Tom Shay of Profits+Plus offered money-saving inventory-management tips through his webinar presentation, “Inventory Management: Mark It Down, Move it Out & Make More Money.”
Shay demonstrated that there are several ways to take control of your company’s inventory, regardless of your current inventory turn rate. He emphasized that profitable inventory control requires a sufficient amount of tracking. “Each business needs to evaluate inventory by departments and within departments,” stated Shay. “As you order and sell inventory, you have to track it by categorization by department [or fine line] that the inventory came from.”
Tracking is very important, but is just one step. Shay also noted that determining what percentage of your annual sales occur in each of the 12 months for each department is key, as well as paying closer attention to how you order and what factors determine how you buy for your business. “Some inventory we purchase consistently from the same manufacturer,” said Shay, “and other occasions arise where companies want to take advantage of a special or deal.”
To help address the question, "should I buy in bulk or on an as-needed basis?," Shay noted that it will always be a guess. He suggests using a tool such as a cost of inventory calculator to help determine which purchasing methods are most profitable for your business. Access the calculator by clicking here.
To hear the rest of Shay’s tips to controlling inventory for you business, download this entire session by visiting www.sema.org/webinar.
SEMA's Webinar Program
The SEMA webinar program brings the world-class business seminars featured during the SEMA Show Education Week right to your desktop. Different business-building sessions are constantly added to the program, offering members the latest insight and practices from today’s leading speakers.
All SEMA webinars are conducted live and are open to all employees of SEMA-member companies free of charge. To participate, all you need is a computer with Internet access and a telephone. All previous SEMA webinars are available for download by clicking here. To view upcoming presentations that you can attend via telephone and Internet, click here.