Inventory management is as much a science as it is an art, and no one solution will satisfy every company’s needs. As your company grows and expands so should your inventory management system in order to evolve and keep up with demand. If any of the following problems are happening to you, it may be time to update your inventory management practices.
Excel isn’t cutting it
Excel is great for beginners and businesses just starting out, but continuing to use it as your business grows will end up costing your company more time and money than it would be instead of upgrading to a robust inventory management software. Why is Excel ineffective? For starters, you have to manually enter everything into Excel, which leaves a lot of room for human error. It also lacks real-time data so what you see on your Excel sheet may not actually match what you actually have on hand. This is especially true when you have multiple people touching your inventory, but only one person can update the sheet at a time. Another common problem is that using Excel to track large quantities is not only difficult and cumbersome but also increases the likelihood of the program crashing as your data grows exponentially larger.
Orders are based on rule of thumb
Is your company using formulas that take into consideration such factors like manufacturing time, production lead times, and sales forecasts for each item or are you guessing? For example, you already know that one of your items is very popular during the holiday season, but how popular is it? You need a comprehensive system that accounts for these factors which will help ensure that the right products get to the right people at the right time.
Theft is a problem
Believe it or not, internal theft can be a huge problem for small and large businesses alike. Traditionaltheft prevention tools such as security cameras can spot a theft when it occurs, but it can’t prevent thefts from actually happening. Inventory management software can track an item on a continuous basis. If there discrepancies in the data, many systems can alert managers in real-time if items all of a sudden go missing which will help eliminate lost profits and lost time.
Supply and demand aren’t lining up
Inventory sitting on your shelves is wasted working capital that’s tied up and could be used elsewhere in your business. Although it’s a best practice to have as little inventory on hand as possible, you also want to avoid having stock-outs so knowing how to walk that line can mean the difference between a profit and a loss.
Having an inventory management system that updates in real-time and has access to historical data can provide you with more useful information to make more accurate predictions about how much of a particular item you should stock. An accurate inventory management system will prevent having a bulk of items collecting dust on your shelves, having products that are in high demand on back order, and overall keeping your customers happy. This way you can optimize your inventory levels and replenish items as quickly as possible, so you have as little inventory as possible and your goods are constantly replenishing.
Do you have questions about how you can update your inventory management system to better suit your business’s needs? Peak Technologies is here to help. Contact us today and we’ll help you find a custom solution that will not only increase your productivity and efficiency, but keep your customers satisfied and coming back for years to come.
