One of the many unfortunate business consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been that the reliable supply chains we took for granted risk disruption. Unexpected shortages of workers around the world have had a chilling effect on global transportation routes, resulting in shortages of raw materials. As COVID-19 continues to impact logistics and commodity supplies, it is up to eCommerce businesses to adjust their production and distribution tactics.  

A huge factor forcing companies to adjust their strategies is the presence of “demand shocks”. Some businesses are slammed with orders, some are steady, but most are dealing with a serious lack of demand. The effects of these shocks will already be present for months and even years to come.  

How do you forecast demand in Q2 2021 when your Q2 2020 sales were wiped out? Even if we had the magic pill to end Covid-19 tomorrow, these mid- and long-term supply and demand issues are going to be with us for some time. Getting demand forecasting locked in correctly is going to be a huge problem for many quarters to come, with the chances and risks of over or under investing in inventory being rather significant both now and long term. 

Netstock Inventory Management Helps You Gain An Advantage On Uncertainty 

The effects of demand shocks and the overall uncertainty the pandemic has caused are sending businesses searching for various supply chain solutions that will help them strategize for the future. This has resulted in an interesting test for inventory management systems: This pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime event (we hope) that has created the very supply issues that inventory management software is designed to help with. If you use an ERP, consider extending its functionality by implementing advanced inventory management.  

These tools reduce excess inventory and out-of-stock situations, then prevent them from happening in the future by forecasting and obtaining inventory supplies using intelligent data. Intelligent data allows you to calculate supplier lead times, making it easier to plan for and alert customers to interruptions.  

NETSTOCK is a cloud-based inventory management software that integrates with the biggest ERPs on the market. For example, if you use Acumatica ERP, NETSTOCK offers a top-rated inventory management extension that makes NETSTOCK and Acumatica work together. 

Enhance Your Acumatica Inventory Management With The NETSTOCK Extension

Acumatica has a lot of great distribution and inventory management tools, but because of our current circumstances (COVID-19), they are not quite enough for effective demand planning and inventory forecasting. ERPs mainly forecast supply and demand based on past minimum/maximum inventory level data and supplier lead times. 

This basic level of forecasting is effective, but there is no real way to eliminate statistical anomalies such as data entry errors or artificial demand shifts. With NETSTOCK, you can adjust the intelligence to “ignore” the spikes, so you have the most realistic forecast modeling. 

NETSTOCK catalogs supplier track record/performance data and cross-references it with demand fluctuations, trends, and seasonal changes to provide its inventory recommendations. NETSTOCK provides the data and insights, while Acumatica executes the tasks.  
 
Acumatica with NETSTOCK gives you a central dashboard that presents all data and forecasts in a central hub. Supplier re-order forecasts appear on the dashboard, calculated from suppliers’ previous performance. You can add market intel from your sales team for even better forecasting. The dashboard also provides KPIs that track how you’re improving or worsening.  

Acumatica customers testify that NETSTOCK has quick and painless installation and onboarding. The extension syncs with your Acumatica data and lets you begin to benefit in just a few days of installation. Although there are no guarantees, extending your ERP with NETSTOCK will give you an advantage in dealing with supply chain instability and keep you prepared for unforeseen distribution issues.  

Reach out to us if you think better inventory management is necessary for your company’s growth and future.