Top Inventory Management Trends In 2023

Whatever industry you're in, staying current with inventory management trends is crucial. Many of these trends are intended to aid businesses in determining where to allocate their resources, while others will increase stakeholder buy-in, improve the use of data, and provide a growth strategy.

1. Automated Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)

Businesses are constantly seeking for ways to be more productive since customers are demanding deliveries be made at an ever-increasingly rapid pace. Warehouse workers can employ automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated mobile robots (AMRs) to remove items off decks and pallets. AMRs are more recent inventions compared to AGVs, which have been around for a while.

Because AGVs depend on magnetic strips or cables to follow predetermined courses within a warehouse, they are not ideal for facilities with dynamic floor designs or high levels of human movement. AMRs are part of a new category of "collaborative robots," and since they include smart sensors similar to those used in self-driving cars, they can navigate a place without relying on predetermined paths. Even better, a human worker can be "paired" with them.

2. Artificial intelligence

Systems with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities work hand in hand with those IIoT projects when it comes to warehouses and inventory management. The issue is that many of the data sets retailers and manufacturers now get aren't organized to fit nicely in a spreadsheet: Consider product photos, videos captured while AMRs are moving through warehouses, different SKU forms, and the information generated by a variety of sensors and scanners. To ensure that customers only receive high-quality goods, machine learning could be used to identify damaged goods or packaging.

3. Cloud-based remedies

Any organization might drastically benefit from having real-time inventory tracking capabilities. Decision-makers are better able to respond to and resolve inventory problems quickly thanks to cloud-based solutions that enable all of your company's data to be securely kept centrally and viewed from anywhere. Additionally, the cloud offers additional advantages over on-premises applications, much like software as a service: Faster deployment, regularly updated software, better security, and resilience than most firms can create on their own. Lower initial expenses because no hardware needs to be purchased.

4. Centralized inventory control

If you can put the correct products in the right places and reliably dispatch items from the warehouse nearest to the client, distributing inventory across many warehouses can lower transportation costs and speed up delivery times.

The ability to set up distribution centers in the appropriate locations based on data and the technology to instruct suppliers to correctly split up shipments are requirements for success. Data analysis to determine where orders are coming from vs where stock is located is also necessary.

5. Predicting choices

Once more, this tendency is dependent on data analysis, namely the use of unstructured data to forecast behavior by identifying relationships and trends. Before an order has even been placed, firms can be directed to start fulfilling orders using predictive picking software. Success depends on gathering information about planned marketing initiatives, the weather, and seasonality to accurately estimate client orders.

6. Success tactics for embracing trends

Which trends are appropriate for your company? That relies on the strategic goals, financial situation, size, and technology appetite of your firm. Here are a few things to think about when assessing a trend. Make sure there is an executive sponsor who can define the plan's success and compare the cost/benefit to other long-, medium-, and short-term projects on the table.

7. Personalization

Inventory management personalization involves having a thorough understanding of your clients' purchasing patterns so you can supply, recommend, and guarantee a seamless experience based on previous behavior. Businesses can use personalisation information to increase sales by utilizing a strong inventory management system. For instance, a merchant might recommend more items to clients who are shopping online or checking out, whereas a manufacturer might start stocking supplemental items like maintenance kits for the machinery it makes.

8. Innovative funding

Using innovative finance to pay for goods can provide enterprises, especially young ones, a competitive edge.

The usual inventory loan, where the inventory itself serves as collateral, may not be the best option for larger enterprises. Check to see if you can lower your invoice carrying costs before looking for new credit. Accounts receivable (AR) loans or factoring, also known as invoice factoring, comprises either borrowing money against your receivables or selling your unpaid AR to a "factor," who pays your business a proportion of the invoices' total value, frequently between 70% and 90%.

9. Automation

Automation is the process through which businesses build up workflow rules to initiate particular actions either entirely or largely without the assistance of humans. Employees can concentrate on more useful projects, such as those that foster growth and increase product quality, by automating routine chores.

When an order is processed through your sales platforms, for instance, stock counts can be updated automatically as part of retail automation. The consumer won't have to wait to receive a purchase confirmation, and you won't run the danger of overselling. Automating SKU mapping, order retrieval, updating real-time shipping rates, and reorder notifications are other examples.

10. 3PL

Distribution, warehousing, and other activities are outsourced to a third party under third-party logistics, or 3PL. Without having to pay the costs associated with infrastructure development, these services can enable firms to reach more clients or run more effectively. Businesses can choose to outsource specific processes or the full logistics cycle. Connecting all production sites—including those of the manufacturer and the 3PL provider—so that they function as a single supply chain is essential for 3PL success.

11. Hybrid shipping and warehousing

A hybrid warehouse includes a variety of tasks, some conventional (storage, picking, and shipping), and some uncommon (the blurring of the lines between retail locations and warehouses, for example). As an illustration, a few big box retailers turned underutilized space into drop-ship facilities. Although technique effectively utilizes space, retail staff members might need to be retrained.

12. Analytics & Reporting

The use of real-time data analytics to make decisions, develop a more customer-centric business model, and reduce costs while increasing efficiency is a common theme among several of these themes.

In terms of inventory, becoming more data-driven enables companies to improve demand forecasts, transition to just-in-time inventory replenishment, and receive and deliver near-real-time updates on the location of supplies or shipments and when they will arrive at their destinations.