How Much Do You Know About Inventory Management Systems?

Have you had a chance to analyze several inventory management systems in your time, or have you never worked with any computerized systems for inventory control? How much do you really know about how inventory management systems work? While you may think you know a lot about their uses and how they may fit your needs, you could be way behind on the current technology as well. Let’s take a quick look at the many things an inventory management system can do for you.

Database Storage

Basically, most inventory management systems are built off database technology. The number one function of a database is storage of information, and this is one of the most important aspects of inventory management. You need a place to log every piece of merchandise within your inventory where you can access it again easily.

Accessing Information

An inventory management system database will also allow you to access the stored information with a few clicks of the mouse. In fact, the information will be searchable by various avenues determined by the creator of the database. For example, if your inventory consists of perfumes and colognes, you can search by manufacturer, name of the perfume, whether it is for men or women, and cost. You can even include a “field”, or search topic, for the UPC code or other identification number.

Indexing the Information

Today, advanced inventory management systems enable you to view and print various reports, including the net value of all items in stock, a list of the most recently sold items, lists of items that are low in stock, merchandise that hasn’t sold at all in a certain period of time, and, if you have perishables, items that have reached or exceeded the expiration date. This and much more can be reported to you so that you can adjust your inventory as necessary to better serve your customers, as well as to increase your profit margins.

Ordering

Some inventory management systems will assist you in creating order lists of the most commonly ordered items so that you have a quick reference and can complete the order process faster and more efficiently. In some cases, you can actually use the system itself to compile the order and forward it via email to your supply house so that you don’t have to worry about human error on your part in recording the correct item numbers.

Labeling

If you wish to create your own internal labeling system for your inventory for purpose of product identification, which is always a good idea for shelving and storage accessibility, you can utilize your inventory management software to create proprietary product numbers for the items you stock and to create and print barcodes and labels for those items, allowing you to quickly mark and stock each piece of merchandise quickly and proficiently. Using the complex barcodes will also allow the scanning of items so that there is never human error caused by inputting incorrect information or fumbling with a keyboard.

Finding Small Business Inventory Management Software

When you run a small business, inventory management software may seem like a costly, unnecessary tool that only causes you to spend a great deal of money. However, utilizing inventory management software can actually help you increase your profit margins by keeping better track of your product so that you don’t have any losses, as well as helping you to take note of your best selling items so that you can keep those in supply. At the same time, you need a small business inventory management software that you can afford. What options do you have?

Freeware

There are all kinds of software to help you manage your stock level, starting with the very basic and increasing the number of bells and whistles until the software will practically run your business for you. If you are looking for a cost effective solution, you could possibly start with a simple freeware option that you can download from an internet source. A database program will allow you to name fields into which the information on the products in your inventory is entered, after which you can index anything in your warehouse. Of course, these freeware programs typically won’t keep a running total for you, and you won’t be able to scan in barcodes, but you can enter in as many as you like and change quantities manually as materials come and go.

Purchasing Software

If you are willing to spend a little money, the database software packages that you can purchase from a computer supply store offer a broader range of options. Some will connect to scanners so that you can automatically scan in or out any materials. Others will allow you to run reports on the quantity of materials in your warehouse and can even rank the products according to most expensive, the highest level of stock, the best selling item, and more.

All of the inventory management database software packages you find will be adaptable, allowing you to start with a template and simply rename fields or even start from scratch and build an entire database on your own.

Even if you only have a few items to worry about in your small business, inventory management software can help you cut losses and increase profits. Depending upon your technological know-how and your desire to be thorough, you can pick how sophisticated you wish your software to be. One way or the other, it just makes sense to use a software package to keep track of your inventory.

Book Inventory Management Made Simple

While it may still seem like a bit of a hassle, book inventory management is probably one of the simplest forms of inventory management that you’ll ever come across. This is because the data used to keep track of or index books is easily entered into a database, almost as though databases were created specifically for managing a stock of books. Let’s take a look at what makes book inventory management so quick and easy.

