Inventory Control & MRP: How to Prevent Material Shortages

The "Firefighting" Cycle

Monday morning starts with a crisis: "We have 500 units to weld, but no CO2 gas." The purchase manager frantically calls vendors, pays a premium for urgent delivery, and the production line sits idle for 4 hours.

This cycle repeats because most SMEs manage inventory on "Visually Checked" or "Reactive" basis. You only order when you see the bin is empty. By then, it is too late.

What is MRP (and why Excel fails at it)?

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is just simple math that is hard to do manually:

In Excel, "Current Stock" is always outdated. In a Custom ERP, stock updates every time a Store Issue slip is generated, so the math runs in real-time.

Setting Up Reorder Levels (ROL)

You don't need AI to fix this. You just need to define two numbers for your top 20% critical items:

• Min Level (Safety Stock): The bare minimum needed to survive lead time.
• Reorder Level (ROL): The point where the system screams "Buy Now".

Example: You consume 100 bolts/day. Vendor takes 5 days to deliver.
ROL = (100 * 5) + Safety Buffer (200) = 700 Bolts.
The moment stock hits 700, the ERP sends a WhatsApp alert to Purchase.

FIFO & Batch Tracking

Inventory isn't just about quantity; it's about Age. If you have "Dead Stock" sitting at the back of the shelf rusting while you buy fresh material, you are burning cash.

A good system enforces FIFO (First-In, First-Out). When a worker requests material, the system tells the storekeeper: "Pick Batch #A12 from Rack 4 (Oldest Stock)."

Automating the Purchase Indent

Stop relying on verbal requests. Implement a digital "Indent" system:

• Production Indent: Supervisor requests material via mobile app.
• Auto-Check: System checks if stock exists. If YES -> Store Issue. If NO -> Purchase Indent.
• Purchase Order: Purchase team converts Indent to PO with one click.

How Gamavis Solves This

We build "Lightweight MRP" modules for SMEs. We don't overwhelm you with 500 fields like SAP. We focus on:

• Barcode In/Out: Scan to receive, Scan to issue. 100% accurate stock.
• Shortage Dashboard: A red screen showing "Items below Min Level".
• Vendor Portal: Auto-email POs to vendors.