Still spending hours performing manual inventory counts during your off hours?
Running out of your most popular menu items too frequently?
Managing the many pieces involved in a complex food and beverage supply chain requires a great deal of effort. Manual inventory and procurement processes are prone to error, not to mention labor intensive.
Today we uncover the most common areas where manual inventory and procurement processes lose money in food and beverage operations.
- Overstocked items: An overstocked inventory is one of the most common reasons for wasted product. One option is to offer the overstocked items at a discount, or as part of promotion, but in many cases the overstocked item cannot be used within its shelf life, and is lost to waste. Maintaining adequate inventory without overstocking can be accomplished using an automated solution that accurately forecasts demand and helps to reduce, or even eliminate, waste.
- Expiration dates: Most items used in the production of food and beverage products have a limited shelf life. When these dates are not adhered to and managed, your ability to serve even the most common menu items is at risk. Maintaining real-time awareness of the shelf life in your inventory and ensuring those items are used within that time frame will dramatically reduce waste and the costs associated with it.
- Quality issues: Menu items that do not meet quality standards must be discarded. Pinpointing and managing quality concerns quickly – upon receipt of the items – helps eliminate wastes that result from expiring items, improper food storage, production sequencing and other unfavorable protocols. Tracking production levels and sequences, you can make adjustments that improve efficiency and reduce waste.
Most everyone can appreciate how automated supply chain processes help plan for future demand, but only those who have implemented a digital solution are reaping the financial benefits of minimized losses, spending less time on inventory counts and ensuring the most popular items are of high quality and always available for hungry customers. Fortunately, the more real-time, automated information you have, the easier it becomes to manage.