3 Ultimate Tips for Inventory Management in Singapore

In this article, we look at effective ways a small business can manage inventory in Singapore.

Inventory management is the process of managing inventory. I think.

“But what is inventory?” You may ask.

Inventory — in the context of a small business — is the “quantity of merchandise or goods held in stock”, according to Oxford Languages.

Effective inventory management means that you can avoid shortages and surpluses.

Stock shortages, as well as surpluses, have been common during the COVID crisis, such as in early 2020 when Singapore experienced a severe shortage in eggs.

Distributors scrambled to satisfy demand, but by June, they were overstocked and one had to throw away over 250,000 eggs.

I just hope they used them for compost!

Managing inventory would also include managing the storage of your stock. Read on below to find out how you can do that.

In this article, we look at effective ways a small business can manage inventory in Singapore.

Use inventory management software

You wouldn’t want to do your inventory management with an excel spreadsheet. How would you deal with the continuously fluctuating stock level of your products?

Furthermore, using software allows you to “track low stock levels and identify the reorder points for each product, in turn avoiding the occurrence of stock-outs”, according to Linnworks.

It can then calculate these reorder points — or par levels — using a reorder point formula.

In other words, using such software helps with inventory control.

Some software out there even have demand forecasting functions. Perhaps Kim Hock Egg Distributors should’ve used inventory management software back in 2020?

This leads to the next point…

Demand Forecasting

This is when you project future demand to help you make better decisions.

Utilising demand forecasting can prevent overstocking and stock-outs.

Think about it: if you can’t predict what kind of demand there will be for your products in the near future, how can you maintain the right amount of stock?

Stock-outs affect customer satisfaction while overstocking can lead to money down the drain.

There are many demand forecasting methods and techniques out there.

For example, there are statistical methods such as trend projection, one of the simplest methods available. Past sales are used to project future sales.

A more nuanced method probably would’ve suited Kim Hock Egg Distributors more, such as barometric forecasting or the Delphi technique.

To complement the use of inventory management software and demand forecasting techniques, you could…

Use a storage marketplace

In today’s Singapore, storage space is expensive.

Self-storage services in Singapore charge at least $2 psf. They’re also unlikely to provide lease periods of less than 6 months.

As for renting warehouse space, who wants to deal with those pesky property agents?

At Cubbiq we cut out the middleman — the agent — for you.

As such, our service is perfect for short term rentals, as opposed to the long term ones for your typical storage facilities.

Storage rental periods of under 6 months would be ideal for hosts, and for renters such as small businesses looking to store their inventory.

Furthermore, hosts can list on Cubbiq to fill in gaps between their bookings, even if it’s only for a few days.

This is great for small businesses in Singapore looking to store their inventory on a temporary basis.

If you’re a small business and you have a spare stockroom or warehouse, you could list it on Cubbiq to make some passive income as well.

At Cubbiq, we guarantee the safety and security of payments and personal details and also do renter verification checks.

Cubbiq would’ve been perfect for the egg surplus of 2020, as small business owners wouldn’t have had to shell out for long-term storage. We would’ve been sad to see all those eggs go to waste though…

Conclusion

The above are just a few inventory management tips for small businesses in Singapore. The list here is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it was helpful nonetheless!