It can be tricky to find a balance between inventory levels and the daily struggles of businesses, regardless of size. Inventory management is something that all businesses struggle with, and we completely understand why. In other words, your firm would need the right amount of inventory or stock to make customers happy. However, the importance of stock and inventory management differs widely based on the sort of goods and stash being stored. Excess inventory can be a burden, specifically for perishable goods that need careful monitoring and can expire. What’s worse, if things go south, this can impact your cash flow negatively.
Through the use of Power BI, the data visualization process of your inventory and analysis helps you keep a keen track of your business inventory. These data visualization and analysis tools have the power to take your inventory management process from a sheer guess game to the heights of targeted strategy and the right move.
In this comprehensive guide, you will learn the game-changing benefits Power BI dashboards deliver for inventory management and analysis. This simplifies inventory supervision and can help businesses make faster and more targeted decisions about what inventory they need to stock up on next. With Power BI, you can take rations and have efficient and strong control over your firm’s stock and inventory. So, let us get started and learn more about its benefits.
What are Power BI Inventory Dashboards?
Here is an example of a Power BI inventory Dashboard:
If you do not know what it looks like, you can see here that everything is transparent, upfront, and direct. Power BI Dashboards, in general, are interactive and customizable visualizations that provide businesses with a comprehensive and detailed overview of their data. These dashboards are used to track key performance indicators, help make informed decisions, and identify trends. They can also be used to track and monitor a firm’s inventory.
Dashboards mainly consist of several visuals, such as graphs, pie charts, maps, and line graphs. This allows the user to explore data in real time and gain insights into complex information about their firm.
Relevant read: A Guide for Creating Strong Power BI Dashboard Design.
Here are a few more benefits Power BI dashboards have on inventory management and analysis:
Inventory Movement Analysis
Customers keep changing their needs without signs or signals, so it is important to keep track of when your inventory fluctuates. Locate forecasting and back-ordering return/excess/ transfers modes in order strategy. This can also assess if there are any seasonal anomalies that could influence the marketing campaigns, the timings of the new products, or the levels of your stock. So, it is important to be sure that the right inventory is in the right location and at the right time.
Real-Time Inventory Visibility
When it comes to inventory, you need to be more careful with the real-time details of your stocks and more. Quickly, an overview of stock levels and the ability to track store locations and product categories will be provided through the dashboard. Through the use of the Power BI dashboard, you get a real-time view of your RDH inventory and become well-suited to proffer the most informed decisions.
Read more: What is Demand Forecasting in Business Intelligence?
Product Performance and Insights
By carefully assessing sales data and inventory figures, uncover your highest-achieving items and those that aren’t performing as well. Implement data-driven decisions about stock ordering, promotions, product cycles, or any other nuances. Determine areas where your products are unique and easy to sell, as well as areas where some products have low demand rates and need to be managed efficiently.
Learning about Supplier Evaluation
With Power BI dashboards, you can monitor delivery times, the costs, and other order fulfillment requirements from different suppliers, as well as their rates. Power BI dashboards can show hidden inefficiencies in your supply chain. It is important for this to happen because it can further help identify reliable partners who continue to maintain efficient inventory management and potentially negotiate better terms based on the data-driven insights Power BI dashboards provide you with.
What are the Benefits of Power BI Inventory Dashboards
While this is one of the most common questions people ask, in this section, we will uncover the benefits of Power BI inventory dashboards. While these dashboards do offer visual appeal, that is not the only thing they deliver. They bring about real-time metrics that can contribute to your firm’s income in a very direct way.
Here is a more data-driven breakdown of Power BI Inventory Dashboards and their impact on the business’s key metrics:
1. Better Inventory Accuracy
Inventory loss or theft is a surefire way to cause trouble for any company, as it wastes resources and potential revenue. Visual solutions like Power BI dashboards can help companies gain inventory precision rates above 95%. This results in less waste of raw materials and stock replenishments, avoiding ordering errors and write-offs and making sure that there is enough stock on the shelves.
Learn more: Benefits of Power BI for Sales and Marketing.
2. Reduced Stockouts
This part is done through weekly or daily reports of the inventory levels and the rephrasing of the process to reorder efficiently. This way, you will avoid situations when the staff runs out, secure positive customer satisfaction, and avoid lost sales opportunities.
3. Better Cash Flow Management and Tracking
Effective and optimal inventory levels can protect businesses from their unattached cash, which was previously used for excessive stocks, say, 36%. Now that the earlier trapped-up cash flow has become available, it can be redirected to other areas of business marketing, product development, or talent acquisition, which, as a result, is the engine of growth. Power BI dashboards connect you with well-informed decisions, which helps you to reduce financial pressure caused by overstock.
4. Effective and Streamlined Decision-Making
The Power BI dashboard functions as the pivotal driver of data-driven decision-making from the back of your hand, and you can convey a clear vision to distinguish whether you should adjust your stock levels, renegotiate supplier contracts, and find an effective approach in inventory substantiation. This results in lower costs and better profitability.
Advanced Strategies for Power BI Inventory Dashboards
There is a vast collection of functionalities beyond basic visualizations. Here, we will cover some advanced strategies and techniques to further improve your In Power BI Dashboards:
Conditional Formatting
Apply conditional formatting to highlight critical information or potential issues. For example, color coding can be used to identify low stock levels or products exceeding visual reorder points.
Drill-down Functionality
This allows users to analyze data in tremendous detail by clicking on specific data points. For instance, clicking on a product category in a pie chart might display a breakdown of individual stock levels for each item within that same category. Instead of opening another graph for a different product of the same kind, that one graph has it all.
Calculated Columns and Measures
Create tailored and custom calculations within Power BI to monitor and assess the data according to your specific needs. This lets you define metrics specific to your business goals and pain points, such as optimal reorder quantities or lead times based on historical data.
Integration with External Data Sources
You can connect your Power BI dashboard to external data sources, such as sales forecasting tools and supplier portals, for a more holistic view of your inventory.
Important read: How to Use Power BI for Project Management.
Manage Your Stock Inventory Using Power BI with BiExpertz
With data visualization being more and more simplified over the years thanks to Power BI, these clear insights can help you optimize your inventory levels, improve the cash flow, and make data-driven decisions that are classified as a recipe for growth. However, this can come along with its own complications as well if not done right. That is where BiExpertz is here to solve those pain points for you. Our professionalism lies in creating custom Power BI Dashboards that flawlessly align with your firm’s needs and requirements.
We believe in creating a user-friendly dashboard that is simple for you to update and interpret on your own. What is the point if your dashboard is difficult for you to understand? We help simplify the process from creating and designing your dashboards to gathering your inventory data and stock metrics to harmoniously designing the dashboard exactly how you would like it.