Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In the fast-paced world of agribusiness, every decision counts. From seed to sale, a reliable supply chain is the backbone of your success. But what if you could move beyond the traditional, transactional relationship with your suppliers and forge a true partnership? Imagine a world where data flows seamlessly, communication is effortless, and both you and your suppliers are empowered to achieve more. This isn't a pipe dream; it's the reality of a reinvented approach to Supplier Relationship Management (SRM).

The Old Way vs. The New Way

For too long, supplier management has been a game of phone calls, scattered emails, and reactive problem-solving. It's a system built on manual data entry and disjointed information, where crucial insights are often buried or delayed. This leads to missed opportunities, strained relationships, and a lack of leverage in negotiations.

But what if you could change the narrative? With integrated workflows, your supplier relationships become a collaborative ecosystem. This new approach harnesses technology to automate communication, centralize data, and provide real-time visibility into every aspect of your supply chain.

Key Benefits of an Integrated SRM Approach:

1. Building Stronger Relationships through Better Data Sharing

Trust is the foundation of any strong relationship, and in the business world, trust is built on transparency. By sharing data on demand forecasts, inventory levels, and performance metrics in real-time, you give your suppliers the tools they need to succeed. This isn't about giving away secrets; it's about providing a clear, accurate picture of your needs, allowing your suppliers to optimize their own operations to better serve you. The result? A collaborative partnership built on mutual understanding and shared goals.

2. Boosting Your Negotiation Power

Knowledge is power, especially at the negotiation table. With an integrated SRM system, you have immediate access to a wealth of data on historical performance, pricing trends, and supplier performance metrics. This allows you to walk into a negotiation armed with objective data, not just intuition. You can highlight areas of strength and opportunity, and make data-driven decisions that lead to better pricing and more favorable terms. This isn't just about getting a better deal; it's about a smarter, more strategic approach to procurement.

3. Enhancing Supply Chain Reliability

When you and your suppliers are on the same page, your entire supply chain becomes more resilient. Automated communication alerts you to potential disruptions before they become major problems. Real-time data on order status and shipping allows you to proactively manage your inventory. This kind of collaborative environment reduces risk, minimizes delays, and ensures that you can consistently meet your customers' demands.

It's Time to Reinvent Your SRM

Stop managing transactions and start building partnerships. An integrated approach to SRM isn't just about efficiency; it's about strategic growth. By embracing better data sharing and automated communication, you can improve your supplier relationships, boost your negotiation power, and ensure the reliability of your supply chain.

Improve your supplier relationships and bottom line. 

Don't wait! 

Transform your supply chain today and build a foundation for long-term success.

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In the fast-paced world of agribusiness, getting your products from the farm to the customer's table efficiently is key to success. Logistics can be a significant headache, with challenges like complex routing, ever-changing schedules, and managing multiple carriers. But what if there was a way to make it all simpler, faster, and more affordable? The answer lies in integrated logistics systems.

The Power of Integrated Systems

An integrated logistics system is more than just a piece of software; it's a workflow tool that connects and automates various stages of your supply chain. It's about bringing together everything from order processing to final delivery under one cohesive platform. This approach eliminates the silos between departments and gives you a holistic view of your operations.

Here's how these systems work their magic:

Smarter Route Planning: 

Instead of manually plotting routes, an integrated system uses powerful algorithms to analyze multiple variables like delivery addresses, traffic patterns, and vehicle capacity, to create the most efficient delivery paths. This leads to shorter travel times and less fuel consumption.

Optimized Scheduling: 

The system automatically schedules deliveries based on real-time data, ensuring that trucks are always full and drivers aren't waiting around. This maximizes asset utilization and boosts overall efficiency.

Enhanced Carrier Management: 

Managing multiple carriers can be a logistical nightmare. An integrated system simplifies this by providing a single platform to track carrier performance, negotiate rates, and select the best options for each shipment. This transparency and control help you get the best value for your money.

Beyond Efficiency: The Bottom-Line Benefits

The benefits of these tools go beyond just making things run smoothly. They directly impact your bottom line. By optimizing route planning, you cut down on fuel costs and vehicle maintenance. By streamlining scheduling, you reduce labor expenses and increase the number of deliveries each driver can make. And by improving carrier management, you can negotiate better rates and avoid costly delays. The result is a significant reduction in your overall transportation costs.

