Software programs can help business owners improve forecasting and order management in order to make better purchasing decisions. Likewise, inventory audits can help companies get a better idea of their holding costs, which in turn can reduce inventory obsolescence. This is one of the most wide-spread causes, which may result in inventory obsolescence. Incorrect forecasting of customer demand most of the times makes the businesses order more stock than needed.
- Demand for them has plummeted, sending their value to a fraction of what it was.
- Industry standards and guidelines, as well as your own business experience, help with the judgment call.
- Plus, visual inventory systems like Sortly allow you to see what you have on hand—an extra helpful tool when determining whether certain items are at risk of becoming obsolete.
- However, when the write-down is large, it is better to charge the expense to an alternate account.
It’s an automated Saas software that gives stock updates, purchase order management and many other solutions all from one dashboard. The moment you feel you are dealing with a slow-moving inventory, you should take actions. Apart from trying to sell using strategies such as bundling, discounts, and remarketing.
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This gives you the most current information about inventory levels along with other details, such as warehouse receiving and production time lines. Obsolete inventory is excess stock that is difficult to sell because there is a lack of demand for the product. This inventory has already gone through the entire product lifecycle, transitioning from a slow-moving product, to excess inventory, and finally becoming obsolete.
This can render a product obsolete as newer products offer more features or better performance at a lower cost. Although demand forecasting is good to implement, you should note that not in all cases it works with 100% accuracy. There will always stay some amount of inventory, which you won’t be able to sell. However, it is possible to eliminate these numbers by the minimum amounts. Let’s now discuss each of the causes for excess inventory and later figure out the methods you can apply to avoid it. With the help of this article, we will figure out what is obsolete inventory and how to avoid it.
Obsolete Inventory Explained
The store is able to charge more for the set once they add champagne—and customers continue to purchase the bundle. Best of all, the company is now covering its costs and has avoided a write-off altogether. wave broadband push Inventory obsolescence is a minor issue as long as management reviews inventory on a regular basis, so that the incremental amount of obsolescence detected is small in any given period.
Examples of Slow-Moving Inventory
Without inventory visibility, it will be hard to understand how much of each product you need to restock and when (and what product(s) might be worth discontinuing). For instance, if you don’t have any insight into what items are slow-moving and taking up storage space, then it will be harder to identify how much obsolete inventory you’re accumulating. Accumulating obsolete inventory can occur for several reasons, from inaccurately forecasting demand to a lack of proper inventory management. Beach toys, Christmas decorations, and Halloween costumes are all examples of seasonal products that will eventually become obsolete. While small businesses could hold onto these items until the season rolls around again, doing so can be costly and limits cash flow. Obsolete inventory is a drawback to any small business, cutting into profit margins, reducing working capital, and taking up warehouse storage space.
Liquidate Your Items
For example, when lead paint was banned from residential use in 1978, many manufacturers were left with a lot of unsellable inventory. For example, if your company produces clothing for teens, you must keep up with the trends to remain competitive. If your warehouse consists of items that are no longer in fashion, it could quickly become stale inventory.
The tags taped to any items used during the subsequent year will be thrown away at the time of use, leaving only the oldest unused items still tagged by the end of the year. You can then tour the warehouse to see if an obsolescence reserve should be created for them. However, tags can fall off or be ripped off inventory items, especially if there is a high level of traffic in nearby bins. Though extra taping will reduce this issue, it is likely that some tag loss will occur over time. Sortly is a top-rated inventory management software system designed to help your business avoid inventory obsolescence. With Sortly, it’s easy to keep track of every single item you have on hand, so you’ll never be surprised by what you find during an end-of-year inventory count.
Recommended Frequency of Inventory Reviews
A new brand with a better price or better marketing may be enough to disrupt your market. With so many options for consumers, it’s easy for them to shift away from your product, even if it still meets their needs. Offering large discounts is also a good method to get rid of the inventory. Right before offering discounts, you should make obsolete inventory accounting. As you do the maths, you can determine how low you can discount the items. Unorganised inventory management leads to poor inventory tracking and ordering mistakes.
Though there are several ways to help avoid accumulating obsolete inventory, carrying any type of dead stock is inevitable. Here is what to do if you end up carrying inventory that has become unsellable. The best way to identify obsolete inventory is by implementing the right tools, technology, and processes to identify slow-moving inventory on hand. Supply chain forecasting involves using data and research to make predictions on all aspects of the supply chain to ensure a business runs smoothly and continues to grow. This includes having insights into production lead times, labor needs, warehousing, order fulfillment, and shipping. Along with inventory management, having visibility over your inventory at all times is key.