Smarten up your Stock Handling
South Pacific
www.spss.net.au/wiki
Table of Contents
Stock Reduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Team effort ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Business Owner / General Manager ................................................................................................... 3
Stock Manager .................................................................................................................................... 3
Sales Manager ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Financial Controller / Office Manager ................................................................................................ 3
11 strategies................................................................................................................................................ 4
1. Business intelligence dashboards ....................................................................................................... 4
For management................................................................................................................................. 4
For stock control staff ......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Customer and supplier relationship management ............................................................................. 6
For management................................................................................................................................. 6
For stock control staff ......................................................................................................................... 6
Supplier management......................................................................................................................... 7
3. Reducing the reliance on paper .......................................................................................................... 8
4. Perpetual stock system ....................................................................................................................... 9
5. Knowing where stock is .................................................................................................................... 10
6. Knowing more about your stock ....................................................................................................... 11
7. Ordering only what you need ........................................................................................................... 12
8. Selling more stock / speeding up delivery ........................................................................................ 13
9. Reducing the risk of fraud ................................................................................................................. 14
10. Perpetual stock system ................................................................................................................... 15
11. Helping staff be more knowledgeable ............................................................................................ 16
Smarten up your Stock System
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Smarten up your Stock System
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Stock Reduction
Better stock control is one of the main reasons for installing good software. The trend towards having
more stock lines to sell also demands a more professional approach. No longer can you rely on gut feel.
Are your stock systems adequate for your business?
Team effort
A team effort is essential — initially as a review process through to implementing agreed procedures in
a co-operative manner.
Business Owner / General Manager
You motivate staff and monitor progress towards the goals (for example, a 10-day reduction in the
number of days stock-on-hand for each of the next two quarters).
Stock Manager
You own the task and must ensure procedures are in place to reach the goals.
Sales Manager
Your team has the most customer contact and must ensure the right stock is on hand to meet their
expectations.
Financial Controller / Office Manager
You are responsible for cash flow management and stock purchases are often one of the biggest cash
requirements.
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11 strategies
1. Business intelligence dashboards
Business intelligence dashboards provide a clear view of what is happening in your business.
Attaché Accounts All-In-One, embed over 20 dashboards in your financial software. Most managers
and staff will use at least one.
Several dashboards can specifically help you to reduce your stock.
For management
1. Any dashboard can have up to eight on-screen reports (called gadgets) with default layouts
and your defined access rights governing what is displayed.
2. Dashboards provide a top-down view of your stock situation so you can keep an eye on the
effectiveness of your stock management.
3. You can monitor KPIs, such as your stock days and gross profit margin against targets and
previous periods.
4. You can see your actual figures (for example, stock on hand, creditors, debtors and bank
balance) to help access your cash position before authorising large stock orders.
5. The data is continuously updated so you no longer have to rely on numerous printed stock
reports, spread sheets, etc.
For stock control staff
6. Dashboards provide visual management so you can see at a glance what needs to be done
without having to be told or run reports (for example, items due for re-order, items due for
delivery, negative stock).
7. You can drill down from the dashboards into your accounting data (for example, purchase
orders, supplier invoices, payments, contracts, etc.) without having to navigate through menus
or ask other staff for help.
8. You can perform Google-like searches on part of a product description or code for fast access
to a stock masterfile name.
9. 9 You can view gadgets as lists, calendars and graphs and add totals and search boxes to suit
your needs.
10. You can filter and select data sequences, such as top selling items.
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11. Details can be emailed or exported to Excel to pass stock information onto a customer or
supplier or internally for further analysis.
12. Several stock and supplier related standard dashboards with full security are available,
including:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Slow moving stock.
Supplier price comparisons.
Low margin stock.
Supplier active purchase orders.
Purchase order deliveries due.
Stock on backorder.
Negative stock.
Stock re-order quantities.
Stock sales by value and quantity.
13. You can embed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) within a dashboard. For example:
a. Create tasks to recur daily, weekly, monthly or annually (such as follow up customer
related stock matters). These tasks automatically appear in your To Do List.
b. See a wealth of customer information: full contact details including email addresses,
etc. for anyone you may need to speak to about a stock-related matter.
c. See a customer’s contact history on one screen, including stock-related emails.
d. See a customer’s sales history on one screen, including month-by-month product sales,
gross profit percentage, etc. when reviewing your stock levels.
e. Monitor quotes that are in the pipeline to see if stock levels are adequate.
f. Create customer emails using templates for professional communications. For
example, send an email to someone who repeatedly breaches your stock returns
policy.
g. Create bulk emails such as a customer newsletter about new products, superseded
items, etc.
14. Reports Designer lets you create customised dashboards, such as breaking your stock analysis
into multiple locations or departments.