We've seen businesses in the agribusiness sector cut their transportation costs by up to 20% simply by adopting a more integrated approach.

Ready to see how an integrated system can transform your agribusiness?

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In today's competitive food industry, consumers are no longer just looking for quality products; they want to know the story behind their food. They are concerned about where their food comes from, how it was produced, and its impact on the environment and society. This growing demand for transparency and accountability presents both a challenge and a significant opportunity for food businesses. The solution? Field-to-fork tracking & traceability with integrated workflows. By embracing this approach, you can build unshakeable consumer trust, meet the demand for sustainable and ethically sourced products, and unlock new revenue opportunities through premium pricing.

The Shifting Consumer Landscape:

The modern consumer is a conscious consumer. They are willing to pay more for products that align with their values. According to recent surveys, a significant percentage of consumers actively seek out brands that demonstrate a commitment to ethical sourcing, environmental sustainability, and fair labor practices. They are more likely to be loyal to brands that provide clear, verifiable information about their products. This shift in consumer behavior is not a trend; it's a fundamental change in how people make purchasing decisions.

The Power of Integrated Workflows:

Field-to-fork tracking & traceability goes beyond simply tracking a product's location. It involves creating a seamless, integrated workflow that connects every stage of the supply chain, from the farm to the processing plant, to the distributor, and finally to the consumer's plate. This holistic approach captures critical data points at each step, including:

• Sourcing Information: Details about the farm, growing conditions, and agricultural practices.

• Processing and Handling: Information on how the product was processed, packaged, and stored.

• Logistics and Distribution: Records of transportation routes, temperatures, and handling.

By integrating these workflows, businesses can create a comprehensive digital history for every product. This information can then be made accessible to consumers through QR codes on packaging, mobile apps, or a dedicated website.

Building Unshakeable Trust and Driving Premium Sales:

The benefits of implementing a robust tracking & traceability system are clear and direct:

1. Enhanced Consumer Trust: By providing a transparent and verifiable account of your product's journey, you demonstrate a commitment to quality and honesty. This transparency builds a deep level of trust that can turn one-time buyers into lifelong customers.

2. Meeting Demand for Ethical Sourcing: Traceability allows you to prove your claims of ethical and sustainable practices. Whether it’s showcasing fair trade certifications, organic farming methods, or humane animal welfare standards, you can back up your promises with real data.

3. Commanding Premium Prices: When consumers feel confident about a product's origin and values, they are more willing to pay a premium price. The story behind your food becomes a key differentiator, setting you apart from competitors and allowing you to increase your profit margins.

4. Strengthening Brand Reputation: A commitment to transparency enhances your brand's reputation as a leader in the industry. It signals that you are a responsible and forward-thinking company that values its customers and the planet.

In a world where consumers demand to know more, field-to-fork tracking & traceability is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. It’s the key to building unshakeable consumer trust and unlocking new revenue opportunities. By integrating your workflows and telling your product's unique story, you can meet consumer demands, differentiate your brand, and command the premium prices you deserve.

Don't let your competitors get ahead. Build unshakeable consumer trust. Discover how our tracking & traceability solutions can help you tell your product's story and command premium prices. 

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In today's competitive agribusiness landscape, every dollar saved is a dollar earned. Optimizing your supply chain isn't just about moving products; it's about strategically managing resources to maximize profitability. In this blog, we're diving into how integrated systems and workflow automation can be a game-changer for your bottom line.

The Challenge: Spoilage and Inefficient Inventory

Agribusiness faces unique challenges in inventory. Perishable goods, fluctuating demand, and the need for precise timing can lead to significant waste and inflated carrying costs. Traditional inventory management methods often fall short, resulting in:

• Spoilage: Products expiring or becoming unsellable before they reach the consumer.

• Overstocking: Tying up capital in excess inventory, leading to higher storage and insurance costs.

• Understocking: Missing out on sales opportunities due to insufficient product availability.

The Solution: Integrated Systems and Workflow Automation

Imagine a system where every step of your supply chain is interconnected, providing real-time data and actionable insights. This is the power of integrated systems and workflow automation. By implementing these tools, agribusinesses can achieve:

• Predictive Inventory Management: Leveraging data analytics to forecast demand more accurately, minimizing both overstocking and understocking. This means ordering precisely what you need, when you need it.

