We’ve all experienced it. I’m talking about a stock out. A trip to the shelving unit or cabinet to find that the bin holding that much-needed supply or medication is empty or there is not enough there to satisfy the need. This can be very frustrating when in a fast-paced environment and can often lead to a blame game in addition to operational inefficiency.
Inventory management systems today are complex and can provide a great deal of support and information, however low stock or out of stock situations can still easily occur. When this happens it always seems to be at a crucial moment and in a med room or supply room that is at the furthest point for replenishment. One of the biggest frustrations is not knowing supplies are low and need to be replenished, are out or that someone has already identified the stock out and has supplies or medications on order to replenish. If you’re busy and in a sea of shelving units or storage bins, it is going to be difficult to see which bins are low on stock or completely out of stock. Sometimes an item is simply going to be out of stock for a while. It would be nice to notice instantly which products are.
There has been a lot of discussion about lean principles and Kanban methods to help with par levels and to provide indicators for supply replenishment. Simply put, simple methods do work. There is an easy solution to indicate bins, shelving units, cabinets and more that inventory is low, has been re-ordered or is simply out of stock. The indicators are the SpinFlag and BinFlag Stock Indicators from Maxpert Medical.
Isn’t it time to utilize simple in the middle of a tech world? Now you can go to the same large area of supplies and at a quick glance know which supply or medication is out of stock and needs to be replenished or has already been reordered. A simple stock indicator on the front of your bin, cabinet or shelving unit provides a much-needed affordable solution that compliments other processes and technology. A very visual solution reducing stock checking time.
What are you waiting for? Attach a stock indicator and flag those important supplies and medications.