warehouses
  • Logistics cost reduction linked to stock transfers

See what better planning and scheduling looks like for manufacturers like yours.

 

sedApta inventory management: key features

sedApta's inventory management software gives planners the tools to manage stock optimally across every node in the logistics network — from central warehouse to regional distribution centres.

The two analytical modules in this tool are capable of ensuring the achievement of important strategic advantages:

Inventory Control

Inventory Control is the component that helps determine the replenishment plan for each node on the logistics chain. Through the simulation of multiple scenarios, the tool allows users to determine the best inventory policy, considering the target service level, stock coverage objectives and characteristics and constraints of the logistics chain (e.g. supplier lead times).

Inventory Planning

The module calculates optimum safety stock using a mathematical engine. Compliant determination of the service level is ensured through reliability of the forecast curves and the financial and logistics parameters.

About supply chain planning

Value creation across the planning horizon

Accurate demand management gives manufacturers better visibility of what customers will need and when — reducing the stock imbalances and reactive purchasing that come from getting the forecast wrong. Find out how sedApta Suite helps planning teams improve forecast accuracy and reduce the cost of demand uncertainty.

See how sedApta Suite helps manufacturers achieve better stock balance and reduce inventory costs without compromising service levels.