Talk to us
Outcomes Reduce excess & obsolete inventoryMonetize surplus assetsSurplus monetization playbookAutomate RFQs & sourcingFree working capital
Platform Agentic AI for operationsAgentic AI for MRO (guide)MRO inventory optimizationMRO digital transformationSolutions by industryGuides by role
Resources Original researchInventory & procurement statisticsBenchmarksCalculatorsGlossaryHow-to playbooks
CompareContact Talk to us

Playbook · Industrial Distribution

How to free up working capital tied in inventory in Industrial Distribution (2026)

Last updated July 2026

The short answer

To free working capital tied up in inventory, raise inventory turns and cut days sales of inventory (DSI) by removing excess and obsolete stock and right-sizing safety stock — without dropping fill rate. Maintained targets the exact SKUs holding cash hostage and protects service levels while it does.

The context in industrial distribution. Multi-branch distributors carrying deep MRO and production-equipment catalogs, where imbalance and dead stock hide across dozens of locations. Inventory is usually the largest thing on the balance sheet, and finance pressures operations on turns and write-offs every quarter — but cutting stock risks stockouts.

  • Overstocked in one branch, out of stock in another
  • Dead stock accumulating across the network with no owner
  • Turns and write-offs scrutinized every quarter

The steps

  1. 1

    Raise inventory turns / cut DSI on the SKUs holding the most cash

  2. 2

    Remove excess and obsolete stock that never sells

  3. 3

    Right-size safety stock without dropping fill rate

  4. 4

    Give finance one trustworthy view of inventory value and risk

Why it pays off

20–30% / year
Inventory carrying cost typically runs 20–30% of inventory value per year (often 25–40% for wholesale distributors).
Institute for Supply Management (via NetSuite)
20–30%
AI-driven optimization can cut inventory 20–30% while holding service levels, and reduce forecasting error up to 50%.
Epicor / MDM
~25% / year
Excess and obsolete inventory costs the typical distributor about 25% of its value every year in storage, shrinkage, and cost of capital.
Industrial Supply Magazine

Frequently asked questions

How do industrial distribution operations free up working capital tied in inventory?

To free working capital tied up in inventory, raise inventory turns and cut days sales of inventory (DSI) by removing excess and obsolete stock and right-sizing safety stock — without dropping fill rate. Maintained targets the exact SKUs holding cash hostage and protects service levels while it does.

Why is this harder in industrial distribution?

Multi-branch distributors carrying deep MRO and production-equipment catalogs, where imbalance and dead stock hide across dozens of locations. Inventory is usually the largest thing on the balance sheet, and finance pressures operations on turns and write-offs every quarter — but cutting stock risks stockouts.

See what your inventory is really costing you.

Tell us where the cash is trapped — excess stock, idle surplus, slow RFQs — and we'll show you the outcome Maintained can unlock.

Talk to us Try a calculator