Home arrow Newsletter arrow VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9- DECEMBER 2013
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9- DECEMBER 2013

Stock Taking : Using A Mobile Phone ?

Stock taking is an ongoing challenge for many organisations. With long hours spent manually recording stock on paper and laboriously keying the information onto the computer, errors can easily happen.

Mobile stock taking solution can transform the way you manage your stock taking procedures. This solution has been designed to reduce the amount of time spent on stock taking and alleviate the administrative burden it involves, allowing you to concentrate on other core activities.

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One of the key areas that tend to get overlooked when it comes to cost reductions is that which effectively drives the business – stock and the profits derived from stock. Whilst we can measure with comparative ease our wage costs, rent and overheads etc, effective stock management requires relatively more time and can therefore be one of the last areas to be addressed. This need not, and should not, be the case. Here are the tools for managing stock in a controlled and cost effective manner. The question is – why should you be using them?

 It simplifies your stock taking processes

 Raise productivity and efficiency whilst lowering labour and administration costs

 Undertake partial stock checks more frequently

 Lower stock handling costs by putting real-time data in the hands of your warehouse staff

 Improve stock accuracy and stock holding

 Easily track items as they are received, stored, picked and shipped

 Automatically update stock records in real time by connecting handheld devices to your system.

 Gain confidence in your stock counts to lessen stock on hand and lower carrying costs.

 Reduce errors and bottlenecks for accurate data capture to quickly prepare products for shipping.

Image  Direct impact on costs and bottom-line

 Prevent pilferage and fraud

 Enable accurate valuation of inventory

 Increased accuracy of accounting records

 Identification of losses or wastage

 Check on inefficiency in production process

 Identify gaps in current inventory management stock audit processes

 Identification of slow moving stock, obsolete stock, dead stock and scrap

 Third party independent opinion, especially for Agent warehouses

 Continuous monitoring of assets to ensure timely delivery of goods ordered by customers

 Helps budgeting and forecasting and entity’s adaptability to unforeseen circumstances

As inventory audit is not a solution in itself, but it can provide you with lots of useful information that will guide you towards efficiency and help you change your organization for better. Also note that auditing is not limited to counting items and matching them with the records. Professional auditors will actually come up with valuable recommendations in their audit reports, which will lead to enhanced productivity and profitability for your business.

The Upside Of Outsourcing Human Resource

“The other part of outsourcing is this: it simply says where the work can be done outside better than it can be done inside, we should do it.”Image

As in every other function, the magic mantra of outsourcing remains: “Reduce costs and free up time to devote to revenue-generating activities.

Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) unlike other outsourcing services can never be a package. It deals with one of the most important assets of an organisation - people and dealing with people can never be managed entirely by operations and processes. It’s far too dynamic and personal for that.

This department is responsible for a broad range of functions including overseeing the payroll of employees, employee health administration and benefits, and tax filing.

In addition to this, the Human Resource department maintains files and records, deals with legal compliance and oversees development and training. HRO therefore could mean simply outsourcing the basic payroll etc or alternatively engaging partners for the more mature needs like Performance Management System (PMS) and Learning & Development (L&D) interventions. HR outsourcing will be a developmental process only when the engagement with a partner continues long term. With this understanding, HRO therefore is now evolved into a consultative approach where the management and consultants work closely and decide which part of HR is needed and how much is needed. HR outsourcing turns into a developmental process only when the engagement with a partner continues long term.

The benefits of HRO can be looked at more qualitatively than quantitatively. Some areas where a good HRO program can benefit is  

Save Money:Human resource outsourcing can save your company big bucks by letting you avoid hiring multiple people to fill various tasks. It does not make economic and business sense to add new employees for every new HR job. The larger that your company grows the more cash human resource outsourcing can actually save you.  

Access Specialisation and Expertise: Avail of specialised knowledge in HR areas which may otherwise not be affordable or accessible. These skills may not also be required by the organisation on a continual basis. One such area is L&D where experienced trainers and coaches can be engaged.  

