How are you managing your inventory.  Inventory management is critical to the production process.  Not having the right amount of the correct supplies on hand can lead to less sales. 

Let’s assume that you have an ice cream shop and you’re selling ice cream with toppings such as nuts, blue berries, strawberries, charcholate and pineapple.  If a customer walks into the store and orders an ice cream with all the toppings and you suddently discovered that you only have nuts available, the customer may cancel the order or accept the order with nuts only at a reduced price.  Either way this will reduce your sales.

To maintain a good inventory system you have to consider the following:

Inventory Items:

You first have to establish what items you will hold in inventory to support your product production and delivery process.  So whether you’re building a computer, selling ice cream with toppings or cup cakes with toppings, there are inventory items you need to maintain in order to create the product.  So, make a list of those items and identify how much each item cost. 

Storage Location:

Do you have an area to maintain your inventory?.  You have to have an area that can accommodate your inventory.  Can this area be secured?.  Depending on your type of business, inventories are usually not on display for the customer to see.  They are kept in a secured area where they can be protected from theft.  If you’re running an ice cream shop or cupcake shop, for example, some of your inventory may be on display to allow customers to make their choiceses. 

Special Storage Requirements:

Some inventory items have special inventory needs.  Some items may need to be refrigerated or kept at a certain temperature.  Identify the special storage requriements for each inventory item.

Inventory Levels:

Determine what the stockage level each item in the inventory will have.  There is a cost associated with each item.  The more items you have in inventory the more your money will be tied up in items waiting to be assembled and sold.  Establish inventory levels with great care.  At first, establish a low stockage level and only increase as sales pick up.  ntemriements for each inventory item.y need to be refrigerated or kept at a certain temperature.  Id

Re-order Intervals:

Determine when an item should be re-ordered.  If you decide to maintain a stockage level of three items and one is used in a product that is sold, should that one item be replaced or should you wait until there is only one left?.  You have to make this decision based on how fast the product is being sold and how long it takes you to get an item replaced. 

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