Streamlining Parts Inventory Management to Save Time and Boost Productivity

Creating an efficient inventory management system requires advance planning, and the help of an experienced inventory management team can make all the difference.  

Imagine two cities:

• City A grows haphazardly over time, with inconsistent street names and confusing layouts. Residents struggle to navigate, and visitors are lost.
• City B, on the other hand, is meticulously planned with a grid system, making travel faster, deliveries smoother, and overall morale better. 

Your inventory system is like these cities. Disorganized processes are like City A, causing delays and frustration. But with a structured approach, like City B, your team can move more efficiently, boosting productivity and improving your operation. 

A disorganized inventory management system not only affects your profitability, it also creates confusion and stress among your employees and results in lost productivity and low employee morale. 

Smart inventory management creates lasting positive effects across your business, starting with your employees and ending on your bottom line. 

Let’s look at the ways that poor inventory management slows you down — and then at some examples of how you can turn things around to create a more efficient environment. 

The Hidden Effects of Disorganized Inventory on Workplace Efficiency 

Here are some of the most critical ways that inefficient inventory management can wind up creating a drain on your business. 

• Time Spent Searching for Materials: Significant time can be lost when employees are forced to spend their days hunting for parts and materials scattered throughout facilities in a disorganized fashion — leading to lots of extra footsteps and unnecessary detours. Disorderly or inaccurate records can compound the problem — making it even more difficult for team members to locate items needed quickly and efficiently. The time wasted not only slows down manufacturing processes — it pulls employees away from other cored tasks. 

• Excessive Administrative Tasks: Another result of disorganized inventory is an increased burden of paperwork and record-keeping tasks. Theses repetitive and time-consuming low-level chores are a waste of your employees’ capabilities —and they wind up taking a toll not just on productivity, but on your team members’ morale and motivation. 

• Frequent and Urgent Ordering Processes: When inventory management processes aren’t well managed, orders may get placed on a rush or emergency basis — which is expensive, creates extra work, and causes stress, making it difficult for team members to manage their time. 

• Constant Monitoring of Stock Levels: Inadequate inventory tracking, especially when it depends on cumbersome manual processes, creates yet another drain on team members’ time and attention. The inefficiency of manual monitoring can result in items being improperly stored, as well as the risks of stockouts or excess inventory. 

• Safety Risks: Disorganized environments often create safety issues — especially when employees are working in rushed or stressful conditions. In fast-paced or industrial settings, this can have especially serious impacts, leading to an increased risk of injuries or downtime. 

Streamlining Inventory Management to Save Time and Boost Productivity 

MCE has helped many clients facing challenges like these — and have helped customers implement solutions that streamline disorganized processes. Not only does MCE help free up the time and talents of team members so they can be more efficient, but they help improve accuracy and increase profits. 

MCE Simplifies Searches by Making It Easier to Find Parts and Materials 

MCEs team can help you organize inventory in thoughtful and strategic ways that help team members find what they need quickly can unlock major boosts in productivity and ease frustration. Methods MCE has used to maximize employee time and productivity: 

Centralized Storage:  

Organization of parts in one centralized area or shop that allows all employees to know where they can locate what they need. 

Point-Of-Use:  

Breaking out stock locations to multiple areas around their facility, allowing production line workers to have what they need right in their work area. Some customers leverage both centralized storage and point-of-use options. 

Custom Storage Solutions:  

Look at how product is stocked and organize to potentially identify a storage solution that can boost efficiencies. For example, using color-coded bins to easily differentiate between similar items or to identify product categories. 

Color-Coded Bins: 

For example, one of MCE’s customers had employees who were losing substantial time to the process of searching for fittings and components thanks to disorganized storage. Visually similar items, like fluid power connectors and hoses, made it challenging to find the correct part quickly. 

MCE helped solve this problem by setting up color-coded bins to reduce search time by making it easier to identify parts based on thread type. RFID-enabled bins can help expedite searches as well. An extra benefit of this approach is that it helps overcome language barriers, allowing for more inclusivity and adapting to the individual needs of employees. 

>> How to Save Time & Space with an Organized, Centralized Stocking Location

MCE Helps Reduce Administrative Burdens and Streamlining Orders 

Many low-level, repetitive tasks can be automated by putting the right technology in place. For example, MCE worked with a customer whose existing process involved multiple weekly purchase orders (POs) to numerous suppliers. As their manufacturing demands grew, their buyers struggled with the organizational efforts needed to monitor stock levels to avoid outages and production downtime.  

MCE worked with the customer to streamline the process by helping them consolidate their number of suppliers and implementing a VMI inventory management program. The MCE team also worked with the customer to estimate weekly usage and trends to establish a Stocking Agreement housing mission-critical parts at an MCE warehouse specifically for their use. This move minimized lead times and reduced potential inventory outages that could trigger downtime events. 

>> Learn How MCE Provided Process Savings with VMI and Proactive Stocking

MCE Enables Proactive Management of Stock Levels — And Eliminating Downtime 

Creating more reliable inventory systems gives managers the visibility and understanding they need to make better long-range plans instead of being stuck in reactive mode, constantly dealing with last-minute orders and other disruptions. 

MCE helps clients master this challenge by using Clear Spider inventory management software to monitor stock in real time, even in remote locations. This approach helps prevent downtime due to missing components by making sure that critical items are always available.  

For example, MCE worked with a client who frequently encountered downtime when repair items for bridge inspection equipment were missing, which delayed service for crucial safety equipment. 

MCEs VMI team helped them set dynamic min/max product levels for replenishment at the remote workstations and the central stock location, ensuring the right products were always available where needed. This eliminated extra steps, keeping the lines running smoothly. 

MCE helped the customer implement better organization and stocking, making sure that employees always had they parts they needed available — which improved job turnaround times as a direct result of reducing equipment downtime. 

>> How MCE Improved Stocking of Critical Spares in Company’s Remote Locations

Improving Employee Morale Through Smarter Inventory Systems 

When employees work in an organized environment with well-planned procedures and processes, rather than having to operate in a stressful state of crisis or emergency, morale goes up. Team members are able to plan and execute their activities without unexpected detours and distractions, which helps them not only accomplish their day-to-day work, but set their sights on greater goals. 

Putting It All Together 

The key takeaway should be clear at this point: even if your inventory management processes are disorganized right now, you’re not stuck with the situation. MCE is ready to help you discover and implement best practices and tailor them to the needs of your own business. 

With an experienced partner like MCE at your side, you can take control of the situation and transition to a smarter setup that will pay you dividends in terms of productivity, efficiency, and more motivated team members for years to come. 

Ready to learn more about how better inventory management can boost your productivity, efficiency, and bottom line? Contact us for a free assessment.