Bartel Advises IFE: Take Action on Inventory
While lead times rose in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, Josh Bartel termed today’s high demand and longer lead times as a “Covid double whammy.”
Suppliers need to change their sales forecasting based on past sales, Bartel, CEO of Hydrian Inventory Optimization, said in an International Fastener Expo conference session. Upon Covid, Q2 “demand sunk” while orders were still arriving. By relying on sales, suppliers got “gun shy on buying” during 2020 Q2.
Since the summer of 2020, “demand has been recovering and lead times extending,” Bartel said. Lead times have doubled in the past year.
A company may now have 10 days inventory, but the lead time has increased to 42 days. “We have nothing when the customer wants it.”
He cited an example of having 20+ days inventory last year and being down to 12 days now.
If your inventory is dwindling, you can be losing sales, Bartel warned.
• “Take action right away” to restock, Bartel urged. If a supplier can’t ship to one location, can shipments be diverted to a branch? Bartel suggested.“Working with your vendors is critical,” Bartel declared.
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