Inventory management is one of the biggest challenges for
business owners around the world. The ever-changing customer
demands and sky-rocketing competition have made it
overwhelmingly difficult to achieve efficient stock-keeping.
Adding fuel to the fire is the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic and
its colossal impact on global supply chains. Manufacturers,
suppliers, and retailers, both online and in physical stores,
are struggling to cope with the volatility in demand and supply.
As a result, most have thrown traditional inventorying
techniques out the window in favor of newer, more agile
practices.
Among these new solutions are mobile-and web-based inventory management apps. In small businesses, apps have replaced less intuitive and more laborious Excel spreadsheets for tracking stock. Meanwhile, larger organizations are supplementing fully-fledged enterprise resource management systems with apps to offer faster and easier stock visibility and tracking.
Is your inventory management process struggling? An inventory app may be all you need to turn things around. The best inventory app can make stock management a breeze, regardless of your industry. This seamless inventorying will benefit your business in more than a few crucial ways.
According to studies, the inventory accuracy of the average
retail business is about 63%. This number is worrying,
especially if you consider the damage that inaccurate data can
cause.
One of the leading causes of inaccurate inventory data is manual
record-keeping. For most small businesses, stock management
primarily involves visiting a warehouse, recording information
on paper, and transferring the same data to a computer program.
In addition to wasting valuable time, this process amplifies the
probability of error.
Using an app for inventory management can dramatically increase
the efficiency of your processes. Because staff members can
register inventory interactions on-site with their smartphones,
most stock-related paperwork can be avoided.
Your procurement team can create purchase orders and perform
quick edits while at the point of service. Similarly, your
warehouse staff can record material receipts, usage, and stock
counts right from their mobile devices.
Even more remarkable is that the best inventory apps can
integrate with a smartphone camera to turn it into a bar code
scanner. This feature opens the doors for automation,
eliminating the errors associated with manual stock-taking.
An IBM study reports
visibility as a top challenge for supply chain
officers. Many companies struggle to acquire a holistic view of
both core and non-core inventory items. Consequently, they find
it challenging to plan for orders, consumption, replenishments,
and sales.
A proper inventory management app can give you full visibility
of your stock whenever you need it. With a few screen touches,
you can see everything, from what goes in and out to overstocked
or understocked items. You can also know the raw material
purchases in the pipeline and the customers committed to their
orders.
Best of all, an inventory app leverages the power of smartphone
notifications to keep you alerted on changes in stock levels,
new receipts and orders, and important dates.
With all this information at your fingertips, you can make more
accurate decisions to optimize inventory and meet demand
efficiently.
Balancing inventory is a malignant headache for inventory
managers. Ignoring stock levels can quickly lead to overstocking
or run-outs. None of these scenarios is good for business. Not
ordering enough raw materials can result in insufficiently met
demand and dissatisfied customers. On the other hand, having too
much of an item means incurring more warehousing costs and
wasting valuable storage space.
Fortunately, an inventory management app can step in to prevent
both occurrences. With an app, you can easily set up automatic
purchase requisitions whenever stocks go below acceptable safety
levels. An app can also deliver alerts of overstocked or
understocked items right to your phone so that you can take the
right action as soon as possible.
An inventory app that is perfectly suited for your business can
save you money in several ways. For starters, automated
stock-keeping means less manual work, which translates to fewer
resource requirements. More accuracy also translates to fewer
errors and less expenditure on damage control.
Furthermore, organizing inventory with a mobile app reduces
overstocking and understocking losses. Since the app identifies
the best quantities to hold and tells you when and what to order
and use, you can rest knowing your stock levels are optimum at
all times.
A business that successfully balances its inventory meets
customer demand effectively. Happy buyers bring return business
and enable you to become a trusted name in the marketplace.
All the benefits of an inventory management app will translate
to a better reputation among your customers. For instance,
increased accuracy means you are more likely to deliver the
right product to the right place, at the right time. Moreover,
automated record management means faster order fulfillment.
With a comprehensive inventory app, your customer appreciation
will rise, and you will gain a much-needed edge over your
competition.