Analysis of the problems and improvement measures in the inventory management of e-commerce enterprises
At present, the warehousing operation volume of e-commerce enterprises is unbalanced due to the uncertain factors of order flow. Then, what are the problems and improvement measures in the inventory management of e-commerce enterprises?
Introduction
The vigorous development of e-commerce has added many business opportunities to the market economy. At the same time, it also puts forward higher requirements for the service level of enterprises. The key to the operation and development of enterprises lies in the inventory management of enterprises. However, most enterprises can't meet the requirements of e-commerce for inventory management. Due to the serious problems in inventory management and improper internal process control, the differences in the number of products in inventory and the low efficiency of warehousing operations in e-commerce enterprises have caused great losses and adverse effects to enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to improve inventory management, design a reasonable control process, and seek a more reasonable inventory management scheme to improve management efficiency.
1 Analysis of the problems existing in inventory management of e-commerce enterprises
Due to the uncertain factors of order flow, e-commerce enterprises generally face a series of problems, such as unbalanced warehousing operation quantity, inability to keep up with their operation capacity, chaotic locations, inaccurate inventory data and difficult delivery. It stems from the weak management foundation and low starting point of e-commerce enterprises, whose management only stays at the traditional extensive management level, and there is no sound and perfect internal management system, and there is no recognition or attention to the inventory control and management of enterprises as an important link in the production and operation process. The problems existing in the inventory management of e-commerce enterprises mainly include the following points:
1.1 is weak in supplier management, and the inventory accuracy can't be controlled
Most e-commerce enterprises supply goods from multiple suppliers, and the uneven management level and work efficiency of suppliers are the source factors leading to the abnormal inventory problems. At present, the suppliers of some e-commerce enterprises generally have the following problems:
(1) The suppliers can't deliver the goods according to the agreed time, which seriously affects the timeliness of receiving goods in the warehouse and the pre-made sales plan. Especially during the promotion period of some e-commerce enterprises, if the supplier fails to deliver the goods on time, it will directly affect the inventory quantity of e-commerce enterprises, resulting in the shortage of goods, thus affecting consumers' satisfaction. This paper was collected and sorted out by http://www.LWlm.COM, a paper alliance. Whether warehousing can be standardized depends on the ability of merchants to restrain suppliers and the timely feedback of warehouses to warehousing anomalies.
(2) The package of the goods provided by the supplier is not standardized, and the barcode is missing or wrong on the package. Some suppliers will provide goods with damaged or deformed outer packaging, unqualified packaging materials and inconsistent packaging, which will bring great difficulties to the warehousing and inventory management of goods after storage. Some problems such as mislabeling of trademarks and mislabeling of bar codes will directly lead to unexplained differences in the inventory process. If these situations are not found when they are put in storage, it is easy for goods to be misshipped when they are put out of storage.
1.2 Unreasonable inventory, excess inventory, idleness and serious backlog
Too high inventory is extremely unfavorable for enterprises. Too high inventory freezes a lot of capital in inventory, reduces working capital, aggravates inventory loss and increases management costs. The main reasons for this phenomenon are: unreasonable storage plan, change of production plan, sales budget error, inefficient information transmission system, simplification of inventory control strategy and other uncertain factors. In the supply chain, the demand forecast, inventory status and production plan among enterprises in each supply chain node are all important data of supply chain management, and it is necessary to transmit data information in real time to respond to users' needs effectively and quickly. Because the logistics information systems of e-commerce enterprises and other participants in the supply chain are not effectively integrated and shared, the information obtained is often lagging and incorrect, resulting in unreasonable production inventory and warehouse inventory.
1.3 Non-standard inventory management and inaccurate inventory data
Due to the low level of service, low degree of informationization and intelligence in China's logistics industry, there are many problems in warehouse site management, such as unreasonable warehouse location management, high error rate of receiving and delivering goods in peak season, inconsistent accounts and false information. Poor warehouse management, unable to accurately grasp the age of the goods, failed to do so? First in first out? , which leads to some products being sluggish and overstocked. The inventory count and reconciliation management in the warehouse are not timely, and the abnormal problems such as receipt and delivery are not found in time, thus missing the best processing time. Special inventory management, the process is not standardized and clear, resulting in outstanding abnormal problems, and the differences can not be locked or solved for a long time.
2 Measures to improve inventory management from the perspective of process control
2.1 Establish an inventory model to reduce inventory cost
Establish a rational inventory data model according to the processes such as product classification, forecast value, service rate (or shortage rate), expense items, supplier interval, order cycle and order method. Using the comprehensive and reasonable application of ABC management method and CVA management method, we should focus on the management of Class A goods, strictly control the inventory of goods, and replenish goods reasonably according to the flow and value of goods, so as to minimize the inventory cost and optimize the inventory structure. Application? First in first out? According to the production date, shelf life and validity period of goods, different batches of goods are systematically and physically managed, and the goods with the earliest production date are given priority when the same goods are delivered.
