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With inventory dollars accounting for one of the largest assets on a retailers
balance sheet, it is important that the properly qualified personnel oversee
the management of the inventory. It is ironic that in some organizations, this
important financial responsibility is assigned to lower paid, entry level or
under-qualified people. Planners can be responsible for millions of dollars of
purchasing, while also directly affecting customer satisfaction through
adequate instock. These are critical responsibilities with an impact on the
success of the business that few others in the organization hold. The most
successful retailers elevate the planning position and function, fully
integrating it within all aspects of the organization. Positive business results
come from the communication and collaboration between the inventory,
product/merchandising, creative, financial and supply chain teams. The key
aspect to the successful implementation of the role of inventory
management within the overall business process is the hiring and developing
of the right people for the inventory planner position. You can have the
best inventory processes and systems in the world, but an unqualified
planner will lead to subpar results, missed opportunities and unnecessary
expense.
7. Focus: Not everyone can sit in front of a computer for eight hours a
day, concentrating on numbers and spreadsheets. Planners must have
the discipline and the ability to focus on a range of various SKU level
details. The most important aspect of being in or out of stock is the
accuracy of the individual SKU level plan/forecast. The top-level
plans/forecasts are important, but the SKU level inventory position
ultimately determines the customer fulfillment and inventory related
expenses.
10. Follow Through: Challenges and roadblocks are part of any job,
so the planner must have the initiative and diligence to persistently
manage through issues to resolution. It is important that the planner
build collaborative relationships with business partners to coordinate
operational process and to help resolve issues. The best planners are
really facilitators of the supply chain, taking on the responsibility of
seeing that every step of the supply chain is executed efficiently to
ensure timely instock. They have the persistence to follow through
and not accept no for an answer when hitting roadblocks within the
supply chain.
12. Positive Attitude: The most successful people in any job have
a positive attitude and a desire to continually learn and contribute
excellence in the jobs execution. They have an enthusiasm for the
challenges and they work passionately to meet or exceed their
assigned goals. They do not accept the status quo, always looking for
innovative ways to enhance processes and improve results. Without a
positive attitude, all of the prior skills will not be fully maximized and
the investment of time and training will be underutilized.
So how do you identify and hire the people with the best potential to be
successful planners?
In the interview process, first review their analytical skills and systems
knowledge. Ask for examples of how they have completed projects or
resolved issues using data analysis. Ascertain their experience and comfort
level when working with unfiltered data. Get a good sense of the thought
process they apply when resolving issues. Then move on to ask questions
that go beyond analytical evaluation to gain an understanding of their of
their qualitative reasoning process. What type of relevant factors would they
review in addition to numerical facts? What internal and external rationale
would they base their decisions on? How do they weigh the risk/reward
trade-off of a decision? Are they capable of independent thought,
considering all pertinent variables or do they rely solely on system
recommendations? Do they have the desire to take ownership of their
business and proactively take the necessary actions to ensure positive
results? Have they demonstrated persistent follow through on challenges
and are they adept at problem solving? If the situation allows, it can be
advantageous to hire candidates identified with potential planning skills as
temporary employees. An evaluation period is established for training and
exposure to the process, helping to determine if they have a strong aptitude
to become a competent planner.
Paul Angelos has twenty-five years of inventory control and supply chain
experience, working with start-up organizations and the largest branded
retailers, developing planning processes, systems and people. He can be
contacted though LinkedIn or email at: paulangelos44@gmail.com