Every company that is selling goods needs to find an efficient and consistent program for inventory management.
A web-based inventory management software makes it so much easier for companies to keep accurate updates – particularly those product lines with bar codes, point-of-sale software and warehouse tracking. Just as with any modern system integration, company owners must also weigh the pros and cons of using an inventory system software before actually making a payment for it.
The Pros of Using an Inventory Management Software
The advantages of automated inventory management software that many categories of retail or wholesale as well as manufacturing company are now using could never be emphasized enough. Using inventory management software helps to facilitate competent management, real-time inventory tracking, financial integration, complete and accurate data analysis and prompt service provision to help businesses eliminate and proactively advance the diversity of their operational activities.
It can automatically generate stock reordering and stock details
An artificial inventory allows employees and consumers to be aware of when a product is available in stock or not, in merely a matter of seconds. As the inventory is synchronized with real-time transactions, there can be a regular update of the items in stock and those that are not. This helps with tagging items that need to be reordered while also offering exceptional customer service at the same time. As inventory reaches a certain point, new product requests are then placed to manufacturing companies or suppliers. They are inspected continuously to let consumers know about when the new products will be arriving.
It is integrated with all the needed back-end systems with the accounting
Specialized inventory management software makes things simpler to sync up all of the back-end systems, which include e-commerce system, inventory processes, and financial accounting. The positive impact is substantially reduced data entry requirements, a much-simplified ordering management process, and precise and accurate on-demand audited financial statements.
Integrating all different back end systems just by using one inventory management software offers a centralized framework to manage and control all inventory-related information. It also facilitates real-time reporting with cost-effective and efficient warehouse management throughout a business supply chain.
It further makes the entire process of transitioning inventory levels and resources via programs convenient and eliminates any need for unnecessary bookkeeping fees. Moreover, financial statements will be easier to obtain because of the unified data sharing among both bookkeeping and inventory.
Helps in improving products and marketing decisions
When company owners are not using inventory management software, as found in several case reports, they are most likely kept out of the loop about which one of their products are their most significant markets.
Using a software designed with the optimal analytics, one could quickly obtain vital information about the performance of a product to make critical business decisions about their products, such as promotional activities, marketing campaigns, and working to keep sales volumes.
Provide accurate details for proper business planning and forecasting
The inventory management software could do far more than merely oversee product status, order placement and when would be the best time to reorder a product. A data collection system is also used for relevant prediction and strategic thinking reports. Company owners scrutinize trends in specific months or cyclical periods for which goods are performing well. Business owners use this information to make informed decisions for growth and appropriately organize inventories to achieve the best possible profitability resources allocation.
Uses cloud-based inventory monitoring that can be accessed throughout various locations
Centrally controlled inventory management from different outlets is made much easier through the use of cloud-based inventory level management.
Storefronts, factories, and e-commerce outlets – no matter where they are located – all share the very same activities and information, effectively consolidating the company as one and empowering it to operate on all fronts.
Regardless of where they are in the world, business owners and their personnel can monitor order information and execute multiple business tasks all through a centralized dashboard.
Using an inventory management software is very often necessary to business owners who tend to get out of the office every now and then. Through the use of a cloud-based inventory management software, employees, as well as store owners, can address several task requirements from home, allowing for a certain degree of flexibility.
Eradicate the risk of human errors
Business owners rely mostly on their staff for most processes, particularly if they are starting up, like inventory management, purchasing, etc. Discrepancies at inventory-level are attributable to human error, however. And, the price of these inaccuracies would soon start piling up.
Inventory management software streamlines main areas such as eliminating any need for manual checks by the use of barcode scanning, and automated reordering, which significantly reduces the over and under-stocking, one which that is troublesome to businesses.
Inventory management software provides a comprehensive understanding of the stock and helps spot trends of loss as well as inaccuracies. Then it is entirely feasible to evaluate these trends further and get into the root of any problems on the over and/or inadequate supply.
The Cons of Using an Inventory Management Software
It is prone to a system crash
One of the biggest problems for any computerized device is the risk of a system crash. A corrupt hard drive, power outages as well as other technical issues can lead to the loss of the relevant information. Company operations are at the very least, disrupted because they can not access the information they need. Business owners should, therefore, regularly back up the data to safeguard from system failures.
It is at a high risk for any malicious hacking
Malicious hackers or cybercriminals are actively coming up with new ways to get business information or a customer’s data. For hackers, it is easy to hack into an inventory platform that is linked to point-of-sale and accounting systems to gather confidential data about suppliers and consumers’ personal information. Nonetheless, installing security measures and antivirus software still can help combat this potential problem.
Manual auditing is taken for granted
Since almost everything is already automated, it is convenient to set aside time-consuming manual inspections of inventories. It may seem that it is no longer essential to do regular manual monitoring still because there is a software for that. Nevertheless, doing regular manual audits should continue to detect the losses as with breakage or spoilage. The manual inspections also enable business owners in investigating possible internal fraud and manipulation of the computerized inventory system.