An inventory planner forecasts, tracks, and reconciles inventory for warehouses, factories, and retail stores. They must determine how much material is needed to produce products and ensure that inventory levels are maintained. They may also order materials and products when inventory levels are low.
Any warehouse, factory, or even retail store that stores products in inventory typically employs an inventory planner. The main job responsibilities are to forecast, track and reconcile the inventory of the products or materials that the warehouse, manufacturer or retailer keep in their stock.
For example, suppose the planner works for a manufacturing company. Suppose the manufacturer makes leather sandals. The inventory planner first needs to forecast the number of leather sandals he expects to sell on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Once the planner has determined this, he needs to forecast the amount of materials the manufacturer needs to manufacture to keep the sandals in stock. These materials include leather, rubber soles, suede insert, thread, trimmings, sewing machines, and any other materials the manufacturer needs on hand.
A person in this position is also responsible for tracking inventory. Again, tracking can involve the materials to make the product, the product itself, or both. For example, an inventory planner for a retail store would not need to forecast or track raw materials like a manufacturer. A retail store would just be forecasting and tracking the amount of inventory it has of the finished product.
The inventory planner keeps track of the materials or products, so you can reorder the materials or products when you reach a certain level. This is to ensure that the manufacturer, warehouse or store always has enough material and product available to sell to their customers.
Reconciliation is another duty of an inventory planner. As materials are used and products move in and out of the warehouse, factory, or retail store, the inventory level changes. The planner periodically checks to ensure that the quantity the computer says the company has in stock matches what is actually in stock. Typically, this requires the inventory planner to manually count the supplies and products sitting on the inventory shelves and match that value to the value indicated by the computer inventory system.
When inventory levels reach a level where more materials or products are needed, some inventory planners order materials and products to bring inventory levels back to the minimum amount they keep on hand. Other planners work with the company’s buyers to let them know what materials or products need to be ordered and inventoried.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
