From the items in the daily menu to the overall supply chain, a huge range of tasks fall under inventory management when it comes to running a restaurant business. With the development of cloud kitchens and a constant trend of personalized ordering, any form of incumbent inventory management can lead to a disaster for a restaurant.
If you run a restaurant, you would, most definitely, be aware of how difficult it can be to maintain the inventory at times. Here are some pro tips to help ease your process.
1. Automate Your Process
There are scores of software available on the market for maintaining restaurant inventory, and they can reduce your tasks by a huge margin. There is also no room left for human error, and with constant real-time notifications, it is difficult to miss out on anything. You can either choose an all-in-one software that performs all tasks related to inventory management or choose specific tasks such as alert systems to automate.
2. Provide Staff Trainings
While introducing smart technology is a great management move, if your staff is not ready to handle it, then the situation can worsen. Make sure that your staff is trained properly and understands the functioning of the automation software.
3. Limited Access
Even if your organization is not large, horizontal access of data can result in chaos. Especially when it comes to inventory management, one should be allowed to access the data that caters to their needs. For example, the kitchen staff does not need to know about the supply chain data. Only you, as a manager, should have complete access to the inventory data.
4. Know Your Storage
Your inventory management is only as good as your storage management. Ensuring that the storage is full and never over or under filled is a task that all inventory managers must cater to. This will help in controlling wastage and in turn, decrease the loss of revenue due to improper storage.
5. Creating an Inventory Cycle
An inventory cycle is basically a method that allows you to have a streamlined view of your inventory. You begin the cycle with order placement, and end it before closing every day or every week (whatever timeline suits your organization scale). This helps ensure that you have a regular count of your inventory and know exactly when to place the next order.
You can use software to automate an inventory cycle, but for smaller restaurants, an in-person inventory count works fine as well. You will be able to manage your recipes in an easier way and also find new ways to innovate on your current structure.
Parting Note
Inventory management can be a huge process, depending on the scale of your operation and organization. But with the help of the right automation technology and training, any inventory can be maintained to provide optimum results.
A well-managed inventory is a key to the growth of a business. It allows for taking care of any risks or turbulent business conditions. Furthermore, it allows the manager to be constantly aware of their business performance.
Use the tips above to manage your inventory and make sure to create an inventory cycle that caters to your storage scale.
