Tag Archives: stock

Accounting Software, Inventory Management software, Program Modules

Instant Inventory Information

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Do you ever wonder where that stack of widgets is? How long did that vendor say it would take to get us those fizzbinns? Is Project Z-180 ever going to be completed? These very important questions always occur when handling your inventory concerns.

With SIMMS Inventory Management software, you can always get these answers quickly and easily. Analytical reports and project management features enable SIMMS users to keep complete control of more than just inventory – it also allows scheduling of projects and can provide data needed for getting ongoing projects finished and out the door.

Contact KCSI today to learn more about getting quick answers to your most important questions.

Accounting Software, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software

Inventory Valuation with SIMMS

The calculation of landed costs for your stock items can require a slide rule, an abacus and a compass at times. Lacking familiarity with the correct formulas needed to calculate the numbers you need before your markup goes on top can make this a challenge to the best of your inventory personnel.

SIMMS Inventory Management automatically calculates landed costing for you, assuring the accuracy of your projected profits and letting you focus more time on other matters. Contact KCSI today to learn how SIMMS can take care of this task automatically for you.

Business Recommendations, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software, Stock Science

Getting The Right Inventory Manager

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A wide variety of training is available these days for those who wish to specialize in inventory management practices. The concepts that may seem very mathematical at first all support the ideas of supply-and-demand as well as incorporating the concept of the warehouse or storeroom as an evolving entity.

As for managers or owners selecting an employee to take on the task, it should be mentioned that qualified individuals can be hired with their training already in place, who come in and establish all the best practices after their analysis of the conditions that exist. No matter the source of your “Stock Master”, never just choose the person who is willing to do it. If you choose the option to promote from within, give the inventory tasks to several within your organization and you’ll soon discover which person has the natural talent. The ones with ideas for improvement and the ability to both voice and implement the ideas are a valued asset to your company. Don’t waste people where they will not excel — put the best people into every department if you truly wish to succeed. Once in place, your Stock Master must be introduced to your staff as that department head, and must be given an important place on an identical level with the others.

Companies that compete in the modern marketplace cannot have any aspects of their inventory management be considered — or actually be — vague or imprecise. The task of stock coordination must fall to someone who is prepared to do it and make sure that others observe the established in-house rules for its management. Most of inventory planning is merely the application of common sense and accurate arithmetic, and these responsibilities must be assigned to a specific individual who will take the duties seriously. Whomever the person is, they can literally be the savior of your bottom line.

For the best inventory management, SIMMS 2014 Inventory Management software will serve perfectly as the tool the master needs.

Visit www.simmssoftware.com or email sales@kcsi.ca for more information.

Business Recommendations, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software, Program Modules

Use of Lot Names & Numbers

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Manufacturer’s Lots come with a wide variety of details and information. Some are multi-digit numbers, some are nothing but letters that spell nothing sensible to you. Some are a mix of the two. The use of manufacturer’s lots — and in-house production lots — can add much to the process of inventory accuracy while increasing tracking capabilities of any items so designated.

When receiving items into inventory that will be used on a specific project, the project name and number can be entered in as those items’ manufacturer’s lot information. This simple practice enables the easy selection of the stock for that project or order, merely by looking for the number of items in stock with the specific manufacturer’s lot number.

SIMMS Inventory Management software provides similar tools to further enable the accuracy and ease of item selection. Visit simmssoftware.com today to learn more about manufacturer’s lot tracking.

Inventory Management

Giving It All

simms_MatisseHarmonyInRed

One winter, in his leaner days, Henri Matisse decided
to paint a picture of a woman seated at a table, on which
there was a bowl of fruit.

Having spent what was for him a fortune on the fruit, the artist was determined to make it last until the canvas was finished. He let the fire burn itself out and opened the windows. The temperature in the studio plunged.

Matisse donned his hat and overcoat, pulled on his stoves
and applied himself to his task. At the end of the day, he was pleased to note that the fruit had scarcely changed color. The same could not be said for the model, however. Her rosy
complexion was tinged with blue.

Business Recommendations, Increased Revenue, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software

Counting Stock

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SIMMS’ Stock Count features make the process of adjusting inventory counts smooth and precise in just a few clicks of the mouse. Adjustments can be made live within SIMMS or on data collectors by those actually performing the adjustments on the stockroom or warehouse floor, who may be granted rights to merely scan-and-correct once any variance is noticed.

Within the process, SIMMS administrators can control the adjusting users’ access to information about the stock that is not necessary for them to know, while managers remain able to see such data under their SIMMS logins. Adjustments can be set to be confirmed or authorized before the adjusted numbers are committed to the stock database. Physical counts done by hand can be compared easily with the on-hand data in the system so discrepancies can be easily spotted.

