Inventory management basics for small manufacturers

For a small manufacturer, stock is cash sitting on a shelf. Too much and money is stuck. Too little and a job stops. Good inventory management is mostly about three simple habits.

Habit 1: keep one item master

An item master is the single list of everything you stock: name, code, unit and current quantity. Rules that help:

• One code per item, never reused.
• One unit per item (pieces, kilograms, metres) and stick to it.
• Clear names that the shop floor actually uses.

Habit 2: record every movement

Every in and out is a stock movement: purchases received, materials issued, returns, damage. If every movement is recorded, your numbers match the shelf. If even a few are skipped, they drift.

Make recording easy: fewer fields, done at the point of the movement, by the person doing it.

Habit 3: link materials to jobs

A job card ties materials to the job that used them. That tells you what each job really cost, and it shows when a job used more than planned.

Who should do what

• Store managers receive and issue stock.
• Floor managers raise and close job cards.
• Sales check availability before promising dates.
• Owners review stock value and slow moving items.

Give each role only the actions it needs.

A simple weekly routine

1. Count a few high value items and compare with the system.
2. Review items below their reorder level.
3. Close finished job cards and check material use.

Where efiqone fits

efiqone Stock Inventory keeps your item master, stock movements and job cards in one place, with role based views for store, floor and sales teams, on the same login as the rest of your business.