Predetermined Fields

In a database management system, you have fields that are titled with a specific type of data that will allow you to perform a search for that particular information. In many software packages, there will be templates that you can simply alter to build your customized database, and some of these are already set up for book inventory management. For example, it will contain fields for “title”, “author”, “subject”, and other aspects by which you would choose to index your books.

Searchable Information

Books are set up for quick and easy searchable information, including, as mentioned above, titles, author’s names, and more, including UPC barcodes, editions, copyright dates, and even descriptions. Some have illustrators, and others have editors or ghostwriters. You can create fields for searching subject matter, genre (romance, science fiction, etc), and even divide your inventory by fiction, nonfiction, biography, etc.

Tracking System

When you use a book inventory management system, you can easily keep track of the sales you make, as well as the orders you place. Even in libraries, book inventory management is simple, with everything simply being scanned in or out, with information on the borrower kept in the system and a due date field being automatically completed upon entry of the check out date in another field.

Shelving

Using a book inventory management system can also allow you to keep track of the shelving location of the books in your inventory. For example, if you have indexed a Judy Blume book, it can pull up fields that will tell you the names of all of her publications, as well as that they can be found under “young adult fiction” and even on which row you would expect to find books by authors with last names starting with “B”.

Interacting With Inventory Management Services

Sometimes, we all need a little help getting our heads on straight, especially when it comes to learning the ropes in a new position or taking over a role that was not handled so well by the previous player. This is especially true in regards to inventory control, which is why there are inventory management services available to help you get your ducks in a row. What are inventory management services, and how can they help you when you take over a department or warehouse?

Inventory management services can be compared to property management companies in that they enter into the picture when you have little or no experience and need assistance in setting up a new system for control. This could be because there was no system implemented to begin with, because you are unsure where to begin, or because a former manager was unable to keep control of the inventory, leaving the entire warehouse is a state of disorganization.

In any of these cases, an inventory management service will come in, take an inventory of the entire stock in your warehouse, reorganize the storage of the items you have in stock so that everything is properly indexed, labeled, and securely stored in its own bin, and even set up an inventory management software tool for you and your employees to use to keep track of all stock.

Once everything is in order, some inventory management services will train you and your staff to use the software and will even provide you with tips and techniques to keep the inventory organized and properly managed. This means giving you information on how to guarantee that you don’t overextend your budget, order the proper items in the proper quantities, and generally understand the concept of turnover and stock rotation so that you can make sure your company or department is profitable. After all, money is the bottom line, and if you needed to call in an inventory management service, your business probably wasn’t profiting much.

While it may seem like an extreme measure, usually the money spent hiring and interacting with an inventory management company will pay off quickly and can help you save money and increase your income. These companies are trained to make your inventory management procedures as smooth and streamlined as possible so that you don’t have to hassle with any further rearrangements or make any further changes to your system.

Simplifying Processes With Inventory Management Software

When you implement the use of an inventory management software system, you’ll find that your job becomes ten times easier. Software puts you in control in a way you’ve never experienced, allowing you to track and process all information electronically. Software takes away much of the human error that is involved in inventory management, and while it can’t correct all mistakes, it certainly does have its advantages.

Using inventory management software makes it possible to use complex barcoding to identify materials within your inventory that it would be impossible for a human mind to memorize, rather than counting on product packaging or labeling for your inventory control. This means that you can more easily index the correct location within a large warehouse of any item, pull orders or stock new product, and provide simple labeling for all of the goods you keep in stock.

You can use your inventory management software for ordering purposes as well. Most software systems have a means by which you can print out reports showing exact quantities of all items in stock and alerting managers to areas where replenishment of the stock is needed. This makes ordering a breeze by letting you sort items by quantity in stock (bringing up the lowest numbers first) and also helps you determine what products are not moving down the supply chain quickly so that you can back off on the amount of stock in these areas.

