Every firearm retailer needs to replenish stock as guns and other non-serialized inventory items are sold. Too much inventory ties up operating capital. Too little inventory results in dissatisfied customers. So, you need to find the right balance. So, how do you do it? Do you use some fancy Excel spreadsheet? Do you have an intricate algorithm that works for you? Do you use your existing computer system? Does it handle multi-location needs? And, if you use any external method, are any of them integrated to allow you to cut purchase and transfer orders with ease?
With FFLAssist, replenishment planning is native and very simple to use. The system will recommend that you replenish low inventory, either by buying firearms from your distributor or transferring them from one location to another if you have a multi-location business…then it issues those documents for you!
For this to work effectively within FFLAssist, simply put, you have to know your business. For example, what are the lead times of your distributors? What is your business footprint…a single-site operation or a multi-site operation? Do you have a centralized warehouse to which all stock is delivered (called a hub-and-spoke), or do your distributors drop-ship directly to your individual locations? Do you have differing stock levels at each location? Does one store sell stock more quickly than other stores? Which vendors provide the best “on-time” performance? Do you want to take advantage of vendor discounts, consolidated freight costs, etc.?
With FFLAssist, you execute a simple function that populates a replenishment screen. The system will make recommendations on exactly what you need to do. For example, it will recommend that you issue a purchase order if necessary or issue a transfer order if you have an overabundance of stock in one warehouse and not in others. The results then placed into this replenishment screen are completely editable, so if your gut is telling you to order less than the recommendation, simply downgrade the quantity to order. And if you desire, the system will actually generate purchase and/or transfer orders for you.
But the system doesn’t just pull recommendations out of thin air. You will need to provide replenishment parameters for each item SKU, such as your minimum and maximum stock levels, any safety stock levels, reordering points, etc. This is where your tribal knowledge of your business and your item SKUs is paramount.
And if used correctly, running the replenishment engine within FFLAssist will help you find the right balance between optimal inventory levels and customer satisfaction.
To discuss what FFLAssist can do for your business, click here.
To schedule a no-obligation 1-hour demo, click here and select which date/time works best for you.
