3 Things To Consider When Getting A New Inventory Management System
For any business that sells products, or even businesses that use products as part of the services that they provide to their customers or clients, having an inventory management system can help to make your life a whole lot easier. Without an inventory management system, you could run into all kinds of supply chain issues without realizing what’s going on and where the issues are arising. But as the old adage goes, what gets measured gets managed.
If you want to do better at managing your business, here are three things to consider when you’re getting a new inventory management system.
How Effectively You Track Your Sales
As with most systems, your inventory management system is only going to be as effective as you are. This means that if you’re already tracking a lot of the metrics for your business, implementing an inventory management system will likely just streamline things for you even further.
One of the best things to be tracking that will help make an inventory management system most effective is your sales. When you can successfully track how much product you’re moving and at the rate in which it’s moving through your inventory management system, you’ll be on top of reordering from supplies so that you can always stay up with the demand on your business.
The Type Of System You Want
As you’re considering what specific inventory management system you want to get, you’ll need to think about the type of system that will work best for you and your business.
There are four main types of inventory management systems: Just-In-Time Management, Materials Requirement Planning, Economic Order Quantity, and Days Sales of Inventory. Based on how you like to run your business and how you already have operations set up, the type of inventory management systems you’ll want to choose will vary, so make sure you do your research about the various types before making your decision.
What Other Data To Track
Inventory management systems can track all kinds of other data to help your business stay on top of things. The trick here is finding a system that tracks what you want and then setting up that system so that it can best serve you.
To do this, you’ll need to know what other data is vital for your business to know from a supply chain standpoint. For example, you might need internal and supplier product codes, how many quantities you have on-hand, the location of your products in storage, information about your suppliers, costs, and pricing information. Depending on what you want to track, you can and should be able to set up your inventory management systems accordingly.
If you’re needing a new inventory management system, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find a system for your exact needs and specifications.