When it comes time to run an inventory check, you can quickly and simply verify correct quantities based on the levels of stock shown in the system versus the hand count. Inventory management software systems are incredibly important to the smooth sailing of any link in the supply chain, and it just makes a job that much easier when you have a good software based solution for your part of that chain.

Purchasing The Right Inventory Management Solution Software

You can shop around for different database software solutions forever, but when you find the right inventory management solution software, don’t hesitate in your purchase. How do you know the exact needs of your business? Here are some considerations for you to take with you in your hunt for the perfect inventory management solution software.

• How detailed should my database information be? Do I need just a few fields that I can alter from a template, or do I need to build my own database to hold tons of detailed information on thousands of items in my warehouse?
• I want to be able to index the items in my inventory several different ways, and I want to be able to create printable reports that will tell me how much I’m making in sales, what my best product is, and how often I’m ordering certain products.
• I don’t need a lot of detail; I own a small business, and I only have a few items I order. I simply want all the information available electronically to make ordering easy. I like simply tools, like spreadsheets, that I can search myself to find a part number and place an order.
• I need the works – I want to be able to scan in and out each item that enters and leaves my warehouse, print out barcodes for the items on my shelves and in my bins, print detailed analysis reports, get detailed quantities to verify inventory checks, and on top of all of that I want to be able to automatically forward this information to someone else by email.

All of these solutions are possible, depending upon the amount of money you want to spend on inventory management solution software to accomplish your goal. You can swing by a computer supply store and speak to a clerk to find the software you need.

The Difficult Task Of Retail Inventory Management

Retail inventory management is probably one of the most complex of all inventory management departments. In retail management, you’ll have a greater variety of products to store and a great deal more of each product. In fact, your warehouse may never be big enough to hold all the merchandise that you need to keep in stock, and it can be difficult to maintain the right number of any particular item at any given time. How can you solve the problem, or at least address it, before it becomes too much to handle?

Retail inventory management should never be the job of a single individual but should be divided into departments and classified accordingly. For example, in a supermarket, you’ll have two major departments – grocery and non-grocery – and each will have several subcategories. Under grocery, you can expect such departments as meat, dairy, frozen, canned, and more.

Delegation of Responsibility

Depending on the size of your store, your retail inventory management could be divided into the two main categories and delegated to two individuals who would be responsible for the management of your entire inventory, or you could break it down further, having an employee in charge of each smaller division. This would allow the individual to gain an intimate knowledge of how quickly each product sold and how often it needed to be reordered. This would easily allow you to account for excess stock in some areas while others remained fairly empty.

The important thing to remember in retail inventory management is that you most likely have a little storage space for an enormous array of products and have to determine what will and won’t be important to maintain in quantity. Being efficient in carefully stocking the storage areas, as well as knowing what your best sellers are, can help you keep your retail inventory management process strong and in balance.

Keeping An Inventory Management Database For Easy Reference

If you are in charge of a small warehouse or storage space, you may not realize how important implementing an inventory management database can be. Keeping an inventory management database can help you be certain of models and quantities you have on hand. Supplies of books, CD’s, office supplies, and any other items can be tracked through a simple database without employing any complex or expensive software equipment and will assist you in knowing how much you’re keeping on your shelves.

Use of an inventory management database can range from simply monitoring the number of items on hand to determining cost of the items that you are keeping and profitability from sales.

Advantages

Databases also allow you to index materials based on various details for search options. For example, an inventory management database can be implemented in a bookstore to allow the owner to index the books carried by author, title, subject, and any other fields that are built into the database. For those looking for a way to keep track of sales, an inventory management database can be configured to keep track of the cost and sell price of an item so that, when it is purchased, the profit is logged.

Knowing the quantity of items on hand also allows you to reorder products when the stock is low. For example, if you have a small office supply store and you are down to the last three packages of your best-selling pens, you may overlook it unless you have an inventory management database to alert you of the low stock level.

