Understand finished goods inventory

- The right product in the right place at the right time. When managing your inventory of finished goods, that's the goal. There was an incident a few years ago that serves as a good example of what not to do. A well-known shoe company switched to a new software system just before the Christmas holiday season, a time when retailers in many markets make most of their sales. The new software matched supply and demand, and the company pretty much made all the right products, but they were sent to the wrong places. Customers in Europe had plenty of shoes to choose from, but they were not the styles Europeans wanted. People in North America preferred those styles but had none. They had the styles wanted by customers in Brazil. This went on and on throughout every major market. And, like I said, all this happened during the peak buying season. The company had the right products in the wrong places at the very worst time.…