Navigating inventory management involves understanding how product catalogs and inventory flows differ significantly between sales and rental operations. This knowledge is crucial for effectively managing the physical assets represented by articles and Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) in your inventory, which may not always align directly with the offerings listed in your product catalog.
Sales Products: Inventory and Catalog Flow
For businesses that sell products, there is typically a high correspondence between the inventory articles, SKUs, and the product catalog. For instance, a white t-shirt is a white t-shirt both in the inventory and in the product catalog.
Flow Overview:
Product Listing: Customers browse the product catalog, e.g. through a company's website.
Inventory Matching: Each product listed online corresponds directly to a specific inventory item.
Order Fulfillment: When an order is placed, the inventory management system checks the availability of the SKU.
Restocking: Once the order is fulfilled, the inventory is updated by reducing the stock count by sold articles and the inventory is restocked as necessary.
Rental Products: Managing Time-Based Inventory
Rental operations differ as they focus on selling time from an inventory article's timeline rather than the physical item itself. This distinction means that even though the physical items in inventory are the same, their representation in the product catalog and how they are managed can vary greatly.
Flow Overview:
Service Packages: Rental services might offer packages (e.g., a Bike Package including helmet and lock) that utilize the same physical items as regular rentals (e.g. for the Bike alone) but are presented differently in the catalog.
Booking Management: An inventory system designed for rentals ensures there is room on the articles' timelines for new bookings and prevents overbooking.
Continuous Availability: The same physical item can be booked multiple times for different time slots, emphasizing the importance of effective timeline management.