While most large companies use some sort of software to keep track of inventory, many small businesses forego such important systems. Using an inventory management database to keep track of your items can be essential to the success of your small business.

Choosing An Effective Inventory Management Strategy

If you plan to be successful as a manager of any department, warehouse, or supply chain, you’ll need to employ an effective inventory management strategy. The most successful retail, warehouse, and supply chain managers are those that are fully aware of the state of their stocked inventory at any time and have a regulated system that allows them to easily index and monitor the coming and going of product within that inventory.

What Are Your Needs?

Implementing an inventory management strategy begins with the specific items that you have and the type of storage location in which the product is kept. For example, your strategy may involve careful planning for spatial needs, especially if you must maintain a number of items in a minimal amount of space. An appropriate strategy at this point would be to create a diagram of your warehousing or storage environment and map out the locations of stocked items that will best organize the materials with no wasted space. This can be accomplished with electronic tools or simply by hand, but it is vital to the success of tracking and managing your inventory.

Maximize Profit

The next order of business when you are mapping out your strategy is to maximize your profit. Many times, the items in your inventory may sit for long periods of time due to lack of demand. This is not only a wasted expense; it also takes up valuable room in your warehouse or supply room that could be filled with a faster selling item which would draw more profit. Your inventory management strategy should definitely include some form of tracking system to identify quick selling products, as well as those with the highest profit margin. Such systems will report what items you should maintain at high levels within your inventory to meet demand and maximize your profit.

Software Systems

Your inventory management strategy would be incomplete without a software system that allows you to keep track of every item that comes in and out of your warehouse. This means that, when inventory checks are completed, you’ll be able to identify errors, thefts, losses, and any other discrepancies much more readily. It will also assist you in your ordering process, since the electronic tracking will give you information on exact quantities of inventory without you having to run out and count everything by hand. When you see that the stock of a particular item is low, you can prepare to reorder.

Labeling and Identification

One final implementation of an effective inventory management strategy is to make sure that all items are properly labeled. Incorrect or incomplete labeling can lead to several problems, including wrong identification by your software, misplacement when restocking the inventory, loss of the item, or inability to find it for shipment or shelving later.

Following these guidelines will help tremendously as you prepare your inventory management strategy and train your employees to adhere to the regulations you set forth. Best of all, set a good example yourself in sticking to the rules, and others will follow your lead without question.

Familiarizing Yourself With The Essentials Of Inventory Management

As a department manager of any type of supply market, whether books, food, or any other kind of stocked items, it is necessary to understand the essentials of inventory management so that you can maintain a healthy supply of stock while not overtaxing your budget or storage space. When managing your inventory levels, you must have enough quantity, as well as variety, in order to please the customer (whether your customer is in-house or a general consumer). However, you must also take into account several factors that concern your position as the department manager.

Concern for Space

For example, your storage or warehousing space will greatly effect decisions you make regarding the amount of products and supplies you keep on hand at any given time. If you have extra space in your warehouse, you should analyze what products are the “best sellers”, or the fastest moving items, so that you can wisely fill that space with these items. At the same time, you don’t want to overstock on expensive or slow-moving items.

Movement of Product

Always look at how well your inventory moves prior to ordering. This is essential in inventory management in order to keep items from getting old while stored. This is especially important if you work with any kind of perishables. In fact, in these instances, you should never store large amounts; simply make sure that your supply chain can replenish your stock with frequency, and check your stock daily for anything that is no longer usable.

Cost Efficiency

Finally, be aware of the costs of shipping and receiving, as well as the total net worth of the items you have in your inventory. It is essential to document all incoming and outgoing stock so that, in an inventory check, all information is accurate. Whether you are in charge of a very small division or an entire company, you’ll do well to understand the essentials of inventory management in order to profit rather than overextend the budget you’re given.

