To keep things simple; inventory management is the management of inventory and stock.  If your inventory is managed properly it will mean you always have the correct levels of stock on hand. This has a lot of benefits for your business. For some, this is easier said than done. However, having the right inventory at ALL times is a crucial component for your business.

Here are a few basics that help explain inventory management a little further:

Inventory 101:

If you are a business that sells or makes products, chances are pretty good that your inventory supply is the most important thing for your business. Sound like you? Your business depends on your inventory. Inventory is all the parts and products you have on hand at any given time. These could be for making goods, or actual products that you sell. The most important thing about inventory is having the right parts at the right time. Think of what would happen if you did not.

Now imagine a world where your inventory was always right, and you never ran out of parts. Sounds pretty good right? That’s where inventory management comes into play.

Click here to read 7 benefits to Vendor Managed Inventory.

We’re back from 2019’s NTEA aka The Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, IN. This year’s show was a success, and we were able to meet up with new and current customers, showcasing some of Austin hardware’s new and best products. In addition, we were able to lean in to our team members and product experts, available on site to represent Austin Hardware®. We always look forward to events where we can showcase our products, discuss what makes Austin Hardware® stand out among our competitors, and how we offer solutions for businesses. It’s also a great chance for our brightest minds to come together and showcase what makes Austin so great.

There are many ways that selecting the right Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) partner can simplify your business and help you to start saving time, money, and improve your bottom line.

Let’s break down what VMI is all about.

Is inventory the backbone of success for your business?  Do you have trouble forecasting demand and maintaining correct inventory levels yourself?  Do you have difficulty dealing with too many suppliers?

Managing large amounts of inventory and a multitude of suppliers requires daily monitoring, meticulous coordination, and careful planning, which may be difficult to do on your own. The ramifications of any missteps can be felt beyond the purchasing department, across your entire organization, from manufacturing to operations to payables and more. If you’re having difficulty with any aspect of inventory management, it’s VERY likely you can benefit from a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) program.

So, what exactly is Consigned Vendor Inventory Management? Let’s break it down into two parts – Consigned Inventory and Vendor Managed Inventory.

Consigned Inventory is inventory that is still owned by the supplier, but the customer has on hand. When the customer uses or sells the inventory, the supplier THEN gets paid. There are a few reasons why this works, but a big one is that the customer frees up capital that would otherwise be needed to purchase the inventory in advance. This creates a form of financial security and freedom for the customer.

Vendor Managed Inventory, or VMI, is an inventory replenishment strategy in which the supplier monitors and may even physically replenish the customer's stock. When you form a VMI relationship with a provider, they handle the stress of inventory so that you can focus on other aspects of your business.

By letting the right provider manage your inventory, you can invest time in building relationships, increasing sales, and tackling other things that help your business reach long-term success.

Austin Hardware & Supply, Inc. has reached an agreement with Tuma to be their United States distributor of heavy and extra heavy duty drawer slides. 

While Austin Hardware has supplied heavy duty drawer slides for many years, Tuma’s slides add to that offering, giving Austin the broadest offering of drawer slides to industrial and wheeled vehicle markets including the fire, rescue, and emergency vehicle industry as well as the utility and service body markets.

Many manufacturers, whether they’re in a wheeled vehicle or other industrial market, have in common the need to find the right latch for their doors or compartments. But how do you know which type is best for your application, and what are the critical factors that go into the decision?  

Austin Hardware & Supply, Inc. has received Patent No. US 10,004,331 B2 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the company’s Front Drawer Release (FDR).

The FDR was invented by engineers Mark Jeffries and Rusty Smith in 2009, and a patent request was filed in 2011. It was designed as part of a complete system to easily latch and unlatch the drawers in heavy duty industrial drawer systems used in vehicular applications.