Monthly reconciliation at batch code level?
Hey all,
TLDR: what tools/software/AI do people use to reconcile inventory between their ERP and 3PLs at the sku & batch level?
For you readers:
I work for a medium sized food manufacturer.
We exclusively use 3rd party warehouses with different ERPs and attempt to have our ERP (SAP) match every month.
We manage inventory at the SKU and batch code (expiration date) level. I.e. sku 1 that expires 1/1 and sku 1 that expires on 1/2 are different line items when I reconcile.
Currently we pull in the monthly inventory snapshots from the different providers in different formats, make them uniform, and compare them to what our ERP reports for the same day.
We compare the differences entirely in excel and identify any discrepancies. We tag every single discrepancy as timing (no action needed) or adjustment (meaning we have to make an adjustment within our ERP to match our provider’s correct inventory) I.e. unreported damages, lost, found, or batch swaps that the warehouse(s) made during the month.
This process takes about 20-30 man hours per month to get through.
The job is too cumbersome for AI at the moment because of the different data sources and there are too many nuances.
How on earth do other companies do this quickly and accurately? What tools could you suggest?