• Waste Reduction: Automating processes to track inventory movement, monitor shelf life, and prioritize sales of products nearing their expiration. This directly attacks spoilage and enhances profitability.

• Optimized Inventory Levels: Striking the perfect balance between having enough product to meet demand and avoiding excess inventory. This frees up capital and reduces carrying costs.

• Reduced Carrying Costs: Lowering expenses associated with storing, insuring, and managing inventory through efficient space utilization and streamlined operations.

How It Works: A Closer Look

Integrated systems connect various aspects of your operations, from procurement and warehousing to sales and distribution. Workflow automation then streamlines these processes, eliminating manual tasks and reducing human error. For example:

• Automated Demand Forecasting: Using historical data, market trends, and even weather patterns to predict future demand with greater accuracy.

• Real-time Inventory Tracking: Knowing exactly what you have, where it is, and its condition at any given moment.

• Automated Order Placement: Triggering orders based on predefined inventory thresholds and forecasted demand.

• Spiloge Alerts: Receiving automatic notifications for products nearing their expiration date, allowing for proactive sales or redistribution.

Maximize Your Margins!

Ready to transform your agribusiness and boost your profits? 

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In today's fast-paced agribusiness landscape, staying ahead of the competition isn't just about what you grow, but how you grow your business. The secret to unlocking a significant competitive advantage lies not in isolated data points, but in integrated data that provides a holistic view of your entire operation, from the initial seed to the final sale.

The Problem with Siloed Data

Many agribusinesses operate with data trapped in separate silos. Production data, like planting dates, fertilizer usage, and yield per acre, lives in one system. Sales data, including customer orders and market trends, resides in another. Financial data, such as cost of goods sold and profit margins, is often also managed separately. This fragmentation makes it nearly impossible to connect the dots and understand the true impact of one area on another.

For example, a high-yielding crop may seem successful on the surface. But without integrating that data with financial records, you can't see if the increased costs of fertilizer and water actually made it profitable. This lack of connection leads to guesswork, reactive decision-making, and missed opportunities.

The Power of an Integrated Approach

Imagine a single platform where your production data is seamlessly linked to your sales and financial performance. This is the essence of integrated data. By breaking down the silos, you can gain a complete and accurate picture of your business. This holistic view allows for data-driven decisions and strategic planning that truly move the needle.

For instance, you could:

• Optimize Yields and Profitability: By linking specific planting techniques and input costs to sales and profit data, you can identify which practices lead to the highest return on investment, not just the biggest harvest.

• Improve Supply Chain Efficiency: Predictive analytics, powered by integrated data, can forecast demand more accurately, helping you to optimize inventory levels, reduce waste, and improve logistics.

• Enhance Customer Relationships: By understanding which products are the most profitable and popular with specific customers, you can tailor your offerings and marketing strategies to build stronger, more lasting relationships.

• Mitigate Risk: Real-time data on market fluctuations, weather patterns, and supply chain disruptions can give you the foresight to make proactive adjustments and minimize potential losses.

The key takeaway is that every decision, from a seed's planting to a product's pricing, has a ripple effect. Integrated data allows you to see and understand these connections, transforming your business from a collection of isolated functions into a cohesive, highly efficient, and profitable ecosystem.

Unlock Your Competitive Edge 🚀

In today's market, those who leverage the power of integrated data will pull ahead. Don't let your valuable data go to waste in disconnected systems. Unlock your competitive advantage by gaining a holistic, 360-degree view of your operations.

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In today's interconnected world, a resilient and transparent supply chain isn't just a competitive advantage, it's a necessity. From unpredictable global events to rapidly shifting consumer demands, disruptions are an inevitable part of the landscape. The question isn't IF they'll happen, but HOW quickly and effectively your supply chain can adapt and recover.

The secret sauce to navigating this complexity? Workflow Automation.

At its core, workflow automation is about streamlining and standardizing processes, from procurement and production to logistics and delivery. But its impact extends far beyond simple efficiency gains. When implemented strategically, workflow tools become the bedrock for superior supply chain transparency, traceability, and responsiveness.

