Challenges

This distributor is the sole seller of a few top electronic brands along with other common ones. This organisation has a continuous flow of goods, both inwards and outwards. The inventory is stored in large warehouses in the vicinity of the store. It is mandatory for the distributor to follow a FIFO (Fist in, First Out) model to move goods. The goods also have to be within warranty period so that the customer can avail benefits later. All unsold stock is sent back to the manufacturer. Once a carton is opened, it is essential that the contents from it are over. But it is mostly observed that the salesperson opens another box which is nearest to the workstation, instead of going to the older one.

Each product has a dedicated, assigned location. However the products are never found in their places. There is a considerable amount of time lost in searching the required material.

Stock verification which happens once a month also becomes a time-consuming task.

Solution

The diagnostic team from RALLP and the management team of the distributor team came together to understand the issues faced by the seller. The RALLP team suggested an inventory management system along with an embedded QR code system, and other custom-made modules.

Success

Streamlined flow of material. FIFO implemented perfectly

Easily found materials, almost no time lost in searching

Box management is perfectly implemented. Only one box open at any given time

Perfect inventory insights available to upper management

Alert when a material is about to near the end of warranty. Old goods sent to manufacturer on time, optimising the available space

System assisted Inventory verification - done at a very high pace, and in a very robust manner along with an audit trail to trace when any item was last verified