Forecasting and Inventory Management

An Inventory Assessment with Quick ROI...

Inventory, most likely the largest asset on your balance sheets.  Managing it efficiently can be the difference between profitability and serious customer service issues.  Companies rely on the experience of F. Curtis Barry & Company to assess their processes and develop sound inventory strategies. 

Our clients often need an outside expert to quickly come in, assess how they are managing inventory and to make actionable recommendations.  Our assessment provides high value for low cost and is performed quickly.   

Our assessments are aggressive, a few days onsite followed up with a management summary report with the recommendations and feedback that allow you to take action quickly.   Here is what we will review in the assessment:

• Key inventory benchmarks like fill rates, backorders, aging, etc.
• Current inventory management processes
• Understand the current organizational structure
• Liquidation procedures and strategies
• Inbound freight management
• Processes for imported inventory
• Inventory planning procedures
• Vendor scorecards and vendor performance
• Vendor compliance procedures
• Current software applications and reporting

The cost of the assessment is typically $6,500 and can be performed extremely fast and provide a high ROI.  Call 804-740-8743 and speak with Paul Sobota or Jeff Barry to get started or to learn more, you can also schedule a conference call to discuss a potential assessment by visiting this page. 

Here is how we have assisted other companies:

Case Study 1

F. Curtis Barry & Company assessed the current inventory management procedures and organizational structure for a consumer catalog.  The assessment found $1.2 million in excess inventory, products with low or no sales and large return to vendor quantities.  The recommendations led to new planning and purchasing practices and two additional staff to better manage the processes.

 

Case Study 2

F. Curtis Barry & Company worked with a multichannel business to better understand their current fill rates and backorder issues.  The findings were that their cost to process backorder was over $10 per unit and processing costs were in excess of $750,000 annually.  Our recommendations led to minimizing the number of backorder occurrences and a reduction of the processing costs by over $200,000 with changes to the planning and purchasing processes and without adding any additional staff.

Case Study 3

For a $1 billion multi-brand direct marketer, we reviewed all processes for merchandise planning, purchasing, inventory forecasting, and post-season analysis. We recommended major changes to improve the accuracy of the initial planning, the reduction of backorders, increased turnover, and analytical tools used to evaluate items and promotions. We worked with the IT staff to determine functions required to meet these objectives to manage and grow the client's business.

Case Study 4

F. Curtis Barry & Company assisted a $150 million direct and wholesale business with an assessment of all merchandise planning, purchasing, inventory control, inventory forecasting, and promotions and item analysis. We recommended changes to the client's processes and systems that allowed them to double in size and manage inventory in multiple distribution centers for their business. We also developed the requirements for inventory, planning, forecasting, and inventory control. We distributed RFPs, and assisted with selection of vendors, demos, and contracting for the final forecasting and inventory management system.

For more information on our inventory forecasting and inventory management solutions, please contact our marketing manager Jeff Barry at (804) 740-8743, e-mail him at jbarry@fcbco.com, or fill out our Request Information form.

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