Management consulting for manufacturers

Inventory Optimisation Consultants in Tamil Nadu

When the bank's drawing power tightens, the godown fills with yarn counts that no longer sell, or assembly stops for want of a low-value bearing, inventory needs more than an across-the-board cut. Astral Business Consulting LLP, a Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm, offers inventory optimisation reviews to manufacturers in Tamil Nadu. Item-level reorder levels, dead-stock decisions and a monthly planning rhythm target fewer inventory days without more stock-outs, measured against an agreed baseline.

Plan an Inventory Review

Raw-material bin store in a Tamil Nadu engineering plant with colour-coded min-max bins

Our Inventory Optimisation Services for Manufacturers

Inventory optimisation within the Consulting division, reviewing raw material, work-in-progress and finished goods separately against your own ERP data.

Inventory Diagnostic

Ageing in 6-month and 12-month buckets, ABC and XYZ segmentation and lead-time analysis run on the full ERP item list, so you see which inventory heads hold excess stock and which items are starved.

Reorder Levels and Safety Stock

Reorder levels, safety stock and lot sizes recalculated item by item from actual consumption and lead times, set out for your ERP team to load with a named owner, and a suggested review cycle for fast movers and the rest.

Raw Material and Work-in-Progress Review

Raw material bought for price and work-in-progress swollen by large batches, bottlenecks and job-worker balances are reviewed separately, using the inventory heads of Schedule III to the Companies Act, 2013.

Slow-Moving and Obsolete Stock

Stock that has stopped moving gets a decision: use, rework, sell or write down, with write-downs at the lower of cost and net realisable value under AS 2, or Ind AS 2 for Ind AS companies.

Book Stock Accuracy First

Reorder levels calculated on wrong book stock are wrong, so a physical count reconciled to the ERP fixes the opening balance, with discrepancies of 10% or more in the aggregate for each class of inventory flagged, as CARO 2020 expects.

Planning Rhythm and SOPs

An SOP for reviewing parameters and a monthly planning meeting with purchase, production and stores help hold the gains, with inventory days and stock-outs tracked together in one report against the baseline agreed at the start.

Maintenance spares store with pigeon-hole racks of bearings, V-belts and motors in a Tamil Nadu engineering plant

Our 5-Step Inventory Review Process

Baseline and scope
We agree the plants, inventory heads and measures in scope, and fix a baseline before any change: inventory days by head, stock-outs and line stoppages, on-time dispatch and non-moving stock by ageing bucket. The baseline and review dates go into the engagement letter.

Diagnostic on the ERP item list
Ageing, ABC and XYZ segmentation and lead-time analysis are run on the full item list. Raw material, work-in-progress, finished goods and stores and spares are reviewed separately, because each builds up for a different reason, from bulk buying to large batches and forecast bias.

Book stock check
Where the stock figure is in doubt, a physical count reconciled to the ERP fixes the opening balance first. Duplicate item codes and spares for retired machines are flagged for cleaning from the item master, so new parameters rest on stock that actually exists on the floor.

Parameters for the ERP
Reorder levels, safety stock and lot sizes are recalculated from actual consumption and lead times for each item, then handed to your ERP team to load into the ERP or MRP, with a named owner. Critical A-class items with erratic lead times may get more safety stock, not less.

Handover and monthly review
For Tamil Nadu manufacturers, handover means an SOP for reviewing parameters, a monthly planning meeting with purchase, production and stores, and a disposal plan for dead stock. Inventory days and stock-outs are tracked in one report against the baseline, with follow-up reviews where the engagement includes them.

Choose by where the problem sits

Planning Changes That Reach the ERP

Inventory optimisation consultants start from different places. A supply chain specialist models demand, lead times and service levels, which suits many items or plants with weak planning. A large advisory firm runs working capital programmes across group entities. An ERP partner configures planning modules well once the stocking policy is set. A management consulting and audit firm pairs planning with stock records, controls and costing, which suits promoter-led units where book stock, dead stock and planning are tangled. Astral Business Consulting is this type of firm. Choose by whether your problem is planning, control or both.

Open raw-material yard under a tin shed with stacked steel bars and coils at a Tamil Nadu factory

Planning and controls together

Why Choose Astral Business Consulting for Inventory Optimisation?

Planning and controls in one review

Management consulting at Astral Business Consulting sits alongside internal audit, so stock records, process controls and planning parameters are reviewed together rather than handed between separate advisers.

