The Upside of Better Inventory Control through Industrial Vending Machines

Everyone wants to run lean these days. But few companies actually succeed.

It’s no secret that lean management strategies can reduce costs, increase productivity and help companies compete. Yet, many companies fail when trying to implement these strategies in their production facilities.

One of the first steps in implementing a lean management program is effectively managing inventory, but without complete visibility into usage those efforts often fall short. Management rarely understands exactly how and where inventory items are being used without some form of tracking in place.

The result? Ineffective inventory control processes that rely on spreadsheet data or the honor system typically resulting in missing inventory, shrinkage or excessive inventory that ties up cash flow and collects dust.

Thinking about improving your inventory control processes? Here are 5 reasons to stop thinking and start doing:

1. Reduce costs associated with inventory purchasing.
   Without a clear view into the consumption of inventory items, how do you know what material is necessary for optimum production? The short answer is: You don’t. When you can track where and how inventory is being consumed, you can dial in just the right amount to hold in stock, saving time and money in purchasing.
   
2. Improve production rates and decrease worker downtime.
   When you have mission-critical items on hand, work gets done. Think of the time it takes employees to search for missing items or procure them at higher cost. Not only does this result in delayed production, but it also wastes manhours and increases inventory costs. Better inventory management ensures you have the tools and supplies you need on hand when you need them.
   
3. Reduce lead time and make customers sticky.
   If you are constantly running out of inventory, then you know how frustrating it is to wait for items to be replenished.From the time the items are ordered to the time they arrive on your doorstep can take days and, in some cases, weeks. Yet most companies fail to account for this delay in their project estimates. The longer this takes, the more it impacts your ability to deliver and the more customers start to look elsewhere.
   
4. Free cash flow.
   Ineffective inventory control can tie up cash that you could be investing in other areas of your business. Crazy to think that what may be holding your business back from increased success are covered in dust in a storage room. By implementing a better inventory control program, you can boost your cash flow almost immediately.
   
5. Improve customer satisfaction rates.
   You are in business to make money and part of doing so is making your customers happy. By knowing exactly what inventory you have on hand at any given time, you can meet customer demands, improve order fulfillment and create sustainable pricing models based on accurate cost analysis, rather than relying on guesswork.

Many manufacturers are introducing vending to their facilities to vend commonly used consumables such as disposable earplugs and gloves, as well as high-value, returnable items such as drills, saws and cutting tools. With traditional coil machines, locker units and combination coil and locker machines, there’s not much that can’t be vended. What does that mean for production facilities? It means your team always has the equipment they need to work efficiently, and improved visibility in the inventory items you need to control.

M&M Sales & Equipment is excited to partner with vending and inventory control specialist 1sourcevend to offer a simple, yet powerful inventory control solution. Learn more now.

If you would like to learn whether vending might be the inventory control solution you’ve been looking for, reach out to your local M&M Sales & Equipment sales rep or branch here in West Texas.