2.2 standardize the supplier warehousing process to ensure accurate inventory from the source
the establishment of supplier management system has obvious influence and function on enterprise sales and logistics. In order to promote suppliers to better serve enterprises and meet the production and sales of enterprises, relevant KPI assessment should be made for supplier management. KPI assessment of suppliers mainly includes quality indicators, cost indicators and supply indicators. Quality indicators are mainly used to assess the quality of incoming materials supplied by suppliers, mainly including incoming batch qualification rate, incoming sampling defect rate, incoming online scrap rate, incoming inspection exemption rate and other indicators. Cost indicators mainly include price level, timeliness and objectivity of quotation. Supply indicators mainly include delivery timeliness or delivery cycle, order completion rate, service level and other indicators. Take the results of KPI assessment indicators as an important criterion for selecting and managing suppliers, and realize the optimization of supplier management.
2.3 Establish a quick-response information and intelligent system flow
Inventory classification and ordering methods must be based on a perfect database, without careful analysis of the database, and the expected results cannot be achieved. How to establish an appropriate information system is a problem faced by many enterprises. Accurate information can make the inventory flow reasonably and indicate the most suitable inventory. The informationization of the system, the simplicity and clarity of accounting treatment play a key role in improving operational efficiency and the accuracy of inventory data. Establish a unified inventory control system, from the factory source inventory? Inventory in transit? Store in different warehouses? It is of great significance for modern inventory management to implement integrated management and monitoring of sales inventory, improve different types of receiving and dispatching processes such as internal allocation and sales outbound, and distinguish identification of accounting treatment.
2.4 scientifically plan the warehouse area and reasonably arrange the commodity storage process
reasonably plan the warehouse, realize the partition and location management of the warehouse, and effectively control the accuracy of inventory management and timeliness of delivery. The storage area of the warehouse is divided into the area to be inspected, the area to be processed, the storage area of qualified area and the isolation area of unqualified products, so as to place the goods in different states, manage the goods in different areas, and adopt different management means. Every location in the warehouse should be coded, and every item must have a clear storage location. The warehouse is laid out according to the principles of identity, first-in first-out and turnover rate, relevance and heavy goods, general categories, unitization and standardization, consistency of work platform and goods placement direction, and the principles of product importance, sales volume and complementary advantages in off-season and peak seasons. The setting of location size should consider the goods model and cycle number to make specific decisions.
2.5 formulate and implement a reasonable and effective inventory strategy and process, and timely reflect inventory differences
the formulation of inventory process is divided into four steps, namely, making inventory plan, physical inventory and recording, checking inventory results, and analyzing and handling differences. The quantity and status of physical objects must be counted on the basis of physical objects. In addition to weekly and monthly inventory, different' system inventory strategies can be set according to the actual business situation. The inventory process of e-commerce enterprises should promote the use of RF handheld terminals to conduct inventory and record through the inventory plan generated by the system. If there are inventory differences in the check of inventory results, the inventory differences and their causes should be recorded in the system in time.
2.6 strengthen the control of special inventory and process, standardize the process of return and non-genuine goods management
both traditional enterprises and e-commerce enterprises will face the problem of return and non-genuine goods management in the warehouse, which has certain risks and losses in the warehouse inventory management. This part of the quality loss does not account for a small part of the net loss of the enterprise. At the same time, frequent returns and excessive non-genuine inventory are very unfavorable to the storage management. The standardization and simplification of the return and exchange process, the management of non-genuine goods in and out of the warehouse, the storage in the warehouse, the return to the factory and the second delivery all put forward higher requirements for the management of the warehouse and the system. Each link should be managed by process branches, such as return and exchange management, non-genuine product management, etc. Each link should formulate a suitable standard process system, operate in modules and manage in different processes to improve logistics efficiency.
2.7 Strengthen employee skills training and improve management system and flow
At present, the inventory management of e-commerce enterprises is still dominated by manual management, and the professional quality and management level of employees will directly affect the efficiency and cost of inventory management. To establish and improve various systems and processes of inventory management, standardize management and operation, it is necessary to regularly train employees on inventory management knowledge and methods, and conduct regular assessment, so that employees can realize that scientific management is beneficial to enterprises to reduce inventory costs, reduce cargo loss rate, reduce inventory differences and improve economic benefits.
3 Conclusion
To sum up, the optimization of enterprise inventory management and reasonable inventory are of great significance to enterprises. By effectively controlling the process of inventory management, e-commerce enterprises can help reduce the comprehensive cost of warehousing, improve the efficiency of warehousing operations, meet the efficient use of sales and assets, maximize benefits, and then enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises. Enterprises need to focus on key processes in inventory management, find out and deal with key processes in time, effectively reduce inventory differences, and contribute to the smooth progress of process control, thus improving the efficiency of logistics inventory management in e-commerce enterprises. ;