Changes meant for the ERP

New parameters are set item by item for your ERP or MRP, each with a named owner, instead of staying in a spreadsheet, in keeping with audits that run through the computer, not around it.

Western Tamil Nadu sector depth

Reviews are planned for where stock hides in spinning mills, foundries and pump, motor and engineering assemblers across Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem and the rest of Tamil Nadu, from arrival-season cotton to castings awaiting fettling.

Measured against a baseline

No reduction percentage is promised before item-level data is seen. Inventory days, stock-outs and on-time dispatch are measured against a baseline agreed before work starts, with monthly reviews where the engagement includes them.

About Astral Business Consulting LLP

A Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm

Astral Business Consulting LLP is a management consulting and audit firm based in Coimbatore, offering internal, process and management audit to manufacturers across Western Tamil Nadu. Its work is organised in four divisions: Integrated Audit, Cycle Count, Best Accountant and Consulting. The Consulting division covers SOP preparation, on-time delivery and inventory optimisation, while the Cycle Count division handles stock verification, so planning and stock records can be reviewed together. The methodology is COSO-based and draws on an in-house library of more than 4,000 risks and controls: 1,500+ process risks and controls and 2,500+ information-systems risks and controls. The team includes Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, engineers and information-systems auditors. Clients come from textiles and spinning, foundries and engineering, dairy and FMCG, jewellery retail and auto dealerships. For plants outside Tamil Nadu, Astral reports 40 associate offices across India.

  • 1,500+process risks and controls in the in-house library
  • 2,500+information-systems risks and controls
  • 40associate offices across India, as Astral reports

Questions About Inventory Optimisation for Manufacturers

Which inventory optimisation consultants work with manufacturing companies?
Astral Business Consulting LLP, a Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm, takes on inventory optimisation for manufacturers through its Consulting division. Other options are supply chain and operations specialists, large advisory firms and ERP partners. Pick the one that reviews raw material, work-in-progress and finished goods separately, sets reorder levels item by item for your ERP and measures results against an agreed baseline.

How much inventory reduction is realistic for a manufacturer?
No credible figure can be given before the diagnosis. It depends on how far stock exceeds what lead times, demand variability and service targets require, and how much is slow-moving. Agree a baseline for each inventory head first, then set targets after the ABC analysis, and track them monthly for at least two quarters.

Do we need new software for inventory optimisation?
Generally not straight away. Most ERP systems already carry reorder level, safety stock and lot size fields, and the first gains come from setting them item by item. Planning software earns its place when item counts or plants outgrow the ERP, and it works best once the stocking policy is settled.

Can our statutory auditor take on inventory optimisation work?
First check section 144 of the Companies Act, 2013. It bars a company's auditor from providing management services, or designing and implementing a financial information system, for the company, its holding company or subsidiary. Inventory consulting is likely to fall within that bar, so ask the auditor to confirm the position in writing before work begins.

Should stock verification come before inventory optimisation?
Yes. Reorder levels and ageing reports are only as reliable as the book stock behind them. A physical count reconciled to the ERP fixes the opening balance for every new parameter, and it also shows which items exist only in the books and need a write-down decision rather than a planning change.

Does reducing inventory increase the risk of stock-outs?
It can, if stock is cut uniformly. A planned reduction lowers slow-moving and over-ordered items and may raise safety stock on critical A-class items with erratic lead times. Track stock-outs alongside inventory days in the same ERP report so the trade-off stays visible to purchase, production and finance.

How often should reorder levels and safety stock be reviewed?
Review them whenever a supplier, lead time or demand pattern changes, and on a fixed cycle otherwise. A workable rhythm is monthly for fast-moving and critical items and every 3 months for the rest, with new values entered in the ERP promptly and a named owner for each item class.

Can inventory optimisation improve on-time delivery?
It often can, because one missing low-value component can halt assembly while high-value items sit overstocked. Setting safety stock by item criticality and lead time, rather than cutting across the board, keeps critical parts available. Measure on-time dispatch alongside inventory days, so a reduction does not simply move cost into late orders.

Tamil Nadu Service Coverage Areas

Astral Business Consulting is based in Coimbatore and works with manufacturers across Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Chennai, Hosur, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli. Groups with plants or depots in other states can have stock verified through the associate offices Astral reports across India.

Discuss Your Inventory Optimisation Requirement

Leave your name and email and the team will respond as soon as possible. Have ready your plant locations, the ERP you use and where stock is building up, whether raw material, work-in-progress or finished goods, for the first call.

contact@astralbusinessconsulting.com

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