Our inventory optimization work pursues two goals often seen as conflicting: reducing the working capital tied up in stock and improving service levels at the same time. This is not magic, but a matter of tuning: many companies hold too much stock where it serves no purpose, and not enough where it counts. Optimizing means moving stock from the wrong place to the right one.
The problem it solves
Excess stock ties up cash, takes up space and hides the real flow problems. Conversely, stockouts cost sales and customer trust. Many companies experience both at once (overall overstock alongside local stockouts) because stock is allocated out of habit rather than according to demand and lead times.
On top of this, stock masks the real problems: as long as a large buffer absorbs every irregularity, a weak forecast or an unreliable supplier has no visible consequence, and so goes undetected. Reducing stock is therefore not only about freeing up cash. It also brings these hidden weaknesses to light so you can fix them deliberately instead of financing them indefinitely.
Our approach to inventory optimization
We work on the levers that truly determine stock: forecast quality, safety stock calculated per SKU, replenishment policy and segmentation of your SKU range (not every item deserves the same treatment). Within the Two-Layer Model (leadership decides the plan; operations execute it), deciding which service level to target, and for which products, belongs to the decision layer; tuning the stock is the execution layer that carries it out. Our articles on safety stock and demand forecasting go deeper into two of these levers, and the one on reorder point and economic order quantity covers replenishment.
We avoid two misleading shortcuts: a flat safety buffer applied to every SKU, and a single service target for the whole range. A stable fast mover and an erratic slow mover need neither the same safety stock nor the same policy. Our job is precisely to differentiate: segment, calculate on real data, and give each product family the treatment that suits it. The gain rarely comes from a miracle tool. It comes from this discipline of tuning, item by item, which frees up cash tied up in slow-moving stock while strengthening service where it was lacking.
The deliverables
- A segmentation of your SKU range by value, criticality and demand variability (ABC/XYZ).
- Safety stocks recalculated on real data, SKU by SKU.
- A clear replenishment policy your teams can apply.
- A target stock/service balance, with the KPIs to track it, including inventory turnover.
Who it is for
For companies managing several dozen or several hundred SKUs that feel their stock is not working for them: tight cash, a full warehouse, and stockouts all the same. The service is aimed as much at leadership, which manages capital, as at purchasing and logistics teams, which apply the policy day to day. It is particularly relevant after a phase of rapid growth, when the range has expanded faster than the management methods, or before a warehouse investment, to check that you are not simply financing poorly tuned stock.
The first step
A free 45-minute session helps estimate where unnecessary stock is hiding and where your stockouts originate. No commitment. Even a rough look at your SKU structure and your inventory turns usually shows whether the biggest potential lies in freed-up cash, better service, or both. On that basis, you can decide whether, and where, deeper work is worth it: you get an honest, fact-based reading first, and the decision stays in your hands throughout.
Frequently asked questions
What is inventory optimization?
It means tuning stock levels to reduce working capital without hurting service, by acting on forecasting, safety stocks and replenishment policy.
Can you really reduce stock and improve service?
Often, yes, because excess stock and stockouts frequently coexist: you move stock from items where it is useless to those where it protects service.
At what size is it worthwhile?
As soon as a company manages several dozen SKUs with stockouts or overstock, optimization usually brings a measurable gain.