Employing Inventory Management Techniques In The Workplace

When you choose to implement specific inventory techniques into the workplace, you’ll find that your job is much easier and that your entire department runs more smoothly. Here are a few simple but essential inventory management techniques that will assist you in keeping track of your inventory without a hassle.

Stock Rotation

Every good department head understands the importance of stock rotation. When new stock arrives, it is filed into the inventory kept in the warehouse behind any current stock of the item. This allows for older product to move out to the sales floor or to the ordering customer first. When you rotate stock, you keep any of your inventory from becoming outdated and useless. If anything expires or becomes outdated, it is no longer usable merchandise and must be written off as a loss. Therefore, stock rotation is one of the most important inventory techniques you can employ to achieve success.

Creating a System

When new inventory arrives, it cannot be placed in any open area of your warehouse. You must employ some sort of systematic stocking agenda so that all replenishment of stock is regulated. If a new item is to be shelved in the warehouse, room must be made for it in an area of similar items. This system must be made clear to all employees who handle the inventory in your department or supply house so that there are no errors resulting in lost or misplaced inventory. This sort of organization is obviously one of the more important inventory management techniques involved in keeping track of current stock.

Labeling

Of all the inventory management techniques you could employ in your workplace, labeling is probably the most important. Especially if you have a large warehouse of merchandise, it is absolutely essential that everything is clearly labeled so that all replenishment stock can be placed in the proper area with no hesitation or uncertainty, and also so that any outgoing merchandise can easily be located for shipping. On top of that, when an inventory check is completed, it will make the process of reconciliation that much simpler to handle.

Inventory Management Software

Using any kind of software that assists you in tracking your inventory can be helpful as well, making it simple to just scan in and out any moving merchandise on a daily basis. Using a database or other software can make the other inventory management techniques that much easier for you by cataloguing all the information for you, including quantity on hand, cost of the item, and location within your warehouse. It also gives a clearer picture of how quickly items are sold and allows inventory checks to be processed more quickly and efficiently.
As you can see, some of the inventory management techniques that are best suited to help you maintain your responsibility without a hassle are not all that difficult to employ. Especially if you have a good management software package, all the other techniques can easily fall into place. With a robust training program for employees and a drive to follow these pointers, managing your inventory will be a breeze.

Employing Effective Inventory Management In Your Workplace

To employ effective inventory management in your workplace, you must start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder of techniques. The first thing to consider is how other employees who are involved in the stock and supply within the warehouse are currently handling the inventory for which you are now responsible.

Lack of knowledge on the part of employees is one major distraction when you are attempting to create effective inventory management systems within your department or supply house. There could be several problems to address in this circumstance. First of all, the prior manager may not have employed any kind of effective inventory management strategy, or perhaps if the individual did, there was simply no system passed on to the employees that was to be followed. Either way, you are in a position in which you must determine the next course of action. Most of the time, this will involve training the employees in effective inventory management techniques, including proper labeling and stocking of product, tracking system usage, and ordering strategies.

Identifying the Problem

Another problem may be that there is no current effective inventory management system in place. This leaves the responsibility to you to create such a system. You should start by identifying the existing problems with inventory management and addressing these. Is the stocking system organized, or is everything haphazardly thrown into the first open spot? Is stock being rotated, or is there old product sitting around wasting that is going to become a monetary issue when it has to be thrown out? Is everything labeled in a concise, legible manner so that all items can be located easily? All of these are aspects of effective inventory management that may not have been previously considered and should be worked into your new strategy.

Reorganizing

You may also need to go through the records of stock that has come and gone in recent months to determine if there are items in demand that are not being supported as necessary, as well as if there are things in the inventory that do not move well and could be eliminated or at least slowed in restocking efforts. Determining what products pull in the greatest revenue and have the greatest turnaround is a great way to employ effective inventory management strategies, allowing you to make room for “best sellers” while slowly removing items that don’t sell well.

