Managing consignment inventories spread all over the country – or even all over the globe – can be challenging, especially if processes are not designed to maximize efficiency. Often the existing consignment processes are filled with manual admin work. For example, the moment a sales rep or a hospital staff member consumes a consigned product, how do many companies still record this consumption? It is commonly done using tools like emails, spreadsheets, calls, or sometimes even pen and paper! While doing so, essential time, data, and resources get lost.
Why is it so hard to design consignment processes much more efficiently?
1. Because within your processes you usually have a bunch of different tasks linked to different business areas to be fulfilled at the same time:
The Products
- Making sure that the right products were selected to be stored in consignment
- Taking responsibility that the consigned products are in perfect condition, considering their expiry dates, packaging, and other product-relevant characteristics
The Stock Levels
- Requesting initial consignment fill-ups/extensions
- Taking care that your customers always have the right amount of stock on hand
- Once a consigned product is consumed, the replenishment must be sent asap
- Performing cycle counts
The Compliance
- Continuously monitoring expiry dates of consigned inventories
- Carrying out product recalls by sorting out serial/batch/lot numbers of consigned inventories
The Sales Efficiency
- Assuring that once a product is consumed, the invoice is issued asap
- Regularly checking the performance of your consigned inventory, i.e. quick vs. slow turners
2. All these business areas need a way to talk to each other and be connected
A typical consignment inventory is not only interlinking between two departments, but rather
- It strongly brings together the consignment inventory and the warehouse from which products are sent to the consignment inventory.
- It’s also connected with accounting, where invoices are issued once a consumption is recorded.
- It’s interlinked with customer service where initial consignment fill ups and customer requests are handled.
- It’s linked to Sales Reps, who are the first point of contact for customers’ consignment inventory needs.
- It’s also communicating with regulatory affairs where audits and recalls are traced.
- It’s touching base with product management and sales, where product lifecycles are analyzed and optimized.
So, what’s the solution?
How can you bring these different areas and duties under one umbrella?
By incorporating the right process with the right tool
The right process is simple; the key is to automate steps. It all starts with an initial consignment fill-up requested by a Sales Rep or the back office. This automatically comes to the warehouse, where the requested goods are shipped to the consignment inventory (to your customer). When a product is consumed, the consumption is recorded via a mobile app (barcode scan) done by a sales rep or hospital staff. This recorded consumption automatically (!) results in an invoice, plus a replenishment order. Then, everything starts all over again!
This consignment cycle is the most effective way to boost your consignment turnaround times!
And, what about the right tool?
Remember, your tool needs to be accessible enterprise wide. It must also work on a mobile basis to connect your sales reps and must interlink with other areas such as accounting, warehouse, back office, and more. It must offer features such as mobile consumption recording, and it must track and trace information that is relevant for regulatory affairs such as batch, lot, serial numbers, and shelf life times.
Dear SAP® users, we’ve got you covered!
mymediset, is the most widely used SAP® add-on solution for managing consignment inventory. It’s specifically designed to cover all requirements, and it’s fully connected with all other areas, enterprise-wide!
mymediset comes with a backend and mobile solution where all data is always transmitted on a real-time-basis. It offers a broad range of features, all focused on boosting your efficiency when managing consignment inventories. mymediset follows the single source of truth approach meaning, regardless of whether you’re using mymediset’s mobile app or the backend solution desktop, the data always comes from only one source, your SAP® system. No data replication, no additional software are needed.
Curious to dive deeper? Speak to one of our experts now and see how mymediset can revolutionize the way you manage your consignment inventories inside SAP®.
