5 Best Features to Look For In An Inventory Management System

Modern supply chain operations today depend heavily on inventory management because it enables your team to more thoroughly examine patterns of activity both within and outside of your facility. Paper-based inventory management, however, does not enable the kind of reporting required to identify trends that could harm your company.

Many businesses have shifted from exclusively utilizing inventory management systems only to keep track of inventory and report on it to using them to plan, project, and fill customer orders and increase profitability. Out of all the options available, how can you choose the one that will work best for you and your business? How should you prioritize characteristics?

For wholesalers, distributors, e-commerce retailers, and manufacturing organizations, inventory management systems assist the tasks of procuring merchandise, monitoring sales patterns, determining the availability of on-hand inventory, and liquidating products. Inventory control is a crucial part of supply chain management.

The essential elements of inventory management software that you must have when investing in a good solution are described below. We'll also examine a few of the most beneficial extra features offered by the top inventory management software products available today.

Now Create Your Own Inventory Strategy

Here are the top five inventory management capabilities you should look for when choosing a system, based on our years of fulfilment and inventory management consulting experience in a variety of sectors and product categories:

1. Improved forecasting, projection, and inventory management

Even though it seems simple, this should be at the top of your list. How would this new method aid in controlling and managing inventory? Consider the mastery of the SKU file to aid in your consideration of the crucial components and features. 

The system anticipates the demand for an SKU file's mastery. In other words, we will have to evaluate if the system accurately predicts how much of a product will be required over the course of time. Another vital role is determining when a product will "stock out" based on anticipated demand, sales rate, and selling strategies. Start by listing the primary requirements for your system at a high level. 

2. Barcoding & Scanning

A barcode is a graphic, computer-readable way to represent data. Essentially, it involves scanning data into a computer and entering it. In warehouses, electronic item tracking is effectively used, with barcode scanning being the most popular method. Typically, barcode readers are employed for procurement of purchase orders and sales deliveries.

Make sure your inventory management software supports 1D barcode readers and can produce its own barcodes for printable labels.

3. Inventory analysis

In any business, the financial team wants to know how much the stock is worth, whereas warehouse management and operations are concerned with what they have and where it is. Therefore, an effective inventory management system must be able to update your accounting program in real time. Therefore, you should want dependable inventory figures that take into account changes in the cost or scale of your transactions. A real-time breakdown of inventory value by warehouse, geography, and nation is needed.

If you buy, sell, or trade in other countries, it must also support many currencies and accurately track varying inventory costs, such as courier fees or production waste. Along with a real-time representation of the profit margin for your items that accounts for any variable costs and takes into account the sales channel and location, the ability to combine goods is also necessary in order to provide a more thorough understanding of Cost of Good Sold (Cogs).

4. Configurability

This feature enables the configuration of a single system for two independent business organizations or firms, giving each a unique "look and feel" or identity. In this approach, without customization, the more comprehensive systems are successfully applied across industries and goods.

5. Purchase management & supplier management

A significant business efficiency that can be achieved by employing the best inventory management software is taking control of your purchases. Naturally, when you are fully aware of what you have, what it is worth, and where it is, you are in a much better position to purchase the one that is needed. 

To prevent losing time and making mistakes, you must take care not to manually enter inventory data into your purchasing process or to continually copy and paste supplier data. The best inventory management program let you generate and have your purchase orders filled automatically and put all of the details about your suppliers in one location. Dynamically it helps in producing quantity reductions that suppliers give you to simplify optimal purchasing.

One of the crucial components of an inventory plan to boost sales and service to your clients without being overstocked is the implementation of the appropriate inventory management procedures. When creating your inventory plan, we advise taking these factors into account. 

An efficient and profitable business requires complete visibility into the inventory process from start to finish, as well as management tools that help you maintain optimal stock levels year-round. Partner with us to build your inventory management system and stand out from the competition.