Stock Management Of Your Inventory- What You Need To Know

What Is Stock Management?

Managing a business's inventory system can be daunting. It requires keeping track of the company's product line and stocking as many products as possible so that they are available when customers need them. The management process is complicated but necessary for all businesses, which rely on it in order to sell their products.

Why Is Stock Management Important?

Effective inventory management systems help you keep track of the inventory by recording what items are in their stock and what excess inventory is there. This is useful for businesses that ask for stock control per week or month, as well as make sure to get enough ingredients when preparing food and drinks. Sales forecasting is an important part of stock management- it can help figure out how much raw material will be needed to meet demand so that your business has a good turnover ratio.


inventory management

What Are The Basics Of Stock Management?

Here is a basic example of stock or inventory; stocks are good for holding products that you use frequently, such as food items in your refrigerator. You can categorize things according to value (low, medium, and high) or usage (frequent, rare, and daily). The four types of stocks are-

• Stocks with low values the most common type of inventory which includes canned goods and housewares;
• Stocks with medium values- these include staples like corn flakes cereal boxes;
• High-value stocks - this includes real estate investments;
• Low/Medium Value Stock/Daily Use Inventory - This category would be anything else that you need on a day-to-day basis.

Raw Goods-

This is the stock that is needed in order to make final products. In a restaurant, these would be the raw materials needed to produce dishes on its menu.






Inventory Management

WIP Goods-

These are the unfinished products in the restaurant. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before these dishes can be served on the shelves. These could include vegetable stocks, or other dishes such as soups and stews, that may not even make it onto plates but will eventually find their way into the final dish served at some point down the line.

You don’t know how much inventory you have, where to find it, and how much it’s worth

Zip Inventory will help you on how to track your inventory, how to calculate its worth, and what types of systems are available

Online employee scheduling software that makes shift planning effortless.
Try it free for 14 days.

Start My FREE Trial

Final Goods-

These are the 'finished goods' in all restaurants, ready to be consumed. These dishes are usually made from raw materials that have been gathered and combined by a chef or caterer.

Consumables-

This is the inventory that needs to be checked on a daily or frequent basis, due to its regular use. It could also include things beyond food like light fixtures, cutlery and stationery.

Stock Management Techniques

There are two stock inventory management techniques used by small businesses in general. These include periodic and perpetual methods. In the former, physical inventory needs to be conducted periodically; whereas with perpetual systems (like E-commerce), there is no need for a physical inventory as everything can be traced online which makes this type of system more favorable than the periodic one. The periodic inventory system can be done manually and can be done with a smaller inventory turnover. The businesses with bigger inventory stock levels and wider supply chain management, need to use inventory software like ZipInventory for managing inventory and use barcode scanning to do the inventory counts at the right time and in real time.

How To Implement Best Practices Of Stock Management?

To ensure that stock management is done effectively and properly, it's important to keep these four best practices in mind-

• Keep an eye on inventory, don't let there be any dead stock or under-stocking
• Maintain accurate inventory levels of goods on hand at all times (at least three days' worth)
• Set a goal of what the expected cost will be at the end of each period (monthly or yearly)
• Create a system for building inventories months in advance where possible-planning ahead helps account for future changes so there are fewer surprises later on when planning purchase orders, etc., which reduces risk as well as provides greater flexibility within your budgeting and ordering processes!

Understand Your Business Needs-

What type of inventory management technique does your business need - periodic or perpetual? What is the timeline you should follow for stocking products before they run out? Answer such questions first.

Know The ABCs-

Use the ABC analysis technique for your inventory and arrange it into a hierarchy of most important to least important items. 'A' being the more in-demand products and those that need to be constantly replenished, 'B' are the valuable products that might need monthly or so replenishment while 'C' is for the products that need to be rarely replenished. Organizing the inventory in a hierarchy helps you to take stock quickly and efficiently.

Cycle Counting-

This means checking and balancing the inventory records with physical inventory counts to ensure the system is running smoothly and without errors. Decide upon the frequency of cycle counting, and the strategy to adopt with which you can ace the cycle counting.

Quality Analysis And Assurance-

You can do the quality analysis and assurance of your inventory while cycle counting. That way you can reduce time spent on it all and yet complete both the actions fruitfully. Ensuring quality analysis and assurance is important as it helps with customer satisfaction and keeps the company name in good books.

Optimize Stock Management-

Get a stock i.e. an Inventory Management software onboard to ensure you get things done right. Ensure it helps you not just in inventory taking, but also spotting trends, marking inventory levels, etc.

How To Make Stock Management Easier For All?

Stock management is a crucial part of any business. Doing it in an efficient manner and timely is of key importance. While manual Inventory Management is possible, it is tedious, monotonous, and can give rise to human errors. Using software or cloud-based application like Zipinventory is the way to go if you want proper inventory counts, lower food costs, etc. If you opt for such software you won't need to know much stock management manually. You can get the software to place the purchase orders, track inventory postorder fulfillment, and do so with properlead time in place. This type of software also gives alerts and reminders for when a product has been sold at the point sale aka point of sale system, and a newpurchase order needs to be placed.

Restaurants And Technology-: As automated stock management has proven to be a time, energy, and cost-friendly option, many are looking towards how technology can aid in making businesses run smoother. According to a report on Statista.com, "In February 2021,91% of survey-responding restauranteurs in the United States stated that they were interested in the automation when asked about their interest in automating their kitchen technology to help streamline operations. Only 9% stated that they were not."