Minimizing risk: Compliance is one major area were HR outsourcing has always worked. Agencies manage risk much better since laws are under constant change. Also it can have dangerous outcomes if laws are not kept up with.  

Employee Development:When an organization outsources its Human Resource functions, it is able to manage employee development and performance more effectively as a result. ImageThe outsourcing firm is able to put into action performance management plans and also able to conduct an honest evaluation of employees from time to time and report their findings to company management which enable them to take appropriate action.  

Change Management: When organisations go through periods of upheaval and change, the most critical focus has to be the human resource. Change can be sustained only with strong HR foundations. Also in these situations, external specialists can do a much better job of redefining organisation vision and new HR structures, revising employee goals and roles and creating a strongly motivated team.  

Focus on strategy: In rapid growth periods, the back-office operations of a company will expand also. This expansion may start to consume resources (human and financial) at the expense of the core activities that have made your company successful. Outsourcing those activities will allow refocusing and strategise on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service in the back-office.  

Streamline/Improve HR Efficiencies: Maintaining an efficient and productive workplace is critical. Outsourcing HR functions creates greater efficiencies within your HR systems. Advanced HR technology utilized by HR outsourcing firms helps to streamline important HR functions such as payroll, benefit administration and compliance management. Outsourcing helps employers and managers spend less time doing paperwork and more time dedicated to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their workplace.

In a nutshell, we can say a successful HRO program is one that impacts people. Knowing your weaknesses is as important as knowing your strengths, so handing off a task you know you can’t handle properly to someone with expertise is a great business decision.

Management Information System: Key To Success

Management Information Systems are the lifeblood of any business that needs to record and processes financial information and turn it into relevant and accurate information to support better business decisions. ImageA management information system (MIS) provides information that organizations require to manage themselves efficiently and effectively.

The key benefits of MIS are as follows:  

 Analytics:Companies are able to highlight their strengths and weaknesses due to the presence of revenue reports, employees performance record etc. The identification of these aspects can help the company improve their business processes and operations.  

 Information:MIS provides timely, accurate, reliable and verifiable information that hasten your decision-making process. It provides advanced financial reporting and decision making procedures for evaluating the merits or shortcomings of your operational and strategic approaches to business. This reduces uncertainties that may derail your implementation of important business decisions.  

 Tools:Giving an overall picture of all company and acting as a communication and planning tool.  

 Competitive:MIS can help a company gain a competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is a firm’s ability to do something better, faster, cheaper or uniquely, when compared with rival firms in the market.  

 Planning: Implementation of MIS enhances your scheduling and forecasting capacity. This enables you to allocate your financial resources effectively and set realistic performance targets. Limit the scope of your plans to your financial resource capabilities. The realistic planning capacity also accelerates the achievement of your goals within the desired time frame.  

 Cash Flow: Cash Flow management is an important use of MIS in Finance. Cash Management refers to the control, monitoring and forecasting of cash for financing needs. Use of MIS in Finance helps companies track the flow of cash through accounts receivable and accounts payable accurately. This can help pin point areas that eat up cash flow such as inventory costs, high raw material costs or unreliable sales.  

 Budget: Financial budget planning uses proforma or projected financial statements that serve as formal documents of management's expectations regarding sales, expenses and other financial transactions. ImageThus financial budgets are tools used both for planning as well as control. MIS in finance helps organizations evaluate "what if" scenarios. By modifying the financial ratios, management can foresee the effects of various scenarios on the financial statements. MIS thus serves as a decision making tool, helping in choosing appropriate financial goals.  

 Financial Model: A financial model is a system that incorporates mathematics, logic and data in the form of a large database. The model is used to manipulate the financial variables that affect earnings thus enabling planners to view the implications of their planning decisions. MIS enables organizations to store a large amount of data. This helps managers develop accurate models of the external environment and thus incorporate realistic "what if" scenarios into their long-range planning goals.

Indeed, the strategic value of information technology is extremely important in the advancement of customer satisfaction and growth of productivity. It enables the business to respond appropriately to changes in target markets and stay ahead of its competitors.
 

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