The system can be locked down while adjustments are being made (the blocked method) or adjustments can be made on-the-fly (the snapshot method). Numerous reports can keep the whole process visual so that variances can be noted, counts corrected, and justifications for the adjustments are logged into the system during the adjustment for current and future reference. Inventory adjustments remain an important process that should be left to a selective group of individuals after the physical count is performed. SIMMS administrators can control this process and the Stock Count features easily help them to accurately track the consumption of stock.

Business Recommendations, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software, Stock Science

The Reorder Limit Method

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Orders are placed for a fixed quantity usually the Economic Order Quantity when the stocks reach the Reorder Limit (ROL) or at the end of a predetermined
review period if the stocks have fallen below the Reorder Limit.

The ordering quantity (the EOQ) is fixed, it is checked whether the
Reorder Limit is reached.

The ROL is determined by adding the lead time requirements to safety stock.

ROL = Safety Stock + Lead Time requirements

SIMMS Inventory Management software provides an easy system of setting and maintaining your reorder limits. Contact sales@kcsi.ca to learn more about how SIMMS can make your entire stock experience both easy and accurate.

Business Recommendations, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software, Stock Science

SKU Management with SIMMS 2013

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In SIMMS 2013, the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) Configurator enables you to set the component structure of the SKU (Item) number. You can choose characters from the item’s category, manufacturer, subcategory, vendor, or vendor’s part number to form the SKU number. Alternately, you can choose an auto-generated number to serve as the SKU.

You can also designate the number of items that can be created under a category and assign that item an incremented number. If needed, SIMMS 2013 has a manual SKU override, in which you can assign an item your own item code separate from the automatically-generated SKU.

SIMMS 2013 helps you assign particular SKU numbers to each inventory item configured in the Inventory Manager. This lets you assign an item number based on an SKU formula devised in the SKU Configurator. You can do this during the creation of an item, with the result that once the selection of either the item category, subcategory, brand (sub-sub category), model (sub-sub-sub category) or manufacturer has been made and the Save button has been clicked, the Item code SKU will be automatically created based on the selected options.

Examples of SKU options include these:

• the first two characters of a category

• a 5-character item incremented number

• the first three characters of a subcategory

• the first four characters of a manufacturer

• A 4-character automatically-generated number for a vendor

A specific example of an SKU could thus be as follows:

the category of a computer: SU (for SUPER COMPUTERS)

the 40th item configured under the category: 00040

the sub-category: FAN (for FANS)

the manufacturer: PHILL (for PHILLIPS)

the vendor: Ingram Micro (with an automatically generated code of 0009)

Ultimately, the SKU would thus become SU00040FANPHILL0009.

SKU usage and identification can help your stock management move from simple accuracy to complete precision. If this degree of control is something you seek, visit www.simmssoftware.com or email sales@kcsi.ca to learn more about how SIMMS 2013 is the choice for you.

Accounting Software, Business Recommendations, Increased Revenue, Industry Insights, Inventory Management software

Return on Assets (ROA)

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Imagine that you are a dust-coated gadget of some sort, thick in the middle, bulky, awkward, still half-contained in your original box. You wait to be grabbed and be part of some shipping order to a customer some day. While many businesses may have items of stock in a similar situation as you, if any of those businesses have any more than five percent of its total stock of your age and condition, it could be said that the Return on Assets (ROA) has stalled and is leaving hundreds – maybe thousands – of units of currency that should have been redeemed as cash by now.

Return on Assets is the ratio of annual net income to average total assets of a business during a financial year. This ratio represents the efficiency of the business in using its assets to generate net income. It indicates profitability.

The formula to calculate return on assets is:

ROA =

Annual Net Income
———————————-

Average Total Assets

Average total assets are calculated by dividing the sum of total assets at the beginning and at the end of the financial year by 2.

ROA illustrates the number of cents earned on each dollar of assets.Higher values of ROA indicate higher profitability, and profits in this model are only expanded by turning over that old stock resting dusty on their back shelves. Using combination deals, clearance sales or bulk circulation methods, every business can recoup their original outlay of capital (or as near as is possible) and thus positively affect their ROA. A practical method that businesses can establish to help keep low ROA in check is the use of Economic Order Quantities (EOQs).

The Economic Order Quantity model is structured around minimizing the costs associated with introducing (or ordering) item into inventory versus holding an item within the inventory. Taking ordering, handling, and carrying costs into account, EOQ calculates the optimal order quantity that potentially provides the best long-term value.

SIMMS 2013 allows for the establishment of the EOQ model from the outset of its use, thus taking the issues of obsolescence and slow moving items off your desk and giving you back the time and power to build your company’s position in the marketplace. Visit www.simmssoftware.com or email sales@kcsi.ca foe more information today.