BACK TO BASICS - IRA (Inventory Record Accuracy)

BACK TO BASICS: I was a new hire with an organization that clearly had inventory management issues starting with poor product identification, no location control and a poor control of the manual wall-to-wall physical count compounded with the lack of an electronic system of record. That was nearly 30 years ago.
Below is an excerpt from a white paper by ECI SOFTWARE from March of 2019. Hard to believe the following was identified as Pit Fall #1. 

"Inventory record inaccuracies:
...
Surprisingly, many Small-Medium-sized Manufacturers (SMMs) do not have inventory record-keeping policies and processes in place, including regular inventory counts, maintenance, and documentation. Results from a recent ECi Software Solutions’ customer “Warehouse Management Woes” survey shows that 53% of small to mid-sized businesses conduct manual inventory counts at least once a quarter and 50% of respondents have challenges counting or reconciling inventory."
You cannot have a robust planning process of any type without robust data integrity. MRP will give you erroneous messages. Always make sure you have the basics under control.

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About FarStar: FarStar is boutique consulting firm with a focus supply chain transformation, of which a key lever is Sales & Operations Planning. With team members located in Canada and the US, the company has extensive experience across a wide range of industries including aerospace, defence, high-tech/electronics, and industrial products in a variety of business environments, ranging from make-to-stock to engineer-to-order.

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