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2. Customer and supplier relationship management
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is a “must have” for most businesses today. CRM
helps increase sales, plus it can help reduce your stock.
Attaché Accounts All-In-One, embed CRM into your financial software so everything is in one database.
For management
1. CRM makes communication about customer-related stock matters much easier.
2. With all staff able to access CRM, you can establish mandatory procedures for recording of
certain stock-related customer discussions, such as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Claims a stock item was faulty, overpriced, etc.
Stock being returned for any reason.
Customer says they are going to source direct from supplier.
Any concerns about unethical contact, threats, etc.
Unauthorised use of a product.
3. When you talk to a customer or supplier, you have all their information at your fingertips
including discussions with other staff and access to their accounting records.
4. There is no excuse for staff forgetting to look at the CRM and agreeing to a stock return when
it has already been declined by management.
5. Managers can assign and view tasks for all or selected staff (for example, request a stock take
in a particular area or a supplier price schedule due for renegotiation).
For stock control staff
6. You have instant access to customer contact details and their history of discussions, emails,
etc. with every staff member.
7. You can record multiple customer contacts so you know who is in purchasing, manufacturing,
etc. if you need to contact them about a stock matter.
8. You can drill down from CRM into your accounting records when needed without having to
navigate through menus or ask other staff for help, for example:
a. Customers: quotes, orders, backorders, invoices, credit notes, etc.
b. Suppliers: purchase orders, invoices, payments, etc.
9. You can add notes for all staff to see, such as confirmed details about an item a customer
ordered.
10. You can send personalised emails and letters to customers (for example, changes in stock
specifications, obsolete and replacement items) and have these noted in their records.
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11. You can add tasks and reminders, such as a To Do List for following up overdue purchase
orders, and view tasks for today, this week and next.
12. 13 You can set up recurring tasks (for example, every second Thursday do a stocktake in
certain bin locations) and highlight overdue tasks in red (for example, a supplier promise).
Supplier management
13. Supplier Contacts lets you record an unlimited number of contact names and details for each
supplier you deal with.
14. Supplier Notes lets you keep a diary of your discussions with each supplier, such as price
negotiations and product complaints.
15. Supplier Pricing lets you to record your buy pricing from a supplier including date and volumebased arrangements (much like the customer special pricing function).
16. The URL Link in the supplier masterfile lets you access scanned correspondence (for example,
contracts, price lists, customer disputes about an item they provided).
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3. Reducing the reliance on paper
A big reason for poor stock management is over reliance on paper-based systems. For example, when
you have a stock-related question, you cannot easily handle it even if you want to. Intelligent business
systems enable you to handle these queries and more.
1. It’s time to move towards the paperless office (vs filing everything manually) so staff have
instant access to past purchase orders, supplier invoices, conversation notes, correspondence,
etc.
2. If your financial software requires you to delete past transactions or limits the number of
operators because of speed or other issues, these are signs you have outgrown it.
3. Electronic document filing and retrieval from enquiry screens and reports using drill down is
much faster and more efficient.
4. You can electronically scan documents and link them to a supplier masterfile (for example,
purchase contracts) or an invoice (for example, signed proof of delivery) so they are readily
available for staff to access.
5. There is less need for storage cabinets and office space to archive historical documents,
supplier agreements and stock information files.
6. Access rights make electronic filing more secure and documents are not left on desks, misfiled,
etc.
7. Electronic filing saves clerical time. For example, sales staff can handle most stock queries.
8. You can use transaction enquiry to access details and ExpressLink to email them to a supplier
— while talking to them on the phone.
9. You can also use ExpressLink to electronically file and distribute stock reports.
Note: The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and New Zealand Inland Revenue Department (NZIRD)
accept electronic records provided the system is secure with controls over processing and backups.
Most records must be kept for five years (ATO) or seven years (NZIRD) and be able to be retrieved by
tax officers at any time.
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4. Perpetual stock system
Intelligent business systems enable you to maintain an advanced stock management system that
matches your physical stock, records every movement and provides audit trails and greater control
over purchasing, thus reducing the risk of fraud and more.
1. Regular or rolling stock takes spread over the year are still a good idea but now you also have
time to focus on the state of the packaging, expiry dates, etc.
2. You can accurately analyse stock shrinkage.
3. Staff attitude to stock control also improves because everything is accountable.
4. Use Shortcuts for faster access to regularly-used functions and reports.
5. Each operator can select their own screen colours and font sizes and can automatically resize
windows and report preview screens to suit their personal requirements.
6. Multi-tasking lets operators have multiple tasks open at the same time for faster access and
processing, for example, stock, purchasing and suppliers.
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5. Knowing where stock is
1. Set up multi-location stock so you can also check what’s available at other branches, in transit,
on consignment and in sales reps’ cars and service vehicles.
