Retail Management

THE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT GAME:

Using RQ4 To Win Kris Rogers & Jeff Wilson

Agenda

Introduction

Part I: New Features and Advanced Tools

Part II: Three-Step Automated Ordering Process:

Part III: Inventory Reports You Need to Know

Inventory is like an apple…

Why Do We Manage Inventory?

How Do We Know We Are Doing Well?

Inventory Turns

•  Important Metric is: Inventory Turns •  Definition: Number of Times the Average Inventory

Investment is sold per year. •  Average Inventory Turns Should be between 6 and

12 times per year. •  Average Turns for our Clients is 5.24 turns.

What If We Do It Poorly?

6 Inventory Management Best Practices " Craig Harding, President of Direct Tech, Inc.,

provider of demand planning, inventory optimization, merchandise planning and analysis software. 

1. Manage simple, consistent success metrics,

such as fulfillment, turnover and gross margin return on investment.

6 Inventory Management Best Practices: Craig Harding

2. Dedicate your business to accurate data. Garbage in still results in garbage out.

6 Inventory Management Best Practices

3. Maintain the quality of communications between marketing, merchandising and buyers. 

6 Inventory Management Best Practices: Craig Harding

4. Apply top-down controls to align bottom-up item plans with budgets.

6 Inventory Management Best Practices: Craig Harding

5. Reduce time from processes wherever possible.

6 Inventory Management Best Practices: Craig Harding

6. Apply time against the 20 percent of your

inventory problems that will deliver 80 percent of the benefit. 

How RQ4 Can Help…

…the RQ4 Tool Belt MIN/MAX Calculator

END OF LIFE

WRITE-OFF

LOCK MIN/MAX DO NOT ORDER

MASS INVENTORY EDITING MASS INVENTORY

ADJUSTMENT TOOLS IMPORT/EXPORT MIN/MAX

AGED SERIAL NUMBER WIDGET MANY OTHERS…

Did You Know…???

You Can Lock RQ4…

…To Lock RQ4 " Press Control & L to Lock RQ4

" Or Set Idle Time in Role Management

Part I: New Features and Advanced Tools

Aged Serial Number Status Widget

Aged Serial Number Status Widget

Aged Serial Number Status Widget

Aged Serialized Sales Status Report

Back Order ETA

Back Order ETA

Special Order

Write Off

Write Off – Quantity Adjustments

Write Off - Inventory Quantity Adjustment

Write Off - Inventory Quantity Adjustment

Discontinued

Discontinued

End Of Life

End Of Life

Do Not Order

Do Not Order: Purchase Order

No Sale

No Sale

Purchase Order Edit Field

Part II: Three Step Automated Ordering

Process

Three Step Automated Ordering Process

" Step 1: Set Min/Max

" Step 2: Stock Balancing: Auto Transfer In / Out

" Step 3: Auto Purchasing Report

Step 1: Set Min/Max

Product with Sales History We use the sales history in the Min/Max Pricing Report.

Min/Max Pricing Adjustments Report

Min/Max Calculator

" Period is critical: Best Practice "   Accessories: 21 days

"   Phones: 14 days

" Set Min Qty: "  How many days from order to receipt of product

" Set Max Qty:

"  How often do you wish to order product

Min/Max: Sales History

Min/Max: Adjusting Values

" Adjust Min or Max to a fixed value " Adjust Min and Max by % for Seasonality or

Promotions (can be positive or negative %) " Can set the Order column to a fixed number

Product with No History (New Product)

" Create the product in inventory

" Set Min/Max for first orders

" Lock Min/Max

Create New Product: Blackberry

•  Right Click on Existing Blackberry Torch and Create Similar

Blackberry Torch 2: Fill in the Blanks

Min/Max Location Type " Can narrow down search by store volume or

size

"  Select A Stock Location to set min max for new products

"  This will pull up only those stores that are part of that location type

Min/Max Location Type " This will pull up only those stores that are part of

that location type

Min/Max for New Products

Lock Min/Max Settings

" Until you have history, you should lock min/max numbers

Step 2: Stock Balancing

Auto Transfer In | Auto Transfer Out

Auto Transfer In

•  From All Stores to One Location

" Recalls: From All Stores to Corporate Location

New Transfer Request

Email Transfer Request

Auto Transfer Out

" From Warehouse to Locations " Between Locations

Creates Transfers: One per Store

Step 3: Auto Purchasing

Auto Ordering

Auto Ordering: One PO per Vendor

Auto-Generated Purchase Orders

Auto Ordering: Import

Did You Know…???

You Can Restrict Selling Into the

Negative…

Restrict Negative Selling

Part III: Reports You Need to Know

Inventory counts

Update Committed Count Sheet – Mass Edits

Did You Know…???

You Can Create Inventory Adjustment

Reason Codes

Inventory Adjustment Reason Code

Stale Inventory Report

Moving Products From Non-Sellable

Non Sellable Products Report

Moving Products To Non-Sellable

Non-Sellable Products Report

Sales History Report

Product Tracking Report

Accessory Products… OR

Lifecycle of One Serialized Product

Over Receiving Inventory Report

" allows you to see who is over receiving inventory

Product Imports

Regular Product, Non Stocked,

Vendor Rebate Master List

Regular Product Master List

Mass Price Change Now Available

Select Locations…

•  Do Not Order, Back Order ETA •  Special Order , EOL •  And Write Off

Master List Also Includes:

Auto Ordering Report: Alternate Use

Auto Order Report: Alternate Use

Summary

" RQ4 has introduced The Tool Belt to shave time from every work flow.

" The Automated Ordering Process ensures you have

the Ripe Apples at the right place at the right time. " The reporting enhancements allow for detailed

analysis: "   new reports "   new features within reports.

Latest RQ4 Enhancements are Proof that we are…

…WINNING!!!

The Inventory Management Game

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