Unveiling the Power of Workflow Automation in Supply Chains

Let's explore how workflow automation can revolutionize your supply chain:

• Enhancing Transparency: Breaking Down Silos for 360-Degree Views

Traditional supply chains are often fragmented, with data residing in disparate systems and departments. This lack of a unified view makes it incredibly difficult to understand the true status of goods & products, identify potential bottlenecks, or react swiftly to changes. Workflow automation acts as the connective tissue, integrating data from various touchpoints across your supply chain. Imagine real-time updates on inventory levels, shipment statuses, and production schedules, all accessible from a single dashboard. This unparalleled transparency allows for proactive decision-making and a holistic understanding of your entire operation.

• Boosting Traceability: From Farm-to-Fork and Beyond

In an era of increasing consumer scrutiny and stringent regulations, traceability is paramount. Whether it's ensuring the ethical sourcing of materials or providing clear provenance for food products (think "farm-to-fork" visibility), workflow tools are indispensable. By automating data capture at each stage of the supply chain from raw material acquisition to final delivery, businesses can create an immutable audit trail. This not only builds trust with consumers and stakeholders but also facilitates rapid recall management and compliance adherence.

• Improving Responsiveness to Disruptions: Agility in the Face of the Unexpected

The ability to react quickly to disruptions is the hallmark of a resilient supply chain. Workflow automation empowers this responsiveness by:

• • Automating alerts and notifications: When a delay occurs, an order is impacted, or demand suddenly shifts, automated alerts can instantly notify relevant stakeholders, enabling immediate action.

  • Facilitating scenario planning: By integrating with demand forecasting tools, automated workflows can simulate various disruption scenarios, allowing you to pre-plan alternative routes, adjust production schedules, or reallocate resources more effectively.

  • Optimizing logistics: Workflow automation can dynamically re-route shipments, identify alternative transportation methods, and optimize delivery schedules in real-time, minimizing the impact of disruptions on your logistics operations.

Beyond the Buzzwords: Real-World Impact

Consider the benefits for demand forecasting. By automating the collection and analysis of sales data, market trends, and even external factors, workflow tools can feed more accurate information into your forecasting models, leading to better inventory management and reduced waste. Similarly, for logistics optimization, automated workflows can manage carrier selection, track shipments, and even handle customs documentation, ensuring smooth and efficient movement of goods.

Don't Let Disruptions Catch You Off Guard.

The time to invest in your supply chain's resilience is now. Embrace the power of integrated workflow solutions to gain unparalleled visibility, enhance traceability, and build a supply chain that can not only withstand disruptions but thrive in their wake.

Contact Us Today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

The "Digital Field" represents a significant shift in agribusiness, moving from traditional, often manual, operations to a more automated and data-driven approach. This transformation promises greater productivity, efficiency, and profitability for agribusinesses of all sizes. By automating core workflows, businesses can streamline operations, reduce errors, and gain real-time insights into their processes.

Here are specific examples of manual processes within agribusiness that can be automated, along with their immediate benefits:

1. Inventory Tracking and Management

Manual Process:

• Manually counting stock (seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, equipment parts) in warehouses or storage facilities.

• Updating spreadsheets or physical ledgers to reflect inventory changes.

• Estimating stock levels for reordering, often leading to overstocking or stockouts.

• Manual reconciliation of inventory with sales and procurement records.

Automated Solution:

• Sensors and IoT devices: Automated tracking of inventory levels in bins, silos, and storage units using weight sensors, RFID tags, or barcode scanners.

• Integrated Inventory Management Systems (IMS): Software that automatically updates inventory levels upon sales, deliveries, and transfers.

• Predictive Analytics: AI-powered systems that analyze historical data and market trends to forecast demand and optimize reorder points.

Immediate Benefits:

• Reduced Stockouts and Overstocking: Real-time visibility ensures optimal inventory levels, minimizing losses from expired products or missed sales opportunities.

• Improved Accuracy: Eliminates human error in counting and recording, leading to more reliable inventory data.

• Faster Turnaround Times: Automated processes for receiving and dispatching goods, reducing waiting times.

• Optimized Storage Space: Better inventory management allows for more efficient use of warehouse space.

