How to use technology to improve your operational efficiency

I often meet business owners who cut costs during tough times. Unfortunately, this approach can harm the productivity and competitiveness of your business.

If you want to save money, I suggest you instead focus on the efficiency of your activities and reduce or eliminate waste and errors.

Technology will be very useful to you if you want to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your processes. It can help you reduce or eliminate duplicate activities and delays, as well as automate certain tasks.

Here are three areas where technology can increase efficiency.

1. Inventory management

If you keep and manage inventory in your retail store, warehouse or factory, you need to know what items you have in stock, their number and their value.

With an inventory management system, you can efficiently manage your warehouse and always have appropriate inventory.

First, make sure the items you receive are recorded in an inventory control system. I recommend that you pass the barcode reader on each item received. This way, you can eliminate duplicate entries and immediately note problems upon delivery, if any.

Also use software that will tell your staff members where to put items. In some cases, it is necessary to read the barcode of the items to be stored. This process improves efficiency and reduces errors when items are picked up to fill an order.

An inventory management system can help you maintain your inventory at an optimal level by taking into account sales volume (number of items sold), sales velocity (how quickly you sell items), time period of the year (Christmas, back to school) and upcoming promotions.

The system can also calculate the times between orders and receipt of items, so that your stocks are not exhausted before the next order. It can also efficiently manage your inventory levels so you can fulfill your orders just-in-time.

A good inventory management system also allows you to update your customers’ systems in real time by generating and emailing shipping confirmation as soon as ordered items are shipped.

In some cases, the system can manage many types of inventory. For example, some systems can distinguish raw materials, in-process products, and finished products, as well as items on hand and ready for sale, quarantined inventory, or products associated with a particular order. Such a system can save you money by reducing errors and improving data accuracy.

2. Project management

Companies that execute projects – for example, professional services firms; plumbing or heating, ventilation and air conditioning companies; or even construction or custom manufacturing companies – must absolutely manage their mandates effectively and complete them within the agreed deadlines, while respecting the allocated budget.

Project management software will be very useful to you because it allows you to establish a work breakdown structure that transforms a large project into a series of tasks to be completed.

You can also record the time and materials required. The system will then generate a budget and indicate the deadlines to be met. Project management software also helps avoid delays caused by

As the project progresses, the software can track completed tasks and variances between the planned and actual deadlines, as well as the equipment used at each stage.

For example, teams from a kitchen remodeling company can enter, at the end of each work day, information such as tasks completed, working hours, equipment used, problems encountered, and even photos. illustrating the progress of the work.

The software then calculates the time actually spent on the project and the cost of the materials used and compares them with the budget and planned deadlines. It allows budgetary discrepancies to be managed in real time and corrective measures to be taken to ensure the profitability