Load shedding is the method of energy utility where the demand for electricity supply nears available supply levels. In this situation, it becomes critical to deliberately cut off the electricity supply to prevent grid failures and extended outages for consumers. Load shedding also helps maintain the integrity of electricity grids.
Although load shedding seems to be the right method, it can have a major impact on many areas of our lives. Within the past two years, load shedding has become widespread across South Africa for up to 12 hours per day.
Of course, load shedding or scheduled blackouts affect everyone, but it’s quite unfavorable for businesses, especially when it comes to inventory management.
What is inventory management?
Inventory management is the process of managing business inventory. It helps ensure that the business has enough stock to fulfill customer demands while minimizing the expenses incurred in holding inventory.
How Load Shedding Affects Inventory Management
Load shedding can disrupt the supply chain and cause shortages of essential goods. For instance, a manufacturing unit experiencing a blackout may stop production, and this may result in lower inventory levels and delayed deliveries.
Here are other ways load shedding can affect inventory:
- Production delays: As mentioned above, power outages can lead to production delays, further causing lower inventory levels and lead times.
- Reduced sales: Load shedding directly impacts sales, especially those that rely on electricity to operate. For example, retailers experiencing load shedding may have to close doors, resulting in inventory shortage and lower sales. As a result, businesses are forced to deal with decreased cash flow.
- Disrupted supply chain: Suppliers may fail to deliver goods timely because of power outages. This causes delays in delivering raw materials as well as finished goods, further decreasing inventory levels and increasing lead times.
- Increased costs: To tackle load shedding, businesses have to invest in power generators and other alternatives to continue their operations. This adds to business expenses and decreases profitability.
The importance of inventory management during load-shedding
By now, you must know that load shedding is a serious challenge for individuals and businesses. This is true, especially for those who depend on self-storage facilities to securely store their household or inventory. These facilities serve as an excellent solution for those who need extra space to store their inventory. These solutions are available at affordable prices and serve as a convenient option for storing items that are not frequently used.
However, power outages can cause a risk of unmonitored inventory, resulting in a negative impact on proper inventory management. This is particularly true if the self-storage facility doesn’t have a reliable source of backup power for storage security.
In the event of load shedding, self-storage facilities are often unable to monitor the stored inventory. This puts the inventory at risk of theft, mismanagement, and damage due to power fluctuations. Overall, load shedding can negatively impact the overall effectiveness of inventory management, resulting in delayed production or delivery, lower sales, and revenue lost.
Ways to Mitigate Risks Posed by Load Shedding
To mitigate such risks, businesses may:
- Invest in backup power solutions to ensure that their storage facilities remain up and always
- Can choose from alternative storage options that experience fewer load-shedding incidents.
- Adopt an effective inventory management system to deal with the challenges. For example, they can implement just-in-time inventory systems to reduce inventory on hand.
- Can use digital inventory management tools for tracking and monitoring inventory levels in real time. This provides detailed insights into inventory status, despite the situations like load shedding.
How to ensure inventory is safe during load shedding
Big Storage offers highly reliable and secure storage facilities even during power outages. Every storage facility is fully equipped with security cameras and alarm systems that monitor your inventory around the clock. So, you can have peace of mind with security camera storage.
Having a safe and secure place for storing inventory, regardless of load-shedding issues, can have many benefits. Some of these include the following:
Protection against fire and theft: A safe self-storage unit can protect your inventory from being damaged by fire. It also provides protection against theft by intruders or employees.
Protection against the weather: Big Storage facilities provide climate-controlled units that protect your items from extreme temperatures, moisture, and humidity that can damage your inventory. These facilities are designed to withstand natural disasters, such as tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes. Moreover, insulation helps maintain a consistent temperature for storage units. It also helps prevent extreme temperature fluctuations because of bad weather.
Organized inventory management: Having a safe and secure place to store your inventory can help you keep track of what you have. You can also avoid understocking and/or overstocking, which makes it easier to conduct regular inventory checks.
Improved productivity: Self-storage facilities at Big Storage provide 24/7 access, making it easier for businesses to manage their inventory. This is especially when you need to access the inventory during regular business hours. Moreover, self-storage facilities keep your inventory organized while ensuring improved efficiency. In addition, self-storage facilities can provide extra space for your inventory. In this way, you can increase your business capacity and expand your goods offerings.
Reduced insurance costs: Storing inventory in a secure self-storage facility can reduce the risk of theft or burglary, which can lower insurance premiums. Storing inventory in a climate-controlled and weather-resistant facility can help reduce the risk of damage from weather-related incidents, which can also lower insurance costs. In addition, insurance providers may offer lower deductibles for businesses that store inventory in a safe and secure self-storage facility since the risk of loss or damage is lower.
Better customer satisfaction: You can ensure that your goods are available as and when your customers need them. This can help improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, as customers are more likely to return to a business that consistently has the products they want in stock.
Conclusion
By now, this should be clear how Big Storage can help protect your inventory during load shedding by providing safe self-storage. Big Storage is a reputed name for all kinds of self-storage units for any purpose. So, check their storage solutions as per your needs.
