When we think of ways to reduce business carbon emissions, effective stock management might not spring to mind. At Clarity, we’ve found that one of the best ways to reduce business emissions is by making the most of the stock you have, putting that into production effectively, and reducing waste, scrap and overordered stock.
Processing jobs effectively
There’s nothing worse than going all the way to the stock warehouse, picking for a job, coming back, and seeing that the next job you need to pick for has the exact same material requirements. Worse, if you go to pick a material and discover its running too low on stock to produce the customer order, but it hadn’t been picked up by the current system and isn’t on order.
Stock management software and inventory control can identify what materials are needed for each job planned and group them together. This allows staff to pick all the materials for a group of jobs in one go, saving on repeat trips and processing production jobs faster. More efficient production and saved time means reduced emissions on two fronts and improved business performance.
Efficient processing methods for production can also be linked to job delivery. When stock is grouped and processed by type, you can link jobs by installation or location; another way to reduce unnecessary trips, cut down carbon, and improve business performance.
Managing stock orders
If your stock management is still done through visual inspections or manual databases, you’ve probably run into issues with running out or over-ordering at some point, simply due to human error. We all hate waste, so finding ways to reuse and recycle materials that might otherwise be binned is a key step in helping reduce business carbon emissions.
Having excess stock accidentally ordered that then has to be wasted or turned into deadstock is a huge drain on resources (including carbon) that could otherwise be used. Similarly, running out of key materials means you may need to put a rush order through, one that may require less green modes of transport or production to get the order finished on time.
Stock management software tracks exactly what levels materials are at and what needs reordering. Reduce customer lead times by tracking stock levels effectively while lowering your business emissions connected to deliveries and processing. When stock is used efficiently and ordered only when needed, you’re able to maximise the materials you have available – a much more carbon-friendly way of doing business.
Maximise Materials
Nesting software or material requirement planning software are ideal investments if you’re serious about reducing your business carbon emissions. They can help you get the most from a sheet of material, ideal for reducing waste or scrap, and can be linked to items such as job tracking. This allows machines to process the same materials concurrently rather than having to swap between types which can slow down production.
When you’re able to get the most from your materials, you can also reduce the amount of stock needed to order, and even potentially speed up lead times for production. By finding new ways to use your end of roll or offcut materials, you can provide customers with a wider range of choices when it comes to choosing more carbon-neutral options for their orders, something many businesses report seeing a rising demand for.
Effective stock control and management of materials is one of the best ways to reduce your overall business carbon emissions. But it’s also ideal for improving business efficiency and production times, or to reduce overheads on resources like materials or time spent picking for jobs. Clarity’s Stock Control Software is here to help your business save money, cut emissions, and make the most of every resource to fulfil customer orders efficiently and to the best of your business’s ability.
