Enhanced Inventory Management for Scalable Reuse Systems at Bold Reuse

Bold Reuse will implement an Inventory Management System (IMS), a crucial component of delivering a reliable supply chain necessary to transition from single-use products to reusable packaging at scale. The IMS will reduce labor overhead of monitoring and purchasing, encourage maximum asset utilization and minimize warehouse storage space, prevent rush orders, ensure timely deliveries, and lastly, enable a comprehensive view of our assets to forecast future needs and leverage cost-saving buying practices. The IMS is innovative in terms of architecture mapped to the needs of the reuse industry. Existing IMS do not consider the complexities of reverse logistics. The system is feasible to build. It is a simple deterministic system built upon mature technologies: a relational database and user interface web frameworks. Commercial potential is within Bold Reuse’s own internal operations as it supports major hospitality partners. However, the IMS will be purpose built for reuse logistics and the system may be offered as a software-as-a-service model to other reuse providers and municipalities, lowering the barrier for unlocking reuse at scale. Phase 1 involves utilizing existing operations data to provide internal real-time inventory levels for each product in our warehouses at each stage of the reuse cycle. Phases 2 and 3 involve real-time external inventory for our “venue-based” clients based on sales data. Phase 4 involves a customer-facing reservation system for “event-based” clients which will reduce labor costs around coordinating events. Phase 4 will additionally facilitate increased customer adoption and public exposure and drive full utilization of Bold Reuse’s publicly accessible rental inventory pool. During Phase 5 training and marketing materials will be developed for the reservation system in Phase 4. We will develop materials to promote the system and documentation for users to navigate the system without introducing labor overhead from our team. Phase 6 will build a model to forecast future inventory levels that relies on historical use & loss and predicted use for each client. Bold Reuse has found success introducing reusables to large-scale venues and corporate campuses with a manual team effort. Leveraging our experience thus far, now is the time to build a system that supports our business structure, reduces the effort to on-board new clients, and ensures the reliability needed to bring reusable packaging to scale.