In every industrial sector, real estate is money when it comes to maintaining an inventory of products. If your business operates a mixed fleet with different types of engines requiring a wide range of products, you need to consolidate inventory to minimize the space you need to properly and safely store 31 flavors of oil grades, which can take up a substantial amount of your warehouse footprint. You can
consolidate inventory and move your products to smaller containers to downsize stock to an easily manageable volume. Inventory consolidation not only allows you to keep your shop clean, organized and clearly labeled, but it will save you money by not having to maintain unnecessary dead stock in bulky, half-empty tanks and containers.
Perform an inventory analysis
Take note of the products you currently carry to satisfy the diverse needs of your fleet. In some cases, it may be possible to switch to a new lubricant product that can accommodate many different applications and requirements at once, such as switching from a regular grade oil to a lower viscosity, full-synthetic or synthetic blend formulation. Synthetic oils have been proven to have longer drain intervals than regular grades, are compatible with a wide range of transmissions and have a longer shelf life.
If there’s a one-stop-shop product that can adequately satisfy the needs of your fleet without having to keep 12 different grades of oil in stock, an SCL consultant will assist you in assessing your current inventory to see where such changes might be possible. After simplifying your product offerings to minimize and consolidate your inventory, we’ll also help you develop an automated delivery schedule based on your needs to maximize product availability and minimize over-stock.
"By consolidating products or moving to smaller containers you can downsize your inventory to an easily manageable volume."
Minimizing the cost and inconvenience of one-time purchases
From time to time you may find yourself running low or running out of a certain critical product, and in these instances a one-time purchase can be costly and inconvenient. Having to make a special trip to retrieve a single product can eat up valuable time, and one-time purchases versus bulk orders usually force you to pay top dollar.
Ideally, you need the right products on hand and in the right amounts to keep your books clean and your inventory clear. By analyzing your inventory and assessing the demographics and applications of the products you’re using, you can streamline and consolidate inventory and automate ordering and delivery. Nobody wants to be price-gouged on a one-time purchase or waste valuable time making multiple trips for the same product in a short period of time. When you consolidate inventory and automate, you’ll see savings in time, money, and valuable storage space by having the right amount of product on hand as well as deliveries scheduled for times that make sense for your fleet. An SCL consultant will walk you through possible solutions on where your inventory can be cut back, what products can be consolidated and what kind of savings you can expect by making these kinds of changes.
Safety and storage solutions
When considering your inventory, safety and storage are big priorities. When it comes to safety, you don’t want employees unnecessarily moving 400-pound drums of oil on slick, greasy floors, and you also might find that 55-gallon drums of a particular product may be overkill for your inventory requirements. After carefully assessing your needs and the possibility of consolidating products, consider switching to smaller 20-gallon, easily rollable kegs, ¼ drums or easily stackable 6-gallon
PitPacks or Eco Boxes. If your fleet needs a spectrum of oil options, ¼ drums with a roll caddy and dispenser make storage and maneuvering infinitely easier than dealing with bulky drums. With ¼ drums you have less space used, they’re safer to move and you’ll have less deadstock locking up money and taking up unnecessary storage. With ¼ drums and PitPacks, there’s no need to pay for extra tanks, drums or pails.
Proper storage and labeling helps maintain a clean and organized shop that will minimize accidents and the risk of paying fines during inspections.
Pitt Packs and Eco Boxes
Pitt Packs are an eco-friendly alternative to carrying large quantities of a product.
Gone are the days where you need to maintain a warehouse of half-empty 55-gallon drums full of products you may or may not be using on a regular basis. Pitt Packs or Eco Boxes are cardboard cubes encasing 6-gallon plastic bags of oil. Not unlike the design of boxed wine, when the bag of oil is finished you can remove it from the outer recyclable cardboard and dispose of the plastic bag in the trash. Instead of 24 quart-size or 6 gallon-size bottles going into a landfill, you can now replace them with 1 simple, recyclable solution that allows for easier storage and greater flexibility with deliveries.
Consolidate Inventory and Save
Pitt Packs are on average $1.50-$2.00 higher in price per gallon than larger containers, but consider the long term savings of not maintaining excessive inventory and instead having your products safely, clearly and easily organized.
If you have drums of oil that aren’t moving or being used, that’s cash flow locked up in deadstock inventory. Don’t spend money on products you don’t need. As long as CAFE standards for regulating emissions continue to increase, oil formulations will continue to change. To weather these fluctuations, pitt packs are the best solution for fleets needing to consolidate inventory to carry a full line of lubricant products.
Contact an SCL consultant today
In a wide range of industrial sectors, if there’s metal touching metal, oil is involved. At SCL, we’re here to protect and optimize the machines that keep our country moving and we pride ourselves on providing superior logistics and solutions, extensive product and industry knowledge and total performance satisfaction for our customers. As a cost savings strategy, consider consolidating your inventory to help your organization meet its 2017 budgetary goals. For more information on how to consolidate products to save both money and valuable storage space, contact an SCL consultant today. Our job is to assist you in fulfilling your inventory needs with a minimized line of consolidated and streamlined products that will save you money and optimize convenience.