The process of tracking your products across your whole supply chain, from buying to production, to final sales is an inventory system. It controls how you manage your company’s inventory.
The inventory is the material that companies sell to produce revenues, the working products, and the end product. There’s no money coming in without inventory. Inventory tracking remains much more important than having or not having inventory. That is the key to running a successful and productive company. Poor management of inventories is a major cause of small companies’ failure.
The software[i] includes business applications that track, manage and coordinate the sale of products, procurement of materials, and other production activities. The days of inventory monitoring using pencil and paper are over. Businesses may now utilize barcode-based systems, or RFID systems to verify that shipments enter, