The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of uninterrupted supply chains and efficient inventory management in the pharmaceutical industry. Thousands have died worldwide due to the unavailability of medicine and ventilators. This is mainly due to the supply chain disruptions and API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) shortages that led to production halts. Pharmaceutical companies should focus on efficient inventory and warehouse management. In this blog post, we’ll discuss one of the best practices, inventory cycle counting, and the new ways of achieving more out of it.
Inventory cycle counting involves a comparison between physical counting and inventory records. The practice is a great way of determining the accuracy of your inventory management. When regularly and correctly done, cycle counting helps businesses to keep their inventory holding costs as low as possible.
Although it’s important, manual cycle counting is cumbersome and no one’s favorite job. You need a large part of your manpower and time to make sure the stock levels on your system match with stock on your shelves. If you don’t count your inventory regularly, you may face huge inventory problems and revenue losses. You can call it a necessary evil. Cycle counting helps inventory managers identify significant warehouse issues before they show adverse effects. Pharmaceutical companies can greatly improve the accuracy of their inventory and financial statements by timely capturing and monitoring cycle counts.
Pharmaceutical companies have come a long way with digital transformation. But most of them are still relying on paper-based processes to execute cycle counts. These manual processes make the already cumbersome task more difficult and inefficient. A minute error can lead to a great mismatch between the actual inventory levels and inventory data. Your production line may not receive
Using digital technologies to optimize the cycle counting process
Modern digital technologies such as barcode scanning, wearables and smartphones eliminate error-prone paper-based processes. Using barcode scanners will enable warehouse workers to perform inventory counting faster, almost in 50 percent less time. Since your workers don’t need to write down numbers, the chances for errors are zero. If these barcode solutions are integrated into the ERP system of your pharmaceutical company, data will be automatically updated into the system of records.
Innovapptive’s Connected Inventory Management is a mobile inventory management solution that makes cycle counting an easier exercise. This solution can be integrated into rugged barcode scanners, smartphones, and wearable devices. The recount feature in the solution allows you to recount the items which are already counted. If there is a huge mismatch of system and count quantity, this feature will allow you to initiate a recount of the material.
Connected Inventory Management leverages smartphone cameras to allow inventory staff to take pictures of inventory and upload them into the ERP system’s cycle counting module. These can be saved for future references.
Watch an online demonstration of Connected Inventory Management in action by clicking this link. This demonstration showcases mInventory’s features and illustrates its benefits. To learn more about how Innovapptive’s mInventory can help your company increase its cycle counting efficiency and improve warehouse productivity, call 888-464-6668. Our experts are standing by to answer your questions, listen to your needs and to configure a solution to overcome your warehouse challenges.
