Inventory Control Management Practices for Sustainable Retail Chain Business (Essay Sample)

Inventory Control Management Practices for Sustainable Retail Chain Business Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Inventory control involves keeping stock of assets a company uses to produce items it sells. In retail businesses, inventory control provides for proper planning, budgeting and determines customer satisfaction in the long-run. Control over inventory techniques like automation, data analysis, time management, asset tallying, allow a business to keep track of what items are where; helping to place into perspective what is in demand and what’s not. Automation is essential for smooth Inventory control as it saves considerable man-hours. Basic spreadsheets provide a great way to monitor stocks, track trends and predict future orders. However, they are incredibly cumbersome and error-prone hence unpopular with most growing businesses (Muller, 2011). There are plenty of other inventory management software options available for businesses. Performing inventory counts of incoming and outgoing products is crucial to track records and maintains accuracy. Planning and optimization procedures like maintaining minimum stock levels are also required in asset management. This involves ordering new stock when the existing stock has reached a predefined minimum. Keeping extra stock protects against uncertainties to do with customer demand and product availability. There is, however no need to stock items in storage without clear intention. Excess inventory exposes a business to losses in damages, expiry, or if goods go out of season. Asset categorization is another practice that helps businesses have control over stock, find information easily for data analysis and optimization (Bose, 2006).  In retail, Time Management plays a major role in invent...