Technology & Inventory Software Flashcards

Which KPI in inventory software measures the percentage of customer orders fulfilled completely from available stock without backorders or substitutions?

Answer: Fill rate

Fill rate measures the proportion of orders or order lines fulfilled from stock on hand, reflecting inventory availability performance.

A company upgrades from a manual spreadsheet system to an integrated WMS. Which operational improvement is MOST directly expected?

Answer: Reduction in picking errors and improved inventory accuracy

WMS systems with barcode or RFID scanning dramatically reduce human error in picking and improve real-time inventory accuracy versus manual spreadsheets.

In inventory software, what does 'cross-docking' functionality optimize?

Answer: Transferring inbound shipments directly to outbound without putaway

Cross-docking functionality routes received goods directly to outbound staging or shipping without storing them, reducing handling time and storage costs.

When configuring an inventory system's reorder point, which data inputs are MOST critical?

Answer: Average daily demand and supplier lead time

Reorder point is calculated as average daily demand multiplied by lead time (plus safety stock), making demand rate and lead time the essential inputs.

A company implements machine learning-based demand forecasting in their inventory software. What is the PRIMARY advantage over traditional moving average methods?

Answer: It can identify complex patterns and incorporate external variables like promotions or economic indicators

ML-based forecasting can detect non-linear patterns and incorporate external variables, outperforming simple moving averages in volatile or complex demand environments.

Which inventory system feature helps prevent 'phantom inventory' — items that show as in-stock in the system but are physically missing?

Answer: Regular cycle counting integrated with the WMS

Cycle counting integrated with WMS continuously verifies physical stock against system records, catching and correcting phantom inventory discrepancies.

A retailer uses IoT shelf sensors integrated with their inventory management system. What is the PRIMARY benefit?

Answer: Real-time detection of out-of-stock conditions on the shelf without manual scanning

IoT shelf sensors detect weight or presence changes in real time, alerting the inventory system to low-stock or empty-shelf conditions without requiring manual shelf checks.