Almost every business out there has some kind of inventory, it can be in the form of supplies, raw materials, and some business even consider human resource as inventory. There are businesses that would benefit more with an Inventory Management System (IMS), some examples would be a manufacturing business, retail stores, distribution business, and warehouses. If you are part of this industry, you might be well aware of the usual problems such as stock-outs, missing inventory, and time-consuming inventory quantity monitoring.
Inventory Management System
Inventory management systems are one of the most acquired applications of today, simply because the amount of help they give to businesses involved in buying and selling products is immeasurable. These systems help businesses supervise the flow of their operations. This ‘flow’ has different stages, namely: acquisition, manufacturing, warehousing, and retail & distribution.
There are thousands of software you can choose from. The following are the top key features to consider when getting an inventory management software:
- User-friendly and accessibility
- Easy transfer between locations
- Inventory level alert
- Barcode scanning
- Real-time tracking/Visibility
User-friendly and accessibility
Not everyone is tech-savvy. so it makes sense to get a system that is easy to use and understand to avoid costly mistakes and reduced expenses on training. It would also be helpful if the inventory data is accessible on different devices such as laptops, desktops, or even mobile phones. This way you can view information and make decisions anytime and anywhere.
Easy transfer between locations
Transferring items from one location to another is a tedious process, mainly because it also requires different information to be transferred as well. When this task is done manually, you will need to type in a lot of information from both locations, so everything will be accounted for. But with the help of a software, collecting information like this can be done in just a few clicks.
Inventory level alert
To avoid stockouts, having a warning or alert whenever the inventory level reaches a certain threshold is a big plus. This will prompt you to reorder more items to fill in the low-level inventory.
Barcode scanning
With a barcode scanner, you can do pretty much everything. You can simplify inventory management by tracking your products and location with the use of a barcode scanner. By simply scanning a barcode you can transfer items and check them in or out of a location.
Real-time tracking/Visibility
Having visibility over your inventory is a huge time saver. You can find an item and see where it is in the warehouse by simply typing in its details on the search field. There’s a new and very innovative way to have visibility over your entire inventory, even if you have hundreds of locations, and this is called an Inventory Map.
The Map
Having multiple locations with different systems can lead to poor data sharing and poor decision-making. But by using a centralized map that represents the business, whether you have multiple warehouses, manufacturing facilities, or retail locations, makes everything connected and accounted for. It will also help decision-makers have a better understanding of what’s going on with the business operations by being able to access accurate and timely information.
Aside from the smooth flow of information, having a map greatly helps in inventory visibility. You can easily check items in different locations and find things quickly in just a few clicks.
Summary
Businesses with an enormous inventory requires more manpower if they will rely on manual inventory tracking. Doing everything manually also leads to human errors, and errors in business are synonymous to costs/expenses.
Relying on an inventory management system can help businesses reduce costs in the long run. Businesses will have less requirement for manpower in the management of their inventory, which means less expenses in salary. Everything can be automated, and you can get all the information quickly wherever you are in just a few clicks.
Using the Inventory Map, you can get all the visibility you need to locate everything in your inventory. It helps save a lot of time and effort.
The Map Makers 