Overcoming inventory challenges: strategies for senior leaders

Running a manufacturing or product business is more complex than ever. Technology has shaped new opportunities, but it’s also brought unique hurdles, especially when it comes to managing inventory and production processes. Based on our recent webinar with DataAutomation, we break down the core issues facing manufacturers today and offer inventory management strategies for leaders to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and keep teams focused on growth.

Disconnected tools can cause major issues

Many growing businesses now operate in a fast-paced, data-rich environment, but their day-to-day operations are often held together by disconnected tools and manual processes. While the situation might seem manageable, there are many direct and indirect costs caused by this that ultimately hurt business results and prevent you from growing the business efficiently.

Siloed software and fragmented data

If your tools don’t communicate with each other, it can easily lead to duplicate data entry and conflicting versions of the truth. This results in wasted manpower, missed updates, and errors slipping through the cracks. This causes operators to spend too much time reconciling inventory with spreadsheets or switching between apps.

Too much manual work

When routine admin tasks like order entries, inventory counts, or PO creation, are handled manually, it takes time from more valuable activities and increases the risks of human error. It can also cause managers to lose visibility as teams improvise their own workarounds.

Lack of real-time insights

Disconnected systems mean leaders have a hard time seeing up-to-date stock, order, or production data. This delays decision-making and makes it hard to react to issues in real time. It can also hurt business results, as inventory being out of stock can result in lost sales and order cancellations.

Unscalable workflows

While manual tasks work when dealing with a limited number of orders, this is no longer the case as your operations scale. Teams can easily get overwhelmed as volumes grow, causing process bottlenecks, slowdowns, and stress.

Missed opportunities for efficiency

Perhaps the biggest bottleneck of unintegrated tech stacks is that they limit your ability to automate and optimize. Trying to build integrations between systems that are not made for it is complex, expensive, and error prone. Growth is hampered when teams focus more on fixing problems than driving innovation or revenue.

The impact: hidden costs and strategic risks

When core processes rely on outdated habits or patched-together systems, it can quietly hurt the business in ways that aren’t obvious until a crisis hits.

• Resource drain: Valuable staff time is spent on repetitive admin rather than strategic work.
• Reduced agility: Slow, manual processes make it tough to pivot when orders spike or supply chain issues hit.
• Customer experience suffers: Delays, stockouts, or missed shipments can harm reputation and erode trust.
• Scaling difficulties: Inefficient systems can’t keep up with growth, hurting profitability and morale.
• Leadership blind spots: Senior managers operate without a clear, holistic view of operations, increasing risk.

The big picture? Addressing these underlying issues isn’t just about “getting organized”; it directly improves resilience and competitiveness.

How to address the pain points

The good news is, today’s automation and integration tools make it easier than ever to transform processes. Here are inventory management strategies for leaders can make a real difference—both from a high-level perspective and in day-to-day execution.

1. Connect your core systems

Bring accounting, inventory, order management, and fulfillment onto platforms that speak to each other. Integrated tools allow data to flow automatically—not just between machines, but between teams. For example, Katana can connect order and financial data from Shopify and QuickBooks Online (and a number of other systems), keeping sales, inventory, and finances in sync without manual effort.

Result: Less duplication, fewer errors, and one clear source of operational truth.  

2. Automate repeatable workflows

Modern inventory management tools offer flexible automations for key business processes. For example, with Katana you can use triggers for when stock drops below a threshold to automatically generate a purchase order or send a supplier an email. You can also automate communications to notify the right team members of production milestones, order delays, or low stock, tightening your process loops.

Result: Teams spend less time on repetitive admin and more on value-adding tasks.

3. Increase real-time visibility

Leaders should avoid reliance on end-of-month reporting. Setting up live dashboards and analytics ensures leaders and operators get the up-to-date insights they need. This also requires you to adopt an inventory system like Katana that provides you with real-time inventory levels.

Result: Faster, more confident decision-making, whether you’re optimizing resources or identifying bottlenecks in production.

4. Empower teams with self-serve tools

Systems should work for your team, not the other way around. User-friendly interfaces and permissions let staff enter or access data relevant to their jobs without blocking or distracting other roles.

Result: Managers focus on strategy, while frontline staff stay engaged and efficient.

5. Build for scalability

Adopt platforms with robust integration capabilities. This lets you scale with demand, add new sales channels, or adapt to supply chain changes—without reinventing the wheel. 

Result: The tech stack you set up today remains flexible for tomorrow’s needs.

Action steps for senior leaders

So, what should decision makers do next? Here’s a checklist to get your organization moving in the right direction:

• Audit current workflows and tech stack for manual or duplicated effort
• Identify single sources of operational truth for sales, inventory, and finance
• Invest in integration-friendly platforms like Katana Cloud Inventory
• Pilot automations around the highest-friction points (such as reordering or sales order entry)
• Empower teams by removing process bottlenecks and unnecessary approvals
• Measure results and iterate on what works

Turn pain into opportunity

The right mix of connected systems, automation, and real-time insights doesn’t just remove friction from inventory management. It frees your business for growth.

Senior leaders set the pace. By investing in the right tools and processes, you can simplify complexity, build agility, and keep your team focused on what matters most: delivering value to customers and scaling your organization.

Curious how modern inventory automation fits into your strategy? Book a demo, and an expert can help guide you through the software.”

Team Katana

Katana Team

Katana’s cloud inventory platform covers the live inventory, production, accounting, and reporting features that give businesses the knowledge they need to make the right decisions.