Can upgrading your inventory management practices with enterprise mobility solutions help improve your overall cost structure? Can this then make your business more competitive in your market? Absolutely! As a value-added reseller, your business is based on providing turnkey solutions to your customer base. This includes providing multiple solutions from a vast and robust product line. However, you do not merely provide a product solution, but also need to provide a value-added service offering. VARS distinguish themselves by their ability to provide a readymade plan within a competitive cost structure, and that involves controlling inventory costs for the company. Unfortunately, most VARS rely upon manual approaches to inventory management, ones predicated on managing inventory via excel spreadsheets. Upgrading your inventory management practices with enterprise mobility hardware and software solutions, will not only improve how you manage that inventory, but will ultimately reduce your costs and improve your bottom line.
Most VARS want to distinguish themselves from everyday distributors by the fact that they provide more than just a product. However, VARS must also carry product and their inventory carrying costs are just as substantial as any other business model. Imagine the costs associated with data entry errors. What does your company do now when it either buys too much, not enough, or worse, buys the wrong amount at the wrong time simply because of inaccurate inventory counting? Each of these scenarios involves increased financing costs and a higher overall cost structure for your company’s product offering.
High inventory financing costs does nothing more than price your product out of the market. Now imagine how much better your pricing structure will be when everyone in your enterprise has access to real-time information. Imagine how much better you’ll be able to service your customer base when procurement has a more accurate inventory count. Imagine how much faster your enterprise will be able to operate when your warehouse personnel are able to provide instant updates, updates that come via rugged mobile handheld computers. All of these advancements ensure that your end price to your customer is more inline with your market. You’ll be able to maximize your economies of scale simply because you’ll have a more accurate inventory count. More importantly, you’ll be able to provide timely information to a customer base that depends upon access to time critical parts. However, this simply isn’t possible via manual counting methods. Never has been and never will be.
Your company’s value proposition is built around a product and service offering that is competitive and inline with your market. While VARS don’t typically own the product’s design, they still provide an invaluable service offering by being able to outline the product’s application. Granted, VARS may not have the volumes in inventory when compared to large-scale distributors. However, inventory costs are costs just the same. Your enterprise can reduce these costs with rugged handheld computers and an enterprise mobility solution that streamlines your entire operations.
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