Inventory management software is a software system for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries.[1] It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. Companies use inventory management software to avoid product overstock and outages. It is a tool for organizing inventory data that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in spreadsheets.
Features
Inventory management software is made up of several key components working together to create a cohesive inventory of many organization's systems. These features include:
Reorder point
Should inventory reach a specific threshold, a company's inventory management system can be programmed to tell managers to reorder that product. This helps companies avoid running out of products or tying up too much capital in inventory.
Asset tracking
When a product is in a warehouse or store, it can be tracked via its barcode and/or other tracking criteria, such as serial number, lot number or revision number. Systems. for Business, Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed. Nowadays, inventory management software often utilizes barcode, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and/or wireless tracking technology.
Service management
Companies that are primarily service-oriented rather than product-oriented can use inventory management software to track the cost of the materials they use to provide services, such as cleaning supplies. This way, they can attach prices to their services that reflect the total cost of performing them.
Product identification
Barcodes are often the means whereby data on products and orders are inputted into inventory management software. A barcode reader is used to read barcodes and look up information on the products they represent. The Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and wireless methods of product identification are also growing in popularity.
Modern inventory software programs may use QR codes or NFC tags to identify inventory items and smartphones as scanners.[citation needed] This method provides an option for businesses to track inventory using barcode scanning without a need to purchase expensive scanning hardware.[citation needed]
Inventory optimization
A fully automated demand forecasting and inventory optimization system to attain key inventory optimization metrics such as:
This helped drive down costs for inventory management because retailers in the United States and Canada didn't have to purchase multiple barcode readers to scan competing barcodes. There was now one primary barcode for grocers and other retailers to buy one type of reader for.
In the early 1980s, personal computers began to be popular.[3] This further pushed down the cost of barcodes and readers. It also allowed the first versions of inventory management software to be put into place. One of the biggest hurdles in selling readers and barcodes to retailers was the fact that they didn't have a place to store the information they scanned. As computers became more common and affordable, this hurdle was overcome. Once barcodes and inventory management programs started spreading through grocery stores, inventory management by hand became less practical. Writing inventory data by hand on paper was replaced by scanning products and inputting information into a computer by hand.
Starting in the early 2000s, inventory management software progressed to the point where businesspeople no longer needed to input data by hand but could instantly update their database with barcode readers.
Also, the existence of cloud based business software and their increasing adoption by businesses mark a new era for inventory management software.[citation needed] Now they usually allow integrations with other business backend processes, like accounting and online sales.[citation needed]
Purpose
Companies often use inventory management software to reduce their carrying costs.[4] The software is used to track products and parts as they are transported from a vendor to a warehouse, between warehouses, and finally to a retail location or directly to a customer.
Inventory management software is used for a variety of purposes, including:
Maintaining a balance between too much and too little inventory.
Tracking inventory as it is transported between locations.
Receiving items into a warehouse or other location.
Picking, packing and
shipping
items from a warehouse.
Keeping track of product sales and inventory levels.
Cutting down on product obsolescence and spoilage.
Avoiding missing out on sales due to out-of-stock situations.
Manufacturing uses
Manufacturers primarily use inventory management software to create work orders and bills of materials. This facilitates the manufacturing process by helping manufacturers efficiently assemble the tools and parts they need to perform specific tasks. For more complex manufacturing jobs, manufacturers can create multilevel work orders and bills of materials, which have a timeline of processes that need to happen in the proper order to build a final product. Other work orders that can be created using inventory management software include reverse work orders and auto work orders. Manufacturers also use inventory management software for tracking assets, receiving new inventory and additional tasks businesses in other industries use it for.
There are several advantages to using inventory management software in a business setting.
Cost savings
A company's inventory represents one of its largest investments, along with its workforce and locations. Inventory management software helps companies cut expenses by minimizing the amount of unnecessary parts and products in storage. It also helps companies keep lost sales to a minimum by having enough stock on hand to meet demand.
Increased efficiency
Inventory management software often allows for automation of many inventory-related tasks. For example, software can automatically collect data, conduct
calculations
, and create records. This not only results in time savings, cost savings, but also increases business efficiency.