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•Guest Series Part 2: Three Strategies For Inventory Optimization

By John Stelzer, Sterling Commerce

In the first of four articles, we highlighted the gaps in inventory management identified by the Cross-Channel Retail Consortium that met in September 2009. This second article takes a closer look at the three strategies identified — visibility everywhere; sourcing flexibility; and exception detection, notification, and recovery. With these strategies, retailers can optimally use their inventory without risking stock-outs or incurring unnecessary operational costs.

Order, Shipment, And Inventory Visibility Everywhere
Since no retailer can manage what it can't see, having holistic visibility into all inventories is essential for optimal inventory use. Best-in-class inventory optimization goes beyond just the monitoring of on-hand inventory (e.g., in stores and in distribution centers). It also includes the management of inventory that a retailer may not yet have in hand — but can count on having in time to satisfy a customers' needs. This inventory, in the form of on-order or available-to-promise (ATP) stock, expands the scope of inventory to include products for which the retailer has yet to incur any financial overhead, and for which the retailer has the opportunity to collect money before having to pay for it.

Click Here To Download:
•Guest Series Part 2: Three Strategies For Inventory Optimization