Pm2 Services
Inventory Databases
Unreliable Databases Cause Expensive Problems
Inaccurate inventory data directly harms productivity and results in wasted time and money. If you’re relying on incomplete or inaccurate data in your inventory control management system you’ll face costly stockouts, inflated expenses, and increased downtime.
PM2 leverages decades of experience in storeroom and warehouse inventory management to assess your current database and implement customized improvements.
By assessing and optimizing your MRO/OEM inventory data, PM2 can ensure that what you have on the shelf matches what you have in you database, help you build a new inventory database or enhance the one you already use as the foundation of your stock control software. Accurate data empowers organizations like yours to make data-driven decisions, avoid stockouts and costly downtime, and maximize ROI.
Inventory Management Software Vs Inventory Databases: What You Need to Know
Inventory management software and the underlying inventory database work hand-in-hand but are distinct. At PM2, we can help you optimize your inventory database to better inform any software you use, building a solid foundation for your organization.
Your inventory system database is the central hub for all inventory records; the database compiles and stores all of your raw inventory data, including information like:
Manufacturer’s name and number
Standardized descriptions
Locations
Quantities
And more
Your inventory management database software is the system that manages and makes sense of the data. Without accurate, comprehensive data in the database, any software system will be practically useless for inventory management and informed decision making. Even the most advanced software can’t generate good insights from incomplete or flawed data. You must have complete, standardized, and accurate data in your inventory database for your software program to be useful.
Symptoms of Underlying Database Issues
When incomplete records or incorrect part numbers are fed into your inventory control system, it triggers a cascade of consequences, impacting your day-to-day productivity and your bottom line. You may be dealing with issues in your inventory management database for inventory management if you’ve experienced the following:
Do these sound familiar? If so, optimizing your inventory management database should be your next step, and PM2 can help. With complete and accurate data, you gain actionable insights to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary expenses.
How Effective Database Inventory Management Sets You Up For Success
An optimized inventory tracking database gives organizations like yours a strategic edge through enhanced visibility, control, and planning. A solid data foundation enables proactive, optimized decision making. With a reliable inventory database, stockouts become rare exceptions rather than constant headaches, enhanced reporting provides real-time insights into usage trends, and workers can focus on productivity rather than chasing down misplaced items.
Of course, few organizations can cultivate this level of database inventory management on their own. The expertise required usually lies outside most companies’ core competencies. As database experts, PM2 will be able to create or optimize your inventory database so you can gain access to accurate real-time data, improve the efficiency of your daily operations, and better inform your stock control program.
Why You Need to Take Control of Your Inventory Database
Prioritizing inventory management database design is critical for ensuring you accurately manage your MRO/OEM stock. Incomplete, inaccurate, and non-standardized inventory records lead to big problems including:
- Excessive time spent manually tracking down misplaced items
- Overstocking and stockouts for different parts
- Inflated carrying costs and unnecessary spending
- Inability to optimize inventory levels
Regaining control starts with PM2 assessing your current database and processes to identify gaps. We can then implement proven inventory management database solutions to build or enhance your database to better inform your decision making and optimize your inventory stock control.
Our team takes a firsthand approach by spending time in your warehouse and assessing your inventory in-person. We will work with other companies and technologies to provide in-depth insight, working as their “boots on the ground” to ensure you get the most accurate data to inform your tools and systems.
With PM2 as your partner, you can reduce the wasted time, plant downtime, costs, and headaches caused by inventory data issues. Our tailored inventory management database solutions provide the reliable information you need to proactively manage assets, avoid stockouts, and improve efficiency.
Benefits of Optimizing Your Stock Management System
A well-organized and up-to-date inventory database can make all the difference in the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of your business. With accurate, accessible inventory records in your MRO/OEM parts database, you’ll benefit from:
Reliable, real-time reporting and analytics
Proactive inventory optimization over reactive crisis management
Faster part searches and lookup times
Data-driven forecasting, planning, and decision making
Minimized stockouts and overstock
Reduced carrying costs and purchasing expenses
Better visibility of usage trends
More efficient space utilization in storerooms and warehouses
By leveraging database best practices tailored to your specific needs, PM2 puts accurate, actionable data at your fingertips. This transforms inventory management from a frustrating guessing game into a strategic advantage.
Our Inventory Database Services
PM2 offers a range of services to ensure you have the accurate, accessible data foundation you need for excellent inventory control and management.
Inventory Database Development
Don’t have a centralized database, or need to fix an inaccurate one? Our experts will build or repair your database based on your actual shelf inventory. We’ll standardize your data and establish protocols to maintain ongoing integrity, ensuring your data is properly associated with unique identifying information.
Inventory Database Management
Issues like incomplete data and a lack of standardization can make your inventory disjointed and difficult to manage. Inaccurate data is a leading cause of lost productivity and wasted money.
PM2 can help you regain control and provide the tools and services to maintain your inventory database with expert inventory database management, addressing issues like incorrect or incomplete data, information in the wrong data cells, poor descriptions that do not uniquely describe the item, and data that isn’t standardized.
Item Description Standardization
Unclear, inconsistent item descriptions lead to wasted time and errors. One of the fastest ways to get your inventory back on track is to create better, more accurate, and standardized item descriptions.
