All Case Studies
Inventory Analytics / Warehouse Operations Python Pandas Excel Integration Analytics

Warehouse Aging & Inventory Analytics

Warehouse inventory was tracked by quantity only. Items sitting for extended periods had no automatic flagging, no aging classification, and no visibility into which SKUs were occupying space without moving.

A

Background

A warehouse operation handling goods across multiple product categories with varying turnover rates. The warehouse management system recorded quantities accurately but had no concept of time — it knew how much was there, but not how long it had been there.

B

Operational Problem

Warehouse inventory was tracked by quantity only. Items sitting for extended periods had no automatic flagging, no aging classification, and no visibility into which SKUs were consuming space without moving.

C

Existing Workflow

Inventory records existed in the main system but without aging calculation. Stock reviews happened during physical counting or when storage space pressure arose. Slow-moving items were discovered only when space became critical.

1 Daily stock reports exported from WMS to Excel
2 No aging field in standard WMS export
3 Physical counts used to identify slow movers — quarterly or annual
4 Space management reactive: clear only when storage pressure reaches critical
5 Write-off identification happens at year-end audit
D

Bottleneck & Risk

Without aging visibility, the warehouse team could not distinguish between items that arrived yesterday and items that had been sitting for 120 days. Every clearance decision required physical investigation. Holding costs were invisible until they became write-offs.

Aging inventory increases holding costs, reduces space for fast-moving products, and creates write-off risk that only surfaces at year-end audit — long after the optimal intervention window has passed.

E

Why the Existing System Failed

The WMS was configured for inventory control, not aging management. Customizing the WMS was expensive and risky. Manual aging calculation in Excel was error-prone and abandoned quickly. Nobody had built the operational habit of monitoring aging because the data was not visible.

F

Solution Approach

Build a lightweight analytical layer on top of exported inventory data rather than modifying the main system. Focus strictly on aging visibility, location occupancy, and slow-moving detection as operational decision-support tools.

G

System Architecture

Python-based warehouse aging analytics with stock age classification (0–30, 30–60, 60–90, 90+ days), slow-moving detection dashboard, location occupancy monitoring, and capacity trend analysis.

Python pipeline reads daily WMS exports and cross-references with receipt records to calculate item age. Pandas aggregates by SKU, location, and age band. Streamlit renders a warehouse aging dashboard with drill-down capability. Threshold-based alerts exportable to Excel for warehouse team action.

H

Technologies Used

Python Pandas Excel Integration Analytics
I

Workflow Visualization

01 WMS Export

Daily stock snapshot exported from WMS to shared folder

02 Age Calculation

Python cross-references receipt dates to calculate item age per SKU

03 Classification

Items bucketed: 0–30, 30–60, 60–90, 90+ days aging bands

04 Clearance Queue

Warehouse supervisor sees prioritized list of items to act on today

J

Operational Impact

Metric Before After
Aging Visibility Unknown until physical check Daily dashboard by SKU
Intervention Timing Reactive (space crisis) Proactive (threshold alert)
Write-off Discovery Year-end audit 90-day aging flag
Physical Count Scope Full warehouse scan Pre-screened priority list
Slow-moving items flagged automatically by configurable aging threshold
Warehouse team can prioritize clearance proactively, not reactively
Holding cost visibility enabled at SKU and location level
Physical stock review cycles reduced through data-driven pre-screening
K

Future Development

Holding cost calculator per SKU based on configurable storage cost rates. Automated clearance request workflow linked to procurement. Supplier performance analysis correlating aging with supplier lead times.