Inventory Performance Management

The Inventory Performance Management (IPM) module of Stratum can help you to better plan and manage your inventory positions by utilizing sophisticated industry standard forecasting and replenishment algorithms created to optimize inventory and customer service levels.

Inventory Planning and Optimization
Stratum IPM enables you to invest in inventory in areas that make the biggest contribution to profit—while at the same time, meeting the expectations of your customers. Stratum IPM automatically calculates time-phased safety stocks and replenishment quantities for any level of product or location combination as defined by your business. It’s also a critical component to any collaborative replenishment strategy and can be deployed to implement Distribution Resource Planning, Vendor Managed Inventory, Efficient Consumer Response or Just-in-Time inventory management techniques by balancing the economic objectives of your organization with customer service priorities. Whether you're managing safety stock, optimal inventory levels, inventory turns, replenishment frequency or order size, Stratum Inventory Planning and Optimization enhances the process by offering detail levels of analysis to you in the following areas:

Inventory ABC Classification
Dynamic Safety Stock Calculations
Dynamic Inventory Level Calculations
Dynamic Replenishment Quantity Calculations
Dynamic Carrying Costs

Inventory Trends and Analysis
To improve on any area in your business, you need to understand what past performance has been and set goals to move forward. Inventory is no different than any other area of your business, and Stratum IPM provides the capability to understand where you have been historically and over time. The cost savings are measured through analysis and viewing of trends.

• Compare inventory value this year over last year by warehouse, business unit or location
• Identify trends in inventory value over time and whether you are building inventory
• Analyze inventory turns and the reason for increasing or decreasing turns over time
• Predict potential cash flow problems by using inventory to sales ratio
• Determine which areas of inventory should be focused on for improvement purposes

Inventory Position and Projections
Stratum IPM also provides the ability to project inventory out based on current business conditions, thus preventing shortages or build-ups and helping you to control where your inventory investment is made moving forward.

With Inventory Position and Projections, you can keep track of current inventory on hand, in transit and available by product and location. It lets you request inventory transfers to move inventory to where it is required. You can use current inventory, forecasts, open customer orders, production plans and supply plans to project inventory out into the future. Plus, it allows you to automatically alert planners to potential shortages and inventory build ups so that your customers remain satisfied and your financial investment is kept under control and focused on the right areas.