Sometimes it’s good to take a step back, take a big picture view, and seek a clear understanding of just what this business is all about. What I’ve found is that at the end of the day, the entire inventory industry boils down to the following key pieces:
- People
- Technology
I choose this order for a reason—without Good People who are trained properly and regularly, nothing else matters. Without the right Technology in the hands of those Good People, their best efforts are not able to come through in the inventory process.
But neither of these factors necessarily translates to the single, #1 most important result of any inventory, which is Accuracy. And Accuracy is driven by the process. That’s why you want to find a company that puts an emphasis on Training and Dedicated Teams. Each individual inventory team member must have the following:
- The right Training on exactly how to best capture inventory
- Be a part of Dedicated Teams so that they can sharpen those skills in the same store formats day after day
- The most technologically-advanced tools which can maximize their potential
If these three key processes are put into place, that all-important Accuracy will shine through. Yes there are many, many other factors that go into successful inventory counts, but at its core, at its very essence, nothing else matters if the results are not accurate.