Improve Your Inventory Management in Two Easy Steps
Good inventory management is a major part of a successful operation. If your inventory management strategy isn’t performing up to expectations, it can be a significant drain on your budget. You may have gotten this far on just adequate management, but imagine what you could do if you improve your inventory management? With the right inventory management strategy, you can save money, outpace competitors, and ensure the long-term happiness of customers. Here’s how to improve your inventory management strategy.
Switch to Smart Management Software
Many small business owners try to manage their inventories using Excel spreadsheets and formulas. This strategy may have worked in the past, but today human error and the drain on productivity are too much to lose in a competitive business environment. While you’re busy manually counting items and filling in an Excel spreadsheet, your competitors already have next month’s numbers and an optimized order placed with suppliers. Opting for smart software can help you stay ahead, especially as your business outgrows the limitations of the Excel method.
Modern inventory management revolves around technology – particularly, management software. The heart of inventory management is forecasting. Managers must be able to accurately and easily predict consumer buying habits and demands for the next month. This is the only way to know how much stock and inventory to order. Luckily, modern software enables business owners to collect, store, and analyze critical data without wasted time or resources. In using the right software, you can obtain the numbers you need to order inventory accurately.
A survey by GetApp Lab showed that 39% of small business owners polled said inventory management software saves them more than five hours per week, 37% said is saves them less than five hours, and 16% said it saves them one day or more. With the time you could save using software, your employees can focus on other, more important things, such as customer service or lead generation. With the right software solution, you can make inventory management more efficient, productive, and effective.
Invest in a Customized Solution
While you’re out looking for the best software to invest in for inventory management, don’t fall for template-based, off-the-shelf solutions. Inventory management is too important a business practice to compromise with inefficient solutions. The wrong software for your company will waste your time and money, and could even set you back enough to damage your business’s growth. Don’t go for the cheapest software on the market and believe you’re making a wise investment – your inventory management will only be as successful as the software you select.
What works for your competitors may not be what’s best for you. To benefit from an optimized inventory management strategy, you need to explore a tailored recommendation service. Tailoring your management solution based on your business’s needs is the only way to ensure you’re putting money where it needs to go, and nowhere else.
Our talented team analyzes critical factors such as:
- How you currently track your inventory
- Whether you need to track lot or serial components
- Whether you need bar coding or inventory counting capabilities
- If you have any bill of materials or kit requirements
- If you have replenishment needs
- If you have warehouse management needs or multiple bins for warehousing
Then, we take your answers and match them to the ideal inventory management solution for you. You will receive our custom recommendation via email within 24 hours of submitting your information.
By investing in a tailored solution, you won’t pay for things you don’t need or fail to get things you do need. You will rest assured you’re paying for exactly what your business needs demand. Use our tool today to discover the inventory management solution your team has been missing.