An acceptable level of inventory record accuracy across the supply chain is a necessity for making Flowcasting (or any automated ordering practice) work properly.

But IRA is a lot like breathing. Doing it may not be very exciting – but NOT doing it has disastrous consequences!

Inventory Record Accuracy: Unleashing the Power of Cycle Counting by Roger Brooks has long been regarded as the seminal book on the topic since it was first published in 1995. Recently, Brooks teamed up with Larry Wilson to write the second edition, which updates the practice of IRA with the advent new topics such as RFID, VMI and lean environments.

Although many of the discussions are geared for manufacturers, the principles are universal. Every business that manages inventory should have multiple copies of this book!

You can get it on all the online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but if you’d like a copy that’s been signed by the authors, you have to buy it from the Oliver Wight Library. That's where I got mine!