Common Bad Inventory Practices

There are more reasons than one for why businesses don’t succeed. For a majority of failed restaurant businesses, they blame poor management and inventory practices as their demise. To ensure your business doesn’t suffer the same fate, check out these common bad inventory practices and what you can do to avoid them.

Using Excel To Track

Excel was once the only software available for inputting data. But today, it’s only really beneficial to use if you have a very limited stock and your items don’t move regularly. If your restaurant moves through items fast or there’s more than one person tracking your inventory, you need a better method for keeping your records accurate.

For instance, let’s say you head into the storage room to count one of your popular items and by the time you’re done your count, your team sends out ten units. If there is no communication between one another, you’re likely going to be off by ten units at the end of the day. And, while you’re trying to figure out what happened, more units go out, creating even more discrepancies with your numbers and tracking info. This, in turn, makes it difficult to reach a level of accuracy that’s necessary to forecast demand. An inventory management software system can solve all these problems in just a few easy clicks.

Foregoing Internal Audits

It’s important to review your current business scenario to identify your needs and then to perform an audit to see if your processes are still supporting those requirements. This should include an internal audit of your current inventory policies and processes, what you are paying your providers, (and if there are better alternatives) if your inventory is still consistent with your product line, and so forth. By not having a yearly audit, it will be difficult to determine if your inventory is still aligned with your growth levels.

Not Using Inventory Management Software

Having effective inventory control methods is critical to your company’s bottom line. Without it, your entire supply chain suffers and in most cases, you are not able to meet your customer’s needs. By utilizing the right inventory control software, you can get more accuracy over what you need and what you carry. Plus, it’s all tracked in real time, so you get an in-depth look at your entire inventory in an instant.

Forgetting About Inventory Planning

Another common bad inventory practice is to not having any inventory planning in place. For your restaurant business to be successful, you need to control the safety stock and reorder levels. A good inventory planning process that can define these levels and know how to interpret and analyze the data can ensure that the amount of inventory and that the ability to maintain proper service levels, is always in check.

Don’t become a failed business statistic. Try Optimum Control today! Our Restaurant Inventory Management Software is rated number one. It offers everything you need to efficiently control your inventory and maximize profits. Contact us to find out more!

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