• Enhanced Reporting: Instant generation of inventory reports, aiding in quicker decision-making.

2. Order Processing and Fulfillment

Manual Process:

• Taking orders over the phone, via email, or in person, then manually transcribing them.

• Manually checking product availability and pricing.

• Creating paper invoices and delivery notes.

• Manual scheduling of deliveries and dispatching.

• Discrepancies arising from human error in order entry or calculation.

Automated Solution:

• E-commerce Platforms/Online Portals: Customers can place orders directly, with real-time updates on product availability and pricing.

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Integration of order entry with inventory, pricing, and customer relationship management (CRM) modules.

• Automated Invoicing and Payment Processing: Digital generation of invoices and integration with payment gateways.

• Route Optimization Software: Automated planning of delivery routes based on order locations and vehicle capacity.

• Automated Picking and Packing: Use of robotics or automated systems in warehouses for fulfilling orders.

Immediate Benefits:

• Faster Order Cycles: Significantly reduces the time from order placement to delivery.

• Reduced Errors: Eliminates manual data entry errors, ensuring accurate orders and invoices.

• Improved Customer Satisfaction: Quicker service and accurate order fulfillment lead to happier customers.

• Increased Efficiency: Frees up staff from administrative tasks to focus on higher-value activities.

• Better Cash Flow: Faster invoicing and payment processing improve cash flow.

3. Field Operations Data Capture and Analysis

Manual Process:

• Farmers manually recording field observations (e.g., pest sightings, crop health, weather conditions) in notebooks.

• Surveying fields manually for soil samples or yield estimates.

• Physically walking fields to assess irrigation needs or equipment performance.

• Manually transferring data from field notes to computer systems, often with delays and potential for misinterpretation.

• Lack of real-time insights for immediate decision-making.

Automated Solution:

• Drones and Satellite Imagery: Automated capture of high-resolution images for crop health monitoring, pest detection, and yield estimation.

• IoT Sensors: Deployment of soil moisture sensors, weather stations, and nutrient sensors for real-time data collection.

• GPS-Enabled Equipment: Automated tracking of machinery (tractors, harvesters) for precise application of inputs and yield mapping.

• Mobile Apps for Field Data Entry: Farmers can directly input observations into a standardized digital format.

• Farm Management Software (FMS): Centralized platforms for aggregating, analyzing, and visualizing field data, often with AI-powered analytics.

Immediate Benefits:

• Precision Agriculture: Enables targeted application of water, fertilizers, and pesticides, reducing waste and environmental impact.

• Early Problem Detection: Real-time data allows for immediate identification of issues like disease outbreaks or equipment malfunctions.

• Optimized Resource Allocation: Data-driven decisions on planting, irrigation, and harvesting maximize resource efficiency.

• Improved Yields: Better understanding of field conditions leads to optimized practices and higher yields.

• Reduced Labor Costs: Automating data collection reduces the need for extensive manual surveying.

• Enhanced Traceability: Detailed records of field operations improve traceability for compliance and quality control.

By embracing these automated solutions, agribusinesses can move beyond the limitations of manual processes, unlocking a new era of productivity, sustainability, and profitability in the digital field.

Contact us today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

In today's rapidly evolving agricultural landscape, the days of relying on disparate spreadsheets and standalone software are quickly fading. While a robust accounting system is foundational, it's simply not enough to thrive in a sector demanding agility, foresight, and precision. For modern agribusinesses, the real power lies in transcending the traditional ledger and embracing a unified platform that integrates accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

The Peril of Siloed Systems: A Consultative Angle

We often encounter agribusinesses grappling with the limitations of siloed systems. Picture this: your sales team logs customer interactions in one program, your production team manages inventory in another, and your finance department handles invoices in a completely separate accounting package. While each system might perform its individual function adequately, the critical data they hold remains isolated.

This fragmentation leads to a multitude of challenges:

• Lack of Real-time Visibility: Without a central hub, getting a holistic view of your operations becomes a manual, time-consuming, and often inaccurate process. How much Grain do you truly have on hand right now? What's the real-time profit margin on that last crop? These questions become incredibly difficult to answer quickly and confidently.

