VIEWPOINT
HOW’S YOUR STOCK CONFIDENCE?
The latest, pioneering new metric can deliver unrivalled accuracy and an easier life, says Ten-25 Software’s Ian Oldrey.
A merchant’s stockholding forms the heart of the business. Now more than ever, merchants must look to optimise their stock profile to get the best from it. This requires unprecedented levels of accuracy to guide forecasting of potentially wildly fluctuating demand. A new metric launched into Ten-25’s cloud-based Merchanter ERP system (previously known as UT400) promises to help with exactly that – and it’s called Stock Confidence.
What is Stock Confidence? Stock Confidence was conceived following many conversations with customers wanting perpetual inventory to be an easier and more accessible process. While most merchants would agree having a constantly updated picture of your entire stockholding would be the ideal, it often isn’t achievable because of the sheer scale of the endeavour – in short, it’s just too time consuming.
But what if your software could do it for you – and do it as accurately as if you were doing it yourself, but in a fraction of the time?
Expressed as a percentage, Stock Confidence is a metric to gauge the accuracy of stockholding figures. It is a literal rating of confidence in the figures your system is showing you. So, for example, immediately after a stocktake when you have physically counted a particular stock line yourself, the Stock Confidence rating would be 100%. But over time, that confidence rating is whittled down due to a number of factors, such as loss, damage, theft or error.
Stock Confidence works across both your entire stockholding, and by individual product.
If you have £2.5m of stock in your yard or warehouse with a total Stock Confidence level of 95%,
10
you have a very accurate picture of the value of your stockholding at any one time. But if that confidence level is only 50%, you can start to see the size of the valuation issue. On a more individual level, if a customer rings up and needs 50 fence panels, and you can see on the system you have 35 in the yard with a Stock Confidence levels of 90% and another 30 on order, you know you can process that order confidently and that customer will get their stock. If that Stock Confidence level was only 15%, you’d have to go and physically check what you actually have, or risk letting that customer down. Any decent ERP system, or stock and inventory management system, will be able to give you first level stock figures for what’s in stock and its value. But Stock Confidence is an innovative new development which adds significant value to stock management, making perpetual inventory much easier and more accurate, focusing attention where it’s needed and pre-empting stock issues far earlier than it might otherwise have been picked up.
Calculated Confidence The Stock Confidence metric uses an algorithm which incorporates numerous factors, including quantities from the last stocktake, the level of interim trade, accuracy at the last count, product type, durability plus many more, to calculate an individual Stock Confidence rating for each product in your inventory.
It is a feature unique to
Merchanter, developed specifically for the system in response to feedback from merchant customers. It is an intelligent and responsive metric which gives unprecedented control over, and insight into, your stockholding
Having an accurate picture of what stock you have where is vital for merchant success, and the more accurate and accessible that picture is, the better.
Stock Confidence helps in a number of ways, including: l Accuracy. Stock Confidence gives unique accuracy on every line of stock in your inventory, giving you more control, flexibility and responsiveness in managing your stockholding, as well as better service for customers. l Easier stocktaking. By grouping products into groups by Stock Confidence level, stocktakes can always focus on the problem areas rather than wasting time and resource checking every line. l Time saving. There is a huge time-saving benefit here as you are not having to check every item of stock at every stocktake and you always have a clear picture of which stock lines are most at risk. l Profitability. Using the Stock Confidence metric in conjunction with the other measures in the system, such as Stock Turn, allows you to see very clearly which lines are the most profitable, and which need more focus. That way you can prioritise particular stock lines which you know sell faster and turn more profit, as well as enabling you to focus more helpfully on lines with more scope to improve. l Waste reduction. Knowing which product lines to focus on at any given moment will inevitably help reduce waste, and enables you to work your stock profile harder all year round. You can easily spot trends in lines where Stock Confidence is being eroded faster, and your workforce will waste less time in managing the process. l Smarter forecasting. The better your stock management
system, the more accurate your forecasting can be. Using Stock Confidence alongside the other inventory management and stock prediction tools in Merchanter helps merchant to forecast more accurately and responsively, giving you better opportunities for supplier negotiation and appropriate replenishment at the right time. l Customer service. Stock Confidence gives an unrivalled level of accuracy with less drain on resource, essentially meaning you have better quality information with less effort required to get it. That means fewer out of stock scenarios, better order fulfilment, and happier customers.
Product focus
Traditionally, stocktaking is time- consuming, stressful and disruptive to the business; otherwise known as a royal pain in the proverbial. There is also a relatively high margin for error, with pre-placed orders, despatches and deliveries often causing complications (as well as simple human mistakes). Stock Confidence makes it simpler and easier to focus on what needs focus. Products are grouped into four categories: l Good, with a Stock Confidence rating of 70% or higher l Warning, with a Stock Confidence rating of 45-70% l Alert, with a Stock
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net January 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