2. Use bin locations to speed up finding items in the warehouse.
3. Review your product codes. Use acronyms rather than hard to remember codes. Keep the first
few letters the same for like products.
4. Review the services you provide and set up service codes with appropriate details.
5. Create product groups for easy reporting and searching.
6. Use drill down on product enquiries to see quantities ordered, reserved and backordered plus
stock on purchase order with expected delivery dates.
7. Between stock takes spot check quantities on hand to ensure they equal actual stock and
adjust where necessary. This helps ensure accurate purchasing and availability for sales.
8. Automate product receipts via goods received and goods returned. You don’t need to wait for
supplier invoices to bring goods into stock so you can release it to fulfil customer sales orders.
9. Turn on confirm new master files to ensure product master files are not accidentally
duplicated.
10. Review what method of costing your stock is the most appropriate — average, fixed or last.
11. Check the degree of accuracy needed with decimal places for stock quantities, cost and selling
prices — up to nine are available.
12. Implement bar codes to automate stock receipting, picking and selling.
13. Set up supplementary bar codes for stock that is purchased from more than one supplier or
when multiple stock items are sold under the one code (for example, the same item in
different colours).
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6. Knowing more about your stock
Record far more information about your stock and services. No longer do you have to rely on “the
guru” and spend years training staff.
1. Use images to assist staff and confirm the correct item is picked.
2. Use product URLs to link to additional information, such as specifications, for quick access.
3. Use the Comment field to record additional details for particular stock items (for example,
include promotional screw driver).
4. Use product notes to store additional information such as guidelines or special instructions.
5. Use the 15 user-definable fields for details such as indent item, transit time, supplier rebates,
use-by date, shelf life, revision number and original supplier. These can also be printed on
documents.
6. Set up alternative product codes to use as a replacement if an ordered item is out of stock.
7. Link superseded products with their replacements.
8. Flag inactive stock to prevent sales and orders and hide/unhide these items from searches.
9. Record up to three suppliers per product to assist in tracking stock and getting the best prices.
10. Use the permit required field for dangerous goods where a licence is required.
11. Use ExpressLink to output all standard reports to Excel for more detailed analysis.
12. Print the product sales report to show stock that has not been sold since a particular date or
range on gross profit percentages.
13. Use kits to bundle complementary products to facilitate up-selling.
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7. Ordering only what you need
Move to “Just-In-Time” stocking and ensure you do not order hidden or already ordered stock, or
purchase stock without authority, from the wrong supplier or at the wrong price or quantity.
Note that several of the tactics listed below can be incorporated into a business intelligence dashboard
that instantly displays your live data.
1. Set up re-order levels and re-order quantities to make re-ordering timely and efficient.
2. Run re-order reports on predefined minimum and maximum stock levels and re-order
quantities.
3. Set up a requisitions system to avoid unauthorised purchases and duplication.
4. Generate requisitions from the re-order report to reduce re-keying and time delays.
5. Set up alternative supplier codes so that you can identify other suppliers for an item.
6. Generate purchase orders from requisitions and consolidate multiples into one order.
7. Customise purchase orders to include, for example, supplier prices and discounts so you can
check against the invoices when received.
8. Include supplier product codes on purchase orders to minimise shipping errors.
9. Import supplier price lists to ensure your product costs and/or prices are correct.
10. Set up negotiated purchasing discounts in special pricing to maximise savings.
11. Use purchase conversions to assist with re-ordering when items are held in different units.
12. Deliver direct from the supplier to the customer, when appropriate, by including the
customer’s delivery details on the purchase order.
13. To avoid shipping delays, automate EFT payments to key suppliers by using payment
selections.
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8. Selling more stock / speeding up delivery
Intelligent business systems enable more efficient handling of customer enquiries, orders and
payments, and they help you speed up delivery. All of these also help you reduce your stock.
1. Build your own Shortcuts menus to quickly access customer and stock information and
replicate workflows.
2. To help you sell more, review the tactics in the Sales Increase section such as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Place out-of-stock items on backorder so you do not lose the order.
Link alternative stock items so you make the sale today.
Use customer special pricing to move slow-moving or obsolete stock.
Use multiple barcodes to identify items and speed up data entry.
Use customer product codes to minimise errors during data processing.
Introduce customer standing orders to help increase sales.
Create preferred product lists to ensure you are shipping what the customer normally
gets and to up-sell.
h. Use SalesMatrix to put specific campaigns in place and to identify missed
opportunities. (www.salesmatrix.com.au)
i. Use online web stores such as WebNinja or StraightSell to facilitate automated
ordering. (www.webninja.com.au) (www.straightsell.com.au)
3. To help you speed up delivery, again review the tactics in the Sales Increase section, such as:
a. Process all sales immediately through order entry to speed up re-ordering and
delivery.
b. Print picking slips in bin number sequence to speed up packing.
c. Consolidate multiple orders to minimise paperwork and pick stock faster.
d. Automatically release backorders as stock is received.
e. Print delivery dockets in delivery run order to speed up deliveries.
f. Use enhanced product transfers to move stock to where it is selling for easier delivery.
g. Use product dimensions to help optimise delivery loads.