• Inefficient Decision-Making: When data is scattered, strategic decisions are based on incomplete or outdated information. This can lead to missed opportunities, poor resource allocation, and ultimately, reduced profitability. Imagine trying to optimize planting schedules without knowing your precise inventory levels or customer demand.

• Operational Bottlenecks: Manual data entry and reconciliation between systems are ripe for errors and consume valuable staff time that could be better spent on core activities. Duplication of effort becomes the norm, not the exception.

• Poor Customer Relationships: A fragmented CRM means your sales, marketing, and support teams might not have a unified view of customer interactions, leading to inconsistent messaging and a less-than-stellar customer experience.

The Strategic Necessity: Embracing a Unified Platform

The solution to these challenges lies in the strategic necessity of a unified platform. An integrated ERP system, specifically designed for agribusiness, brings together your accounting, CRM, and operational data into a single, cohesive environment.

This integration delivers transformative benefits:

• Financial Transparency: With all financial data flowing through one system, you gain unparalleled clarity into your cash flow, profitability, and overall financial health. This level of agribusiness accounting provides the financial transparency needed for sound strategic planning and investor confidence.

• Operational Efficiency: From seed to sale, an integrated system streamlines workflows, automates tasks, and optimizes resource allocation. This leads to significant improvements in operational efficiency, reducing waste and maximizing output.

• Real-time Insights for Better Decisions: Imagine having instant access to inventory levels, sales forecasts, production costs, and customer history all from a single dashboard. This real-time visibility empowers you to make proactive, data-driven decisions that propel your agribusiness forward.

• Eliminating Data Silos: The very essence of an integrated ERP is to break down data silos. Information flows freely between departments, fostering collaboration and ensuring everyone is working from the same "single source of truth."

• Enhanced Customer Relationships: A unified CRM within your ERP provides a 360-degree view of your customers, enabling personalized interactions, targeted marketing, and proactive support.

Ready to Unify Your Operations?

The agricultural sector is too dynamic to be held back by outdated, fragmented systems. Embracing an integrated ERP solution isn't just about technological advancement; it's about securing your agribusiness's future.

Contact us today at Push Consulting!

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

Although our title could have you eye-rolling and feels like a redundant, “Yeah we know” type of comment, it is still an important and useful step. Sometimes revisiting obvious areas, like Inventory are necessary in order to have a better understanding of Controlling Inventory and its costs. The basis for control is knowing what - exactly - is in your bin or storage.  

Manual Counts: 

Knowing exactly what is in your bin or storage can be achieved through Bar Code Readers, Count Cards (tags on the bins) and even the basic count inventory sheets.  However, these steps can be a painful process and a strong strategic plan would have to be developed in order to achieve a complete inventory. 

If you are planning to use a manual inventory control to get an actual and complete snapshot of what’s in your bins and storage, you need a strategic plan to map out how you are going to do this. Our recommendation is to create two-person teams that are placed into the geographic areas of your facility to help with the counts. In addition, you will need to have a pre-counting plan in order to achieve your goal in the most effective way possible. 

If you are going to use a manual count, the easiest way of doing this is to count all the seasonal products and get them out of the way first.  

Here are some other useful tips for Manual Counts:

• Pull out any inventory that is needed to fulfil current orders

• Ship everything that is on order

• Don’t move misplaced material while the count is taking place

• Don’t fill any orders while the count is going on 

The challenge with Manual Counts is that in order to get realistic counts you have to stop processing, which is not really achievable for processing companies. 

Cycle Counting:

An alternative to Manual counting is called Cycle counting.  This is a type of inventory control where a company spreads out their counts over the year to different areas that are value specific. In other words, we count the most valuable inventory first. 

Schreibfeder indicates that companies count the larger dollar inventory that is flowing through the facility first, while counting the least moving inventory last.  By using Pareato’s law or the 80/20 rule we can still capture the majority of the inventory in the facility. 

So using Schreibfeder’s example :

• A = 80% of Sales count the inventory 6 times per year

• B= 15% of Sales count the inventory 3 times per year

• C= 4% of sales count the inventory 2 times per year

The challenge found in cycle counts is that we do not really count at the busiest times of the year, and even with Cycle Counting we cannot get an accurate read on inventory and still may have to stop our processing in certain parts of the plant in order to complete cycle counts which ultimately makes cycle counting an unachievable option for processing companies. 

