Stock availability and policy management is an issue that Tarsus Technologies takes seriously. Despite a turbulent market, the value-add distribution arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies continues to maintain historic stock levels.
"Stock management has always been - and continues to remain - a key focus of our business," says Guy Whitcroft, MD of Tarsus Technologies. "Stocking policies have not changed at all. Even with the demise of SDD, we have maintained historic stock levels in terms of percentages of sales."
Whitcroft points to the fact that the benefit of choice given by vendors` wide model ranges adversely affects stocking.
"Vendors produce a wide selection of models and this can make the stocking process a challenge. If there are five different models of a product - it is not really a problem. The minute you are faced with 105, it becomes slightly more complicated. Either you have to stock a lot more - which does not make much business sense - or you have to select the models you believe will be the top sellers and hope your choice is justified by sales," explains Whitcroft.
This scenario is largely a part of the reason why Tarsus Technologies continues to emphasise and contribute towards its close working relationships with its resellers.
"A close working relationship with our resellers is essential. We must keep abreast of which units they focus on and for what deals, and what they would like us to stock. We also need resellers to be aware of what models are stocked and try wherever possible to ensure that they focus their sales activities on these models. It is possible to stock according to measurable trends or what we are requested to hold, but it is bad practice to hazard a guess and stock according to the unknown," adds Whitcroft.
The Tarsus Technologies Product Bulletin is sent out weekly to let resellers know about items being stocked, as well as those where problems lie, while the Web site is available for resellers to check stock availability on a real-time basis.
The company maintains that the more effective the stockholding process, the more effective the supply chain will be.
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Tarsus Technologies is the value-add distribution arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies Limited, one of SA`s top-rated IT groups.
Founded in 1985, the company is today recognised as SA`s top-rated hardware distributor and is widely recognised by the channel for its stability, service ethos, product knowledge, excellent support, competitive pricing strategies and channel focus.
Tarsus distributes a wide range of products from the world`s leading manufacturers, including APC, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, OKI, Samsung and Tally.
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