Simplifying Inventory Management

On how simplifying inventory management can help your business - There’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing what inventory you have on hand or where it’s located. Even more frustrating is not being able to make strategic business decisions because you can’t answer these simple questions. It’s time to upgrade to a system that allows you to know these basic things about your inventory, and much, much more.

How can an integrated software system benefit your inventory management?

Improved General Inventory Management

At its simplest level, an integrated system will answer those elusive “what’s on hand and where is it?” questions. But you’ll have access to far more in-depth information. Break data down by location or get even more specific by knowing what’s in a certain bin in a certain location. As an order is placed against inventory, those orders are committed from that inventory for real-time tracking, so you know what’s still available for sale, including what might be accounted for on a previous sales order.

Improve your inventory replenishment functionality by setting up notifications for when you need to order an item and how many you need. Know what’s on hand, what’s allocated to an existing sales order, and if there are existing purchase orders outstanding that have expected receipt dates of certain items. You’ll instantly know if you’re going to be short on an item so that you can quickly place another order. Set up alerts and reminders to keep your safety stock at your preferred level.

Know and Understand Your Inventory Profitability

Another important part of decision making is knowing the true cost of your inventory. An integrated system will help you do just that and more. With a more robust system, it doesn’t matter what accounting method you want to use: FIFO, LIFO, average costs, standard costs. Your system should support multiple options, helping you identify costs so that you can manage and monitor your gross profit by inventory.

You can ask and answer the questions:

• What’s selling?

• What isn’t selling?

Examine slow moving inventory and determine what you need to do differently, such as pricing. If something is obsolete, you’ll know and be able to move it out of your warehouse. In addition, regardless of how you want to track your inventory – sub-assembly, raw material, serial number, tracking or lot number – you have that capability and flexibility.

Inventory management doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. With an integrated system, you’ll have the insight you need to effortlessly manage inventory and use that information to boost sales and improve customer service.

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Gain insight into the real cost of your products and maintain better tracking of your goods and where they came from or are headed to. All these things can really add up if you are not utilizing them, they can also save you time and money when utilized correctly. Have more questions? Reach out to the goVirtualOffice team and we will guide you through the setup or any questions you may have.