We’ll standardize your database so you’ll be able to:
- Look up items faster
- Better share data across your organization
- Reduce incorrect orders
- Decrease stock outs
- Lower carrying costs
- Avoid spot buys and “buying around the inventory”
- Eliminate any unwanted item duplicates
Catalog Content Services
When your customers scan your catalog online or in print, they need searchable descriptions or they will end up frustrated. A high quality catalog reduces the number of customer returns and the amount of time your customer service representatives have to spend finding information for your customers.
PM2 can help create and enhance data, organize, cross reference, or do whatever is necessary to make your customer’s experience more effective.
Purchasing Data Collection
Accurate purchasing data ensures you have the right items in the right place at the right time. We’ll collect this data for you and add it to your database, which will reduce procurement time, prevent ordering errors, and help you better manage your purchasing spend.
Cross Referencing
A great way to improve the customer experience is to match your data with that of your vendors and customers. We cross-reference your database with external sources to increase efficiency and simplify purchasing for your customers.
UNSPSC Coding
Many companies require UNSPSC commodity coding information as part of their purchasing process, but keeping this information up to date can be difficult, as it often changes every year. Our team will ensure all your data is current with the latest UNSPSC codes.
Enterprise Item Master Development
Growth through acquisition or across multiple sites can lead to disparities in their inventory management systems. We’ll develop unified databases to keep your inventory information clean and consolidated.
Essential Inventory Management Database Tools and Technologies to Utilize
Critical stock control techniques and technologies depend on a robust inventory management database with real-time data. Clean, accurate data will allow you to use these systems to enhance visibility and control.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags
RFID tags attach to items allowing real-time tracking as they move through facilities. This data feeds into the inventory database, providing insight into usage patterns and inventory positioning.
Barcodes
Scanning barcodes on inventory provides fast, accurate tracking compared to manual data entry. Barcode data can automatically sync with the central inventory database, populating your inventory control software with real-time data.
Inventory Reports
Many software applications for stock control inventory can generate automated reports, providing insights into usage, stock levels, and trends. But these reports are only as good as the inventory database that supplies the source data. We’ll work to ensure your databases contain accurate, updated information so that you can trust your inventory reports and make informed decisions.
Reorder Alerts
Reorder alerts notify when inventory levels reach predetermined thresholds, signaling it's time to reorder. Accurate data is essential for these alerts to function properly.
Process Design and Training
There’s no arguing with the fact that systems degrade over time. Company aquisitions and expansions create further havoc with your inventory controls and processes. Inevitably, your inventory management and systems become fragmented. PM2 will create new processes to improve efficiency and reliability. All of our recommendations will be based on your unique situation. No inventory is alike, and we believe no design should be either. We can also implement your new processes for you and train employees on any new strategies.
Inventory Strategy Development
When was the last time you reviewed your inventory strategy? The world has changed and requires us to think about and manage inventory in new and different ways. If you haven’t touched your strategy in years, or if you don’t have one, PM2 will develop a strategy to help you survive (and thrive) in today’s economic environment.
How to Improve Your Warehouse Stock Control Practices
Effective inventory and stock control depends on your access to accurate, real-time data and the necessary tools to take advantage of it. When you partner with PM2 to optimize your inventory database, you’ll be able to enhance how you manage your inventory with reliable data, efficient tracking, and accurate reports.
Use Real-Time Data to Inform Decisions
Old or outdated information can easily lead to wasteful spending when you buy products you already have in stock, have to return items, or waste valuable time searching for what you need. Maintaining real-time visibility into stock levels and transactions allows for smarter planning and purchasing, making costly data-related mistakes a thing of the past.
Implement Efficient Inventory Tracking Methods
Leverage tracking tools like barcodes and scanners to improve the accuracy and efficiency of your inventory data collection. Mobile technology paired with an optimized database creates real-time visibility into inventory movements and availability, allowing your team to track inventory quantities and locations with ease.
Integrate Automated Calculations and Reporting
With the right inventory management software, you can transform metrics like lead times, minimum stock levels, and shrinkage into automated insights – but only if your data is accurate and well-organized. When PM2 enhances your inventory database, it can seamlessly integrate with your management system to produce actionable, robust reports for greater productivity, lower costs, and better decision making.
Frequently Asked Questions About MRO/OEM Inventory Databases
What is stock control?
Stock control refers to the processes involved in managing and maintaining optimal stock levels and efficiencies as well as minimizing shrinkage and downtime.
What is stock management?
Stock management encompasses ordering, storing, tracking, and controlling inventory stocks to ensure an adequate supply while minimizing costs.
What is an inventory manager?
An inventory manager is responsible for overseeing inventory tracking, planning, and control processes for a company.
Why is an inventory management database beneficial?
A well-designed, organized inventory database improves visibility, lowers costs, minimizes stockouts, and provides insights to optimize inventory levels.
What information do you need for effective stock control?
Critical inventory data includes manufacturer’s name and number, along with other unique item numbers; clean, standardized, searchable descriptions; accurate quantities and locations; reorder points; demand forecasts; and lead times.
What’s the difference between inventory management software vs database?
Inventory management software and inventory databases work hand-in-hand. The software manages and analyzes the data. All data should be compiled and reside in a database. The database is the fuel that allows the software to run, often automating the calculation of metrics for managing inventory.
Let PM2 Build an Inventory Management Database That Transforms Your Inventory Management System
Managing inventory effectively is impossible without complete, standardized, accurate data in a well-structured database. This provides the necessary foundation for enhanced visibility, increased efficiency, and data-driven decision making.Whether you need to build a new database from scratch, clean up an existing database, or standardize item descriptions, PM2 has the expertise to customize a solution for your exact needs.