The need for eTraining is greater than before now. The companies are acknowledging its importance because they are subject to such unpredictable environments that eTraining can only help them. There is an increasing demand for supply chain management because companies find it difficult to handle unanticipated disruptions caused by the pandemic and war. The companies also have no solid understanding of the supply chain problem. There is no clear and precise meaning of this word as the companies continue to be in a precarious situation. There is no consensus about implementing policies to solve this problem. The foreign factor is why disturbances are happening in the supply chain.

Supply chain management needs a major change because, so far, it has only used manual ways to count the stock. This has not been useful. The traditional supply chain management systems are incompatible with the reality of modern times.

No data is available in such a system, which often causes complications. In the conventional supply chain model, the information passes from the retailer to the manufacturer, who then relays it back to the raw material vendor. Therefore, the decision-making is not done in real-time.

Hence, the US-based companies have now realized the flaws of this system.

On the other hand, modern supply chain management systems are more effective because they use technology. In addition, they focus on the delivery of the goods to the customer.

What is a inventory management system?

The modern-day inventory management systems let the retail stores know which products have the maximum sales because every time a product is purchased, its bar code is scanned. Hence every time a sale is registered, it’s taken into account, and the stores know which products are not in inventory anymore. They also get a graph or reports of which products customers prefer the most. 

These are the advantages of using an inventory management system: 

• No understocking or overstocking: When the customers don’t need a certain product, there’s no use in buying the product and making it take up your storage space. So, the retail companies only stock those products which are high in demand. When a retailer has more stock of not-in-demand products, he wastes his cash. And when he does not have the right products, he cannot find any customers, which dries up his cash flows.

Retail companies need inventory management software to only stock those products in demand because so many similar products are getting sold. Also, there are brief production cycles these days which implies that the companies don’t need to stock a product much before sales would happen.

ETraining can ensure that the retail store owners can use the inventory management software and never be short of the right stock. 

This kind of eTraining is also necessary for manufacturers to ensure that they don’t miss out on any demand because the retailers communicate to them about any shortfall of products.

Hence, through the retailer, the wholesaler can get to know about the product shortage on time. He can convey such information to the manufacturer, who can ensure that the manufacturing cycle is not disrupted. Therefore, through the internet in the inventory management software, the manufacturer and the retailer both are informed about any lapse of product so that sales are not affected. 

The inventory management system is quite useful for modern-day retailers who don’t need any unwanted stock.

But the retailers can’t have the least stock because unforeseen demand for a product can arise; hence it’s always better to be prepared not to lose out on any customers.  

• No damage to stock: Artificial intelligence is getting used in inventory management systems which forecast any seasonal demand, due to which the retailers never face the stocking-out problem. Software based on Artificial intelligence algorithms ensures that the retailers can analyze a lot of data related to customer purchases which can’t be done manually.

Retailers can lose a lot of products when the goods are damaged in the warehouse due to a lack of proper storage. But this can be prevented by AI-based software, which informs the retailers when the goods are on the verge of getting damaged due to improper storage conditions. That’s because such software is aligned with the IoT sensors installed in storage equipment and is alerted when equipment hardware is not working properly.

It’s necessary for retailers to have the warehouse running in a smooth condition. Having such software also reduces the need to have warehouse staff monitor the equipment all the time.

So, training is the most immediate requirement of retailers who must ensure that the goods are prevented from damage before they are sold.

• Reduction of warehouse staff: The retailers can also face many problems in the case of online orders because they can’t always have warehouse staff scouting for the product’s availability. In that case, its better to have an inventory management software which can be consulted to check for the product’s availability.

If the product is unavailable, such inventory management systems ensure it’s reordered. In addition, the retail managers can also let the buyers know about the delivery time. Hence eTraining can ensure that the retailers can solve many challenges associated with online and offline ordering in time when the staff has been properly trained on how to use such inventory management software.