Inventory and Supply Chain Management: Executive Challenges and Best Practices

Executive challenges and best practices

Read this trend report to learn the results of a survey of executives and managers at manufacturing and distribution companies.

The introduction of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in the 1980s brought many small- to midsize manufacturers and distributors into the computer age. An ERP platform delivers a single source of truth for financials, production, supply and human resources operations for companies of all sizes.

Yet others of these same type companies, either because they have never embraced ERP or because they are bogged down with aged systems, are struggling with inventory management or supply chain systems that cannot keep up.

These companies struggle with an increasing number of stock-keeping units (SKU). They find themselves in understocked or overstocked positions. And they lack the metrics needed to optimize inventory. Ultimately what they need is real-time visibility across the supply chain.

CFE Media & Technology, publisher of Control Engineering and Plant Engineering magazines, recently partnered with cloud ERP provider Oracle NetSuite to survey its readership. It focused on gathering responses from small- to midsize manufacturers and distributors with revenues less than $200 million about their attitudes towards inventory management.

The results shine a light on the key inventory challenges and issues they face on a day-to-day basis and the best practices these leaders are embracing to keep pace with the needs of complex supply chains.

These businesses are motivated to improve the management of information needed to optimize their operations and improve reliability of its inventory management and supply chain processes; however, for many manufacturers and distributors, getting real-time access to critical information remains challenging.