4. To help speed up payments and to help ensure orders are not held up awaiting payment for
past invoices, review the tactics in the Debtors Reduction section such as:
a. Use business intelligence dashboards to monitor overdue invoices.
b. Use Customer Relationship Management to follow up payments.
c. Make it easy for your customers to pay their invoices by showing bank account details,
due date and overdue account balances on every invoice.
d. Use location and customer delivery addresses on purchase orders to deliver goods
directly to the customer (when appropriate) thus bypassing your warehouse.
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9. Reducing the risk of fraud
Inadequate stock control provides a huge opportunity for fraud. Better stock control is one of the
biggest reasons for moving to a larger system like Attaché..
1. A perpetual inventory system matches computer records with physical stock, records every
movement and provides audit trails, thus reducing the risk of fraud and more.
2. Perpetual inventory also enables you to accurately analyse stock shrinkage.
3. With perpetual inventory staff attitude to stock control improves because everything is
accountable.
4. Perform regular rolling stock takes to help identify any discrepancies faster and discourage any
potential theft.
5. Use bar coding in your warehouse for more accuracy in stock takes, goods receiving, shipping
and re-ordering.
6. Set up multi-location stock if you have stock in other branches, in transit, on consignment or in
sales reps’ vehicles.
7. Display negative stock on a dashboard.
8. Use password levels to limit operators’ access to price updates, enquiry on product costs and
editing notes in product enquiry.
9. Add dimensions to product masterfiles to accurately identify weight and size and reduce
opportunities for false freight charges.
10. Use controlled product transfers to move stock between locations and track stock in transit so
you limit stock losses.
11. Display on a dashboard all product adjustments as they are entered so managers can easily
drill down and check their validity.
12. Flag redundant and obsolete stock as inactive to restrict operators’ access.
13. Print an inactive customer sales report regularly to determine if sales are being made to
inactive customers, which may indicate stock is being removed from the warehouse.
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10. Perpetual stock system
If you have a reasonable number of stock items, a good stock control system is an essential element to
increasing sales. Better stock control is one of the biggest reasons why people install intelligent
business systems.
1. Perpetual stock maintains electronic stock records that match your physical stock (in one or
more locations). The stock system records every quote, reservation, sale, credit, backorder,
purchase order, receipt and return with audit trails. This helps improve purchasing, reduce
fraud and increase sales.
2. Staff attitude improves when they know that the quantities available in the system are correct
and they can fill sales orders without having to double-check the warehouse.
3. If you have an opening and closing stock system, it’s probably time to move on as it makes it
hard to effectively manage your stock holdings.
4. Regular or rolling stock takes spread over the year are still a good idea to ensure your actual
stock on hand equals the quantities recorded in the system, stock is in good condition, etc.
5. On costs let you record more accurate stock margins and help ensure special prices are not
excessive.
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11. Helping staff be more knowledgeable
Customers expect to talk to knowledgeable staff when they make stock enquiries. This puts pressure
on senior staff and makes it hard to get new staff up to speed.
Find items faster
1. Product and service codes. Use acronyms rather than numerical non-related codes. Keeping
the first few characters the same for similar products can assist with searches.
2. Use the Google-like search on the dashboards to quickly access stock masterfiles even if only
part of a product code or description is known.
Store more details
3. Stock images (photos) can be linked to your stock masterfiles to assist staff identify and sell the
right product.
4. Product URLs can also be linked to your stock masterfiles for quick access to folders containing
additional information, such as specifications, complimentary stock items, etc.
5. Use the 15 user-definable fields to record unique stock details such as transit time, supplier
rebates, use-by date, shelf life, revision number, original supplier, etc.
6. Use alternative products to substitute out-of-stock items with similar items so that you don’t
lose the sale.
7. Use superseded products to identify products that need to be run out prior to promoting new
stock so that you avoid obsolete inventory.
8. Use kits to bundle complementary products.
9. Implement bar codes to automate stock receipting, picking and counter sales.
10. Set up supplementary bar codes where stock is purchased from more than one supplier or
where multiple stock items are sold under the one code (for example, the same item in
different colours).
Know where stock is and its condition
11. Use bin locations to speed up finding items in the warehouse.
12. Set up multi-location stock so you know what is at other branches, in sales rep or service
vehicles, on consignment or in transit.
13. Implement rolling stock takes and regularly spot-check stock levels, use-by dates and stock
condition.
14. Reserve stock using orders to prevent it being sold twice.
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