Expiry dates are a major concern for food supply chains. Without proper tracking, companies can lose money as expired food is discarded and must be replaced. Fortunately, data can help mitigate this issue. By leveraging data-driven analysis and insights, businesses can more accurately forecast demand and prevent unnecessary losses due to expiry. Let’s look at how data can help make the food supply chain more efficient and cost-effective.
Data-Driven Forecasting
The first step in preventing inventory expiration is anticipating customer demand accurately. This means understanding not just the current trends but also any potential changes that could affect future orders. To do this, businesses need to leverage their data to create accurate forecasts of future demand. Data-driven forecasting tools use algorithms to analyze past demand patterns as well as external factors such as weather or holidays that could affect future purchases. With this information, businesses can adjust their ordering processes accordingly and ensure they have enough inventory on hand without overstocking or running out too quickly.
Inventory Optimization
Another way that businesses can use data to prevent inventory expiration is through inventory optimization solutions. These solutions use advanced algorithms to analyze various factors such as lead time, order frequency, item shelf life, seasonality, and customer preferences to determine the optimal ordering quantity for each product. By doing so, businesses can ensure they have enough stock on hand without having too many products expire before it’s sold. Additionally, these solutions also allow businesses to track inventory levels down to the individual SKU level so that they always know what needs restocking and when it needs restocking.
Data-Driven Reporting
Finally, businesses should also take advantage of data-driven reporting tools to gain real-time visibility into their entire supply chain operation from start to finish—from production through delivery and customer feedback loops—so they can identify potential issues before they become costly problems such as expired products being delivered, customer complaints about late shipments, or quality control issues with products being delivered late or past their expiration date due to inadequate tracking systems in place within the organization’s operations infrastructure.
If you lack confidence in your organization’s data and constantly rely on spreadsheets for accurate reporting, check out our video below about where to get started with data management.
Data is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to preventing inventory expiration in the food supply chain. By leveraging data-driven forecasting tools for accurate demand predictions and inventory optimization solutions for optimizing ordering processes, businesses can ensure they have enough stock on hand without overstocking or running out too quickly—ultimately leading to fewer losses due to expired food items and higher profits from each sale made through better management of resources across the entire supply chain operation from start (production) through delivery (customer feedback). Ultimately this saves time and money while also improving customer satisfaction by delivering quality products every single time!
To learn more about how our inventory expiration platform has helped organizations save thousands of dollars in nearly expired goods, click the button below for a short 15-minute intro call.