Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/774819
January/February 2017 15 Consider: Transferring the material to another company location where the inventory is needed. Discounting the remaining stock to encourage impulse buys by customers. Returning it to the vendor— even if you have to use the credit received to buy other stock items that are in demand, or advertising the availability of this material to other suppliers. Resolution No. 2: Question It Develop a questionnaire for introducing new prod- ucts. The best way to control the amount of stuff in your warehouse is not to buy it in the fi rst place. Successful companies insist that anyone wanting to add a product or product line to inventory complete a new product questionnaire. It should include seven questions: 1. Who is asking that the product be added to inventory? If it is a specifi c customer, have they committed to purchasing a certain quantity and have they honored their past commitments to buy products? If it is a sales or marketing person, what is their previous track record for new product introductions? 2. What are the sales or usage estimates for each of the fi rst six months? Be sure to compare actual sales/usage to these forecasts at the end of each month. 3. What is the projected gross margin? Again, monitor actual perfor- mance at the end of each month to get this estimate. 4. What effect will sales or usage of this new item have on the sale or usage of existing stock items? Do we need to discontinue or cut our inventory of any current products? 5. How much do we need to invest in the new item(s)? Is it pos- sible to perform a market test before committing to a major purchase? 6. If the item doesn't sell as expected, can we return the remaining portion of the initial purchase quantity at little or no cost? 7. Do we have adequate room to properly store the new product? Remember that the walls of your facility are not elastic. You can only maintain a certain amount of inventory. -We've found that companies have the most success when at least three members of management review each submitted questionnaire and agree that the item in question is a wise investment. Consider: Transferring the material to another company location where the inventory is needed. Discounting the remaining stock to encourage impulse buys by customers. Returning it to the vendor— even if you have to use the credit received to buy other stock items that are in demand, or advertising the availability of this material to other suppliers. Resolution No. 2: Question It Develop a questionnaire for introducing new prod- ucts. The best way to control the amount of stuff in your warehouse is not to buy it in the fi rst place. Successful companies insist that anyone wanting to add a product or product line to inventory complete a new product questionnaire. It should include seven questions: 1. Who is asking that the product be added to inventory? If it is a specifi c customer, have they committed to purchasing a certain quantity and have they honored their past commitments to buy products? If it is a sales or marketing person, what is their previous track record for new product introductions? 2. What are the sales or usage estimates for each of the fi rst six months? Be sure to compare actual sales/usage to these forecasts at the end of each month. 3. What is the projected gross margin? Again, monitor actual perfor- mance at the end of each month to get this estimate. 4. What effect will sales or usage of this new item have on the sale or usage of existing stock items? Do we need to discontinue or cut our inventory of any current products? 5. How much do we need to invest in the new item(s)? Is it pos- sible to perform a market test before committing to a major purchase? 6. If the item doesn't sell as expected, can we return the remaining portion of the initial purchase quantity at little or no cost? 7. Do we have adequate room to properly store the new product? Remember that the walls of your facility are not elastic. You can only maintain a certain amount of inventory. -We've found that companies have the most success when at least three members of management review each submitted questionnaire and agree that the item in question is a wise investment. SUPERIOR RESULTS. NOW WITH INSTANT REPLAY. Endurance ™ Endurance ™ Endurance Range System Most repeatable bake, most consistent results in the industry 143 different models from just 28 modules Flashtube Pilot saves up to $300/year in energy costs www.vulcanequipment.com Done To PerfecTion. continued on page 35