6 inventory management tips in the food production industry

Summary:  In today’s constantly changing market trends and consumer behavior, it has become mandatory for food production companies to deploy the latest techniques in their inventories which would help them stay abreast of the competition. Here, we have discussed the best inventory management tips that would help you get success in your food production business. 

The covid-19 pandemic has affected the food and beverage manufacturing industries throughout the globe. The pandemic has caused lockdowns due to which customer demands have been fluctuating. The sudden surge in the demands of certain goods has been observed which has forced food manufacturers to increase the supply while modifying their inventory functioning and requirements. 

We know that the food and manufacturing business is distinctive in that most of the items are perishable. That is why it is required to manage a better supply chain that will take care of the consumer’s safety. It is just because the food and manufacturing industry strongly abides by the regulations, which clearly indicates that food should comply with accurate health standards. Additionally, the food should get removed before it becomes too old and causes harm to customers. 

To deliver excellent outputs, the food and beverage supply chains need extra sharp inventory management tips for checking the flow of goods from manufacturers, warehouses, and to the POS. The process includes warehousing, management, as well as the processing of finished goods, products, and components. Inventory management is undoubtedly the most pivotal factor of supply chain management and is quite essential for all businesses dealing with buying or selling products. 

Here are the best inventory management tips in the food industry which you can follow-

Analyze current inventory practices

Prior to making any improvements, it is quite essential to have a look at all practices. It is a fact that effective inventory management is totally purpose-driven. Hence it is essential that you understand each and every work of the links which will allow you to have a focus on particular aspects of the system that require improvement. You can also consult other team members in your organization who will help you identify potential issues and work on them. 

Let’s have a look at the major waste areas in food and beverage manufacturing that will help you check the improvement in inventory. 

• Avoid extra inventory through demand planning and modeling tools that can support apt production
• Minimize or eliminate waiting periods by offering staff with easy access needed to streamline approvals and decisions with automation processes. 
• Reduce overproduction by enhancing visibility and controls that can help align purchasing, logistics, and production.
• Resolve transport issues through timely logistics and production while avoiding moving goods to different places unnecessarily. 
• Avoid over-processing and emphasize actions that would only generate value including Bill of Materials. 
• Offer appropriate data and halt needless movements that will ensure your machine is working in an efficient and productive way. 
• Leverage controls in order to vanish defects while detecting the deviations and stop the defects right from the source. 

<< Also Read: The Impact of Poor Inventory Management in Discrete Manufacturing>>

Review stocks regularly

A particular part of inventory management tips is understanding the number of stocks you might have in the stock. Tracking the products that you bought and hope much you have sold will help you understand the complete scene. However, food and beverage items may get damaged, lost, or stolen, once they enter the warehouse which is totally unavoidable. Also, most of the time, the lost items get unnoticed until they are not considered by an appropriate person. 

However, the best remedy for this problem is to continuously review physical inventory for precise records. 

Understand customer behavior & leverage Big Data 

The biggest benefit of having big data in your food and beverage business is that it helps make accurate predictions while enhancing inventory management. Customers usually show various buying behavior towards food and beverage products, especially during festivals. However, there are some changes that you cannot catch without any proper data analysis.  To cope with the requirement for enough stocks and to avoid situations like over-stock, it is highly recommended to rely on data technology at the perfect time. 

Analyze how you have been restocking particular items and try to identify specific trend patterns which could be related to any seasons or some other outside factors that might affect the product flow of the business. Check the timings when customers are placing more orders and when are the times when orders are less. Having a solid measure of how customers behave keeps you stay ahead in the market and helps your business avoid mad rushes at the last moment. Hence, it is essential to maintain inventory balance. 

If you have been running a business in the food and beverage manufacturing industry and have been seeking a competitive edge, then, you might be looking for an advanced level inventory management software. The software can help you automate business functions while assisting in making helpful decisions. 

To improve overall efficiency in inventory management, Big Data plays a vital role by mentioning issues that might not even exist. By fetching data from different tools such as IoT, you can pick information that will have information in detail about every process which lacks maximum performance, Also, it will help in offering support to businesses about the repairs that would be there for repair. 

<< Also Read: Importance Of Inventory Management Software For Small Businesses >>

Manage stock refill

Having a system for restocking the inventory makes sure that you are not completely out of the stock. However, it is mandatory to have a smooth flow of products in the rush hours. There exist food retailers that are just known for precise manufacturing plannings where the supply is refilled every on a regular basis which means that supermarkets can increase the shelf life thoroughly. 

So, for better outputs, it is quite essential that your business should have the policy to refill inventory at a periodic time. Whenever an item falls below a certain point then the order should get automatically in. However, strategic decisions should be avoided when there is some shortage in the availability of products in between order time and while receiving the payment. 

In recent times, you might be required to check inventory on a regular basis while making decisions to reorder. But with today’s advanced technology, it is possible to analyze trends that can reveal about the products that are about to sell and alert the staff accordingly to start with the reordering process once it is of a particular product. 

Plan faster product recalls 

It might occur sometimes when you have to recall a particular food or beverage. But, if you ever fail to handle that situation then it may prove permanent damage to the brand. So, it is quite crucial for you to make decisions quickly and make minimal damage to your business. 

Getting the most precise outputs to the questions can help you identify where the problem occurs. Also, you can address the issues with proper planning through market assurance and changing recall expenses. To fetch access to real-time data you must focus on storing data on a centralized system while helping you to track data from the furthest points of the supply chain via production process and that too from customers.  

We all know that data travels at the speed of light. Customers can help access major food and beverage product issues as soon as it gets published. However, a product recall can damage the reputation of the business since you need to manage the narrative. 

The best strategy is to communicate with the authorization which would clearly indicate that the situation is completely out of danger and you are backed up by the appropriate solutions. 

<< Also Read: Manage Inventory Challenges of Craft Breweries and Distilleries>>

Minimize food wastage 

Today, customers are becoming totally environmental-friendly and it is this reason the awareness issues have been generated through food waste. However, it would be expensive to invest in inventory management technology that helps reduce additional inventory as well as handling. It will ultimately reduce or remove the perishable items that turn to be waste. 

In some other cases, you might think of asking retailers to share critical data that could assist with increasing efficiency, planning production, and promoting quality while making a better eco-friendly decision.

The final tip would be to discount the miss happened or imperfect food.