The Hidden Dangers of Inventory in Business

Art Koch, Art is a globally recognized supply chain transformation expert and consultant with over three decades of transforming business performance at mid-market and Fortune 500 companies. He's increased corporate valuations by over a billion dollars, utilizing his proprietary methodologies to improve customer loyalty, reduce inventory by over $250 million, and increase EBITDA by $100 million-plus annually. His new book is now available, titled The Supply Chain Revolution: Unlocking the Sustainable Profit Chain.

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> Here’s a glimpse of what you would learn…. 

• Importance of supply chain efficiency in e-commerce
• Challenges and inefficiencies in inventory management
• Concept of inventory as a depreciating asset
• "Art's Law" and its implications for business complexity
• Strategies for analyzing sales data to improve inventory practices
• Need for data integrity and inventory accuracy
• Building strong relationships with suppliers
• Importance of professional development and employee engagement
• Role of artificial intelligence in improving lead time accuracy
• Fostering a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement

In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley interviews Art Koch, founder of Art Koch Management Consulting and a renowned supply chain expert. Art shares his insights on the critical role of supply chain efficiency in e-commerce, emphasizing the pitfalls of excessive inventory. He explains how inventory often masks deeper operational issues and depreciates over time. Art introduces "Art's Law," which highlights the disproportionate complexity driven by a small percentage of sales. He offers actionable strategies, including evaluating low-performing SKUs, ensuring data integrity, and hiring data experts, to help e-commerce entrepreneurs streamline operations and drive sustainable growth.

Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:

Action Item #1: Streamline SKUs to Reduce Complexity: Analyze your sales data to identify low-performing SKUs that add complexity without contributing significantly to revenue. Consider eliminating or consolidating these SKUs to simplify inventory management and lower operational costs.

Action Item #2: Ensure High Data Accuracy for Effective Inventory Management: Aim for near-perfect data accuracy (99.999%) when managing inventory, especially if using third-party systems. Invest in software tools like Power BI to track and report data accurately in real-time.

Action Item #3: Foster Strong Supplier Relationships for Reliability: Build long-term agreements with suppliers rather than relying on spot buying. Maintain open, regular communication to keep suppliers informed about your inventory needs and forecasts, ensuring better support and reliability.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Six Sigma

• So Stocked

• Inventory Planner

• Power BI

• ChatGPT

• The Supply Chain Revolution: Unlocking the Sustainable Profit Chain by Art Koch

• The Long Game by Dorie Clark

• Art Koch Management Consulting

• The Supply Chain Revolution

• Elon Musk in LinkedIn

Special Mention(s):

• Adam “Heist” Runquist on LinkedIn
• Kevin King on LinkedIn
• Michael E. Gerber on LinkedIn

Related Episode(s):

• “Cracking the Amazon Code: Learn From Adam Heist’s Brand Scaling Secrets” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast
• “Kevin King’s Wicked-Smart Tips for Building an Audience of Raving Fans” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast
• “Unlocking Entrepreneurial Greatness | Insider Secrets With E-myth Author Michael Gerber” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast

Episode Sponsor

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by eComm Breakthrough Consulting where I help seven-figure e-commerce owners grow to eight figures. 

I started my business in 2015 and grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years.

I made mistakes along the way that made the path to eight figures longer. At times I doubted whether our business could even survive and become a real brand. I wish I would have had a guide to help me grow faster and avoid the stumbling blocks.

If you’ve hit a plateau and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then email me at josh@ecommbreakthrough.com and in your subject line say “strategy audit” for the chance to win a $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit at no cost!

Transcript Area

Josh Hadley 00:00:00  Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough podcast. I'm your host, Josh Hadley, where I interview the top business leaders in e-commerce. Past guests include Kevin King, Michael Gerber, author of The E-myth, and Matt Clark from ASM. Today I am speaking with Art Koch. He is the founder of Art Koch Management Consulting, and today we are going to be talking about why inventory is evil and art has a fantastic response as to why inventory is evil. This episode is brought to you by Ecomm Breakthrough, where I specialize in investing in and scaling seven figure ecommerce businesses to eight figures and beyond. If you're an ambitious e-commerce entrepreneur looking for a partner who can help take your business to the next level, my team and I bring...