Inventory is the materials or goods a business proposes to sell to customers for profit. Inventory Management is a critical element of the supply chain. It includes the tracking of inventory from manufacturers to warehouses and from these materials to the point of sale. The main motive of inventory management is to have the correct products in the right place at the right time.
This needs inventory management visibility. It consists of knowing when to order, how much to order and where to store stock. The primary steps of inventory management include:
- Purchasing Inventory:
The products which are ready to sell goods are purchased and delivered to the warehouse or straight to the point of sale.
- Storing Inventory:
Inventory is to be stored till the time it is needed. Materials or goods are transferred across your fulfillment network until ready for shipment.
- Benefiting From Inventory:
The quantity of products for sale is controlled. All finished goods and materials are pulled to fulfill orders. After that, the products are shipped to customers.
What is Inventory Visibility?
Inventory Visibility is basically knowing what inventory you have and where it is located. Multichannel order fulfillment operations typically have inventory spread across many locations throughout the supply chain. All type of businesses requires an accurate view of inventory to guarantee fulfillment of customer orders, minimize stockouts, and reduce shipment turnaround times, oversells, and markdowns.
After getting an understanding of Inventory Management, let us jump to the points of how Inventory Management Software makes Supply Chains resilient.
So without any further ado, let us get started!
Supply chain disruptions come at a cost, which could be reputational and financial. For example, some surveys have stated that operating costs had risen and revenues had been hit significantly.
When the market evolves too rapidly with growing consumer demands and market trends, many companies struggle to keep up with the pace.
Many companies still rely on manual techniques to resolve the problems associated with their supply chains and order fulfillment. And these cost more money and resources. Additionally, if they get their numbers wrong, that can disturb customer satisfaction, and that can cause serious reputational damage.
That is why businesses should invest substantial resources for better inventory and warehouse management. When inventory management is effective, it is at the heart of constructing and maintaining resilient, future proof supply chains.
Important Note:
Zap Inventory offers you the best inventory management software to manage your inventory and warehouse professionally. You can also use our inventory management software on a free trial basis for 14 days. Connect with us now to leverage our services!
What are the advantages of inventory and warehouse management?
Under are some of the essential benefits of inventory and warehouse management. They are as follows:
- Better Savings and Margins
When inventory management is not up to the mark, it directly affects warehouse management, which ultimately leads to a rise in their expenses. Here, let us take an example if a warehouse is storing too much stock, businesses must expand the price of their goods to factor in the extra storage cost, giving the competition an edge. Likewise, if the stock is low, the purchases that happen at the last minute to fulfill those orders can also prove to be costlier.
However, when businesses stock their warehouses in the lineup with the demand, they can save storage, purchasing, and operating cost. Which can help in boosting margins and increase revenues.
- Ignore excess stock and dead stock for better management
Companies should make sure not to overstock or understock their goods and materials. Strategic inventory management solutions are very important to manage the inventory. The inventory refers to goods and materials that have already been purchased and any amount of wastage will directly affect the cost of doing business.
The overstocking can lead to spoilation or expiry of goods, especially for businesses in food, retail, or fast fashion. That is dead stock and it is one of the pricey mistakes that a company can make.
On the other hand, running out of stock can lead to postponement in order fulfillment. It can cause an expansion in customer complaints which promptly impacts the company’s reputation.
- Correct order fulfillment rates for enhanced customer experience
Real time visibility into the flow of inventory within the production and warehouse floors helps businesses anticipate more precise delivery timelines, whilst keeping the customer in the loop. This is the prime aspect to deliver exceptional experiences in a time of cutthroat competition and rapidly fast delivery.
Meanwhile, a sound strategy is an essential part to optimize warehouse and inventory management. All businesses must modernize their inventory management systems to leverage all the advantages.
Inventory management software which includes integrated, unified platforms offer real time end to end supply chain visibility. Also, Inventory management software automates inventory management to streamline operations and accelerate productivity.
How to find a solution for supply chain issues with inventory and warehouse management software
The end to end, cloud based solution serves as a central repository or warehouse for all master and transactional data from appropriate sources such as legacy ERPs, warehousing, and procurement. This enhances the overall visibility of supply chains and the availability of goods across repositories, plants, or in transit. When the visibility is better it reduces storage costs and lead times. Also, it helps in avoiding stockouts and boosts procedure efficiency.
These types of warehouse and inventory management software are equipped with demand forecasting capabilities and advanced predictive analytics. This can help automate stock replenishment, manage production schedules according to demand, and optimize inventory usage.
Moreover, businesses can supervise warehouse operations on the go with the help of mobile friendly applications. Such applications are compatible with barcodes, scanners, and printers. The warehouse and inventory management software makes sure the low-touch transactions for multiple warehouse related activities. It also includes the facilities’ proof of delivery through glass technology signatures, geo coordinates, and picture capture.
When the inventory management software is equipped with real time data, next gen technologies, and thorough visibility of the whole supply chain, businesses can run smooth simulations of potential warehouse and inventory management disruptions. This will prepare businesses better for future disruptions and fabricate resilience into business operations.
Wrapping Up
The advantages of inventory and warehouse management software to a business are significantly important. In computing to padding revenues, effectiveness, efficiency, and profitability, also makes supply chains tenable and resilient to disruptions.
We hope that the points we have explained above will help you in making the supply chain resilient. And, now with the help of these points, you can use the inventory management software smoothly and correctly.
You can try Zap Inventory product for managing inventory software to streamline your inventories in the warehouse. The Zap Inventory offers lucrative measures with their products. It is an outstanding and top quality Inventory Management Software that helps you manage your business effectively.
Also, you can try their services for free too! Try Zap Inventory services free for 14 days and make the best out of it. Connect with them now and make a great way ahead and boost your business.
Thank you for reading out this blog, get in touch with us and we will offer you the best inventory management solutions to expand your ecommerce business in an online market. You can also take the leverage of the software for free for 14 days trial! Get in touch with us now to leverage the maximum benefits and profits!