When you have your cash cows determined, complete a system of stocking and product rotation that keeps items new and fresh, and train your employees to follow the system you’ve created, you’ll find effective inventory management simply becomes part of the daily grind and is no longer something you have to mull over every day. Your inventory checks will be concise and clear, with everything coming together appropriately, and your entire business will run more smoothly without snags. Using methods and techniques that have proven themselves in other businesses where inventory management is essential will make effective inventory management in your situation less of a problem.

Inventory Management Software: The Fredrick Group

The Fredrick Group

Offers business management, job order fulfillment and inventory software solutions.

• Take Control of Your Inventory With...
• Reduced Lead Times: Automatically maintains on-hand quantities, which decreases the risk of shortages or extended wait time for orders.
• Track Flow of Parts & Supplies with Greater Control: Automatically maintained audit trails and on-hand quantities allow for better monitoring of parts and supplies.
• Monitor Shelf-Life & Expiration Dates: Allows you to control your inventory by monitoring shelf-life and expiration dates for various inventory items.
• Date Change Control: Allows you to control components of the Bill of Materials by date cut in / cut out.
• Inventory Cost Control: Allows you to control total inventory cost in either Average Costing or Current Cost methods.
• Customized Reporting: Choose from more than 25 reports and customize them to meet the needs of your business.
• Built-In Help Features: Built-in help features at both field and screen level provide immediate assistance.
• Optional Security Features: You have the option to engage full security features within the system at your discretion.
  

Inventory Management Software:Traker Systems

Traker Systems

For warehouse owners that charge customers for inventory storage space, Traker can handle all of your billing and shipping needs.Customize your storage charges to suit each customer or product. Provides applications for the transportation and manufacturing industries. Their inventory management system fills billing and shipping needs.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q. Can I export invoice data to my accounting program?
A. Yes. Inventory Traker� makes it easy to export inventory data to your favorite accounting program. Using our export wizard, Inventory Traker guides you through the process quickly and easily. In addition, once you have performed your initial export, you simply save your settings and exporting becomes a one-click operation.

Q. How do I see a demonstration?
A. Request one of our demos from this website.
Request a sales packet that includes a demo CD ROM.

Q. Is much training required to use Inventory Traker?
A. No, you should be using Traker immediately after installation. We do, however, provide a number of ways to learn Inventory Traker.
On-Site Training
Tele-Training
On-Line Help
User Manuals
CD Training Disks

Q. Do you provide security and encryption?
A. Yes. We provide log-on, user-name and user rights capabilities as a built-in feature of Inventory Traker�. We also provide data encryption as an add-on capability if so desired.

Q. How about Technical Support?
A. We have a variety of support plans available.
Standard no charge for first 30 days
Yearly renewable support plan
Per incident technical support

Q. Will Inventory Traker work with multiple warehouse or sites?
A. Yes. Inventory Traker can work with any number of different warehouses.

Q. Will I get software upgrades?
A. Yes. After you purchase Inventory Traker, you become part of the Traker family. Any minor program updates will be sent to you automatically at our cost. In addition, any information such as helpful hints, newsletters, or new offers will be sent to you periodically. Finally, any major new version of Inventory Traker will be offered to you at special family price reductions.

Q. What makes your program different from others on the market?
A. Our product includes analysis, is compliant and is priced right for your market.

Q. How will Inventory Traker save me money?
A. Losing control of your inventory results in losses for your company. Inventory Traker gives control to you, with better tracking of product recalls, easier auditing and more flexible billing. In addition, Inventory Traker's MRP keeps track of inventory levels, preventing downtime due to lack of inventory.

Q. Do you have a built-in accounting module?
A. Traker Systems is not in the accounting software business. We realize that most companies already have their own accounting programs they are comfortable with. That is why we design our software to work seamlessly with most existing accounting programs on the market. In this way you benefit from our inventory control and analysis expertise, while using your own accounting program.

Q. May I purchase the support plan after the first 30 days?
A. Yes. You may purchase the support plan at any time. It is best to start when you purchase the program to avoid downtime.