Inventory is the second highest cost in most veterinary practices. To improve profitability, it is very important to make inventory management a priority. Leadership must assign both the people and resources to make this happen.
Assign inventory management control to someone who is reliable, detail-oriented, and has an accounting mindset. Not everyone has the traits that will lead to success at managing inventory properly. In addition to identifying the right person, leadership must support this person in their effort to put appropriate controls and processes in place. If leadership doesn't abide by and support the efforts of the inventory manager, then others will follow their example, and the inventory control efforts will fail.
In addition to identifying and empowering the right people, inventory management software is crucial to effective inventory management. Work with credible software providers such as AVImark and Impromed, along with your distributor to put the right software and processes in place to manage your inventory. What is this effort worth to you? For every $1 million on revenue that you generate, your practice should consume between $150,000 and $200,000 in inventory and related services. Anything over that amount should be profit, but is currently being spent on inventory. If improving profitability is important to you, implement proper inventory management today!
