Case Study | Inventory Management with Catalytics

Working with Camilo and the Catalytics team was a game changer. With their help we have been able to restructure our data, interpret it, and build the necessary processes to set our business up for continued growth and expansion."

Francisco Marcos

Director of Business Development
Kind Society Store

Overview

Kind Society is a retailer specializing in school uniforms, focusing on quality, comfort, and style suitable for educational environments. Their product range includes a variety of uniforms designed to meet the requirements of different educational institutions, emphasizing durability and affordability. Kind Society serves several schools in Florida, and their client base is only growing. However, with each school comes a complex SKU management, forecasting, and ordering process.

Challenge

Kind Society's manual inventory methods led to errors and financial risks, prompting a shift towards automated systems to enhance accuracy.‍

Kind Society faced a multi-faceted challenge with its inventory management system, primarily due to reliance on manual processes and outdated technology. The company used Shopify for sales transactions but manually entered data into Excel sheets for inventory tracking and reporting.

This manual entry was error-prone and led to non-standardized data, making it difficult to generate accurate reports needed for effective inventory management. Reports were manually compiled on a quarterly and annual basis, a labor-intensive process that delayed strategic decision-making.

The consequences of these inefficient practices were significant. Incorrect SKU quantities ordered in the past year could not only led to financial strains but could also jeopardize relationships with schools. Schools typically avoid changing uniform providers frequently due to the inconvenience involved, and inconsistent supply could strain these critical relationships.

In recognizing these issues, Kind Society was poised to overhaul its approach. The goal was to implement a more integrated system that could automate data entry and reporting, thereby improving accuracy in stock management, and enhancing financial planning.

"Prior to Catalytics, we were having issues interpreting our data and forecasting our inventory for the following school year."

Solution

Catalytics streamlined inventory management by implementing AI to automate and standardize data processing, enhancing sales forecasting and reducing manual errors.‍

To address the challenges of inventory management, Catalytics implemented a comprehensive solution that leveraged automation and AI to streamline their processes.

The solution began with the development of a custom script that standardized historical data. This script identified common patterns across various attributes like uniform size, color, school name, and clothing type, thus rectifying inconsistencies in previous entries.

Further, a detailed historical analysis of sales data was conducted to discern trends and customer behaviors throughout the year, enabling the identification of demand fluctuations for specific items. This analysis informed adjustments to future sales orders, ensuring a more accurate stock level.

The cornerstone of this solution was the integration of a new system that automatically captured and standardized new sales data into the database. This allowed historical and new sales data to be seamlessly joined, facilitating comprehensive analysis.

The system was designed to predict future sales, thereby enabling Kind Society to order the correct amount of SKUs each quarter. This predictive capability significantly reduced the manual labor previously required for quarterly sales analyses, increasing efficiency and reducing the potential for human error in stock management.

"With the help of Catalytics we have been able to restructure our data, interpret it, and build the necessary processes to set our business up for continued growth and expansion."

Result

60 hours saved:

Automated data capturing and reporting saved approximately 60 hours per quarter, significantly reducing the workload of staff and improving the timeliness and accuracy of financial and inventory reports.

40% Reduction in Inventory Mismanagement:

The new system reduced stockouts and overstocks by 40%, ensuring optimal inventory levels and minimizing financial losses associated with unsold stock.