Inventory control specialists work primarily with a company’s inventory and are typically found in a warehouse or the back of a store. The inventory control specialist is in charge of ordering and storing items to keep the company stocked. To keep warehouse costs low and effectively ship items to the company, shipping managers frequently collaborate with inventory specialists. This specialist must identify popular products in order to ensure that the company has a ready supply and to assist upper management in determining which products are performing well. Some marketing materials, such as catalogs, may require product knowledge from the inventory specialist to ensure that each product is accurately represented.
An inventory control specialist’s main job is to order and store items, and he or she must report on the number of items on a regular basis. When an item’s supply becomes depleted, the specialist must place an order. This request is frequently routed through a shipping manager, who will determine the most cost-effective method of shipping the products. Another common task is to keep all of the items in a warehouse safe. This means that the expert must make proper use of a warehouse’s space to ensure that all of the items fit.
A shipping manager and an inventory control specialist frequently collaborate. Aside from making order requests, the shipping manager works with the inventory specialist to coordinate shipping times. Because most products are only ordered when they are about to run out, this is the case. This method requires less overall warehouse space, which lowers the company’s operating costs.
Because the inventory control specialist is in charge of storing and sending items to the appropriate locations, he or she may notice that some items sell better than others. These trends are frequently expected of the specialist, who is then expected to report them to upper management. This informs management of which items are performing best, allowing for more comprehensive marketing strategies to be developed around those items.
The majority of businesses will produce marketing materials such as catalogs. These catalogs contain most or all of the products, and the inventory control specialist is expected to assist because he or she is in charge of these items. The specialist must ensure that all products have accurate descriptions and that the catalog only contains items that are carried; he or she must also provide any marketing insight into the products.