Do you have a good understanding of your internal inventory management systems? Today we’re going to talk about the importance of fully understanding inventory management systems and what a good system can accomplish for your business.
Whether you’ve been working in the industry for years, already have an inventory management system in place, or are just getting started in warehouse management, there’s sure to be something you can learn from this post.
Let’s dive in and talk about the importance of using the right system for managing inventory.
What is an Inventory Management System?
Inventory management systems and solutions refer to the use of software to help manage inventory, supply chain, and inventory tracking. In some warehouses, these systems will be more complex, while in others, they’re much more straightforward and easy to understand. What is trying to be accomplished by the software is simple — to have a warehouse that runs more efficiently. I think we can all agree that a more efficient warehouse is something every company should strive after.
Most of these systems use barcodes to track inventory from the time it arrives to the time it departs the warehouse and later arriving at the customer’s door. Some more in-depth systems are able to manage multiple locations and can have specific logins for different employees to allow for labor management.
Advantages of Inventory Management Systems
The advantages of using an inventory management software system are nearly endless. These systems go far beyond what you might think, and they offer a number of benefits. Let’s look at a few of the advantages of using inventory management systems:
Increased efficiency and profitability.
You’ll be able to keep close track of your inventory and avoid any lost, misplaced, or stolen inventory. Higher efficiency means higher profitability for your business. Plus, the cost savings that come with tighter inventory management means you can have more profit to utilize towards improving your business in other avenues. Becoming more efficient also bleeds into other parts of the business and can positively affect hiring practices, salaries, bonuses, and more.
Connect with your online shop.
Quality inventory management software will be able to integrate within your online shop easily. By connecting with your online shop, you’ll be able to track your inventory throughout the entire supply chain. From purchase order to shipment, knowing exactly where each item is. Most inventory management systems will easily integrate into your existing processes so you don’t have to completely change your business operations.
Automate manual tasks.
Manual tasks such as updating inventory counts, ordering out of stock or low stock inventory, and emailing can all be easily automated with inventory management. Inventory management systems may utilize artificial intelligence, machine learning, or predictive data to further automate manual tasks and ensure the system runs as efficiently as it possibly can.
Improve customer satisfaction.
Customers will be excited to know that their product is quickly being shipped after their order is placed. Fewer orders will be lost, and more orders will receive positive reviews for quick shipment. Plus, when you work with a third-party program, you also gain access to their expert knowledge base of customer service representatives that can offer better support to your client base, improving customer satisfaction overall.
Able to compete with big businesses.
Big businesses all use inventory management software to keep their employees on task and their customers happy. You’ll be able to compete with these big businesses when you start using inventory management software to your advantage. Quality inventory management tools will come with customizable reporting and data analytics that can aid in your business’s success. You can use this data to form strategic business initiatives and learn how your company competes against others in the industry, and have the numbers to prove it. Big businesses have big goals, and you can capitalize on the data given to you to reach higher in your annual and quarterly goals.
Simplify your inventory management.
Automation and consolidation are essential to simplifying your inventory management and your business operations as a whole. If you don’t utilize any of the tools out there, you are probably running less efficiently than your competitors and it’s a sign you need to simplify. Simplifying your workflows also helps you to grow and expand when you can put all of your energy towards products and pricing competitively rather than maintaining a complex warehouse.
Better stock management, avoiding excess stock or stock-outs.
It’s one thing to price appropriately and ensure your orders get shipped out in a timely manner. But the other two aspects that can drastically affect your business is having excess stock and, even worse, going out of stock. An inventory management system helps to make sure your inventory is not only in-stock on the shelves ready to sell, but that you don’t overbuy products that aren’t going to sell competitively in the market. Data sets and market trends can help fix these issues but also tracking how quickly or slowly things are selling in your warehouse thanks to your smart data within the platform.
More product visibility in the industry.
Reasons why products may be under-selling include discontinuation and upgraded products by competitors. Your system can help you identify when a product stops selling or starts to see more returns and refunds. These are tell-tale signs that there is an issue with the product, but this may be industry-wide and you will much more quickly be able to stop selling the product before you lose any more money, or damage your reputation.
The Best Inventory Management System
There isn’t an inventory management software on the market that won’t add value to your company, but there are systems that can and will do more for your company than others. We recently wrote a guide comparing some of the most used inventory management software. Be sure to check it out and learn more about what would work best for you. In the meantime, here are some of the things you’ll want your inventory management system to do:
- Barcode Scanning
- Inventory Optimization
- Stock Notifications
- Report Generation
- Multi-Location Management
- Stock Returns Handling
- Material Grouping
- Purchase Order Records
- Transit Tracking
- Warehouse Management
- Demand Forecasting
Without going in-depth into each feature, what you’re going to want is good software that can help you create a barcode system, inventory system, order fulfillment system, and more. Check out our product Extensiv Warehouse Manager that even offers smartphone integration for barcode scanning.
Barcode Inventory System
A barcode inventory software is useful for any business that has an inventory of any kind. A good system will be able to create, print, and scan barcodes. These systems are often integrated into warehouse management software to create inventory systems. A good barcode system will be able to create labels for individual products, scan those products into the system, and scan them out of the system when they’re ordered.
Extensiv Warehouse Manager from Extensiv Warehouse Manager goes one step further than other barcode systems by allowing you to scan barcodes with your smartphone. This means you’ll be able to get started using your new inventory management software without spending money on high-end scanners. Simply use a smart device to scan barcodes and manage inventory.
Finding the Right Inventory Management System
If you’re looking for an inventory management system for your warehouse or businesses, we’d love to have you check out Extensiv Warehouse Manager. We offer free demos of our product for anyone who’s interested in seeing what a product like ours can do. Another advantage of a system like ours is that it is cloud-based, which means you don’t have to worry about having servers or computers to store the information about your inventory.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how your business can benefit from an inventory management software. We’ll help you get started and provide support whenever you need it. Setting these systems up can be difficult at first, and that’s why we’re here and ready to walk right alongside you the whole time. Let’s bring your warehouse management to the next level today and help your business grow.