What is the Solution? - Continuous Counting - 

What is Continuous counting? In order to complete and implement continuous counting, companies must have the proper tools in place.  The proper tools include: a software (workflow tool) to help with the receiving, processing and shipping out of the inventory while allowing companies to track and trace. In addition to: closing the inventory loop from grower to customer relationship, that will allow companies to know where their inventory is - at any given time - which will allow them to have better forecasting of their inventory.  

Your company’s workflow is the material handling or material resource management and it can be part of your Enterprise Accounting system. This system really needs to be scalable with your business and with your processing as your company grows.   

But the real success of the continuous count is to have the process in a closed-loop system that will allow full transparency.  This means you can identify inventory that is destroyed due to rework, or inventory that is coming at lower grades into your facility.  This can help you be more proactive and have less panic or uncertainty and help you to be more efficient in processing. 

You will be stunned by how much money can be saved by managing your inventory, and this can be the basis of a strong foundation in Good Management Practices. 

If you want to learn more, reach out to us...

Written By : David Lapp

Reading time: 5 min

As the world gets smaller and smaller, and with more and more data available to capture in the workplace, Business Intelligence is a word that gets over used. However, Business Intelligence can really help your business clarify and define what decisions need to be made. 

What is Business Intelligence? Simply put, it is data preparation, data mining and data management that allows your company to visualize information in a way that will help you make real-time decisions in your workplace. A real strong and current use case for Business Intelligence, is the tracking and analytics of COVID-19. Many states have been using Business Intelligence to help inform the public of alerts, cases, and model usage. COVID-19 has pushed Business Intelligence to the forefront of business tools, in terms of helping and enhancing the operational effectiveness of the most urgent and imperative data to use in decision making. This has enabled Business Intelligence to become a transformational tool. 

Business Intelligence allows a shift in the analysis of data where the outliers of your information can be seen and demonstrates how it is impacting you on a real-time basis. Business Intelligence tools allow your company the leverage of larger amounts of data, in a shorter amount of time.  Business Intelligence tools capture data and the changes to the data quickly, which reduces your IT dependencies and puts the keys to your data in the hands of the users themselves. Access to data gives decision makers the ability to quickly recognize gaps and trends, which helps increase company KPIs and more importantly revenue. 

The key to Business Intelligence is that it should be easy to access and have the ability to slice and digest data quickly, helping in the current business flow. However, the challenge is not the amount of data available, since it is all around us, but the tools that help you understand what you are looking at. 

The Business Intelligence software that you will use to help collect and digest data, needs to have several key factors that will make your life easier:

1. SAAS: (Software as a Service) ensures that you are current with the latest and greatest tools available. It also reduces your cost of purchase, while allowing you to be using current technology. 

2. Self-Services: allows you to capture your data, your way, and in the time you need it. Giving you the ability to be self-reliant. 

3. Intuitive: the software that you choose needs to be intuitive, and more importantly needs to be simple to use. You don’t want to be intimidated by the software. “No Fear" of the software allows you to have the confidence of your data and the trends.  So you can confidently make better decisions in real-time. 

4. Collaborative: the software that you choose needs to be collaborative. “No man is an island”, the software has to have the ability to be a team player.  Many of your team members will have to use the data to help make decisions and perhaps more importantly, many team members will have to look at the data in different ways.

If COVID has taught businesses anything, it is that up-to-date business ready data is a top priority in the workplace today.  Using last month’s forecast, or last quarter’s results won’t necessarily help you make the best decisions for today. The old way of handling data will not help you with accurate decision making. Speed of data that is at your fingertips, creates the necessity to have quick and easy tools to slice data and understand the decisions needed now.  

In the next few years, the way analytics are viewed will change drastically with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Applying these tools to your data helps you understand trends even before they become trends. More and more companies are using Business Intelligence tools to help them be ahead of cycles and trends and be more current in their decision making. Business Intelligence is only becoming more important than ever in day-to-day decision capabilities. 

Push Consulting can help you with your Business Intelligence needs by starting very simply in your processes at work, or in your sales data. The key to successfully implementing a new Business Intelligence tool is to start small and work up to larger data sets. By taking the first step in your Business Intelligence journey, you can have a positive impact on your KPIs and revenue.