The Cost of Running Out
Your most common repair is Samsung screen replacements. On a Thursday morning, a technician opens a Samsung A54 screen replacement job, goes to the parts shelf, and finds zero screens. The last one was used yesterday.
You now have three options: 1. Tell the customer it'll be delayed (bad customer experience) 2. Rush-order from a supplier at a premium price (bad margin) 3. Send someone across town to buy from another shop at retail price (worst margin)
This scenario plays out in repair shops every day, across the world. And it's almost entirely preventable.
The Fix: Minimum Stock Levels with Alerts
The core of intelligent inventory management is setting a minimum stock level (also called reorder point) for each item.
When the quantity of an item falls to or below the minimum level, RepairCoreX triggers a low-stock alert:
You see the alert. You order before you run out. The stockout never happens.
Setting the Right Minimum Level
The minimum level should be set based on:
Minimum level = (2 × 2) + (2 × 2) = 4 + 4 = 8 screens
When your stock hits 8 or below, order more. By the time the new order arrives in 2 days, you'll still have a small buffer remaining.
Building Your Inventory Catalogue
Start with the 20 items you use most frequently. For most repair shops, this covers 80% of all consumption.
For each item, record in RepairCoreX:
Once catalogued, RepairCoreX deducts stock automatically when items are added to repair tickets. The current count is always accurate without manual counting.
The Weekly Inventory Check
Even with digital tracking, a weekly physical spot-check catches discrepancies:
Pick 10–15 random items each week. Physical count them. Compare to the system count. Investigate discrepancies above 2–3 units.
Over time, your system count accuracy improves as the team becomes disciplined about recording consumption. Most shops reach 95%+ count accuracy within 60 days of proper inventory management.
Dead Stock: The Cash Sitting on Your Shelf
The opposite problem from stockouts is dead stock — items you ordered that haven't moved. Parts for a phone model that stopped being popular. An accessory that didn't sell as expected.
RepairCoreX's inventory report shows items with zero movement in the last 60 days. This is your dead stock.
Options for dead stock:
Reviewing dead stock quarterly prevents it from accumulating into a significant capital tie-up.
The Financial Impact of Good Inventory Management
A repair shop with ৳200,000 in monthly revenue might carry ৳80,000 in inventory. If 20% of that is dead stock (not unusual for shops without inventory management), that's ৳16,000 in capital tied up in items that aren't generating return.
Reducing dead stock to 5% frees ৳12,000. Eliminating emergency restocking premiums (rush orders, retail purchase) saves another ৳3,000–5,000 per month.
Good inventory management doesn't just prevent frustration. It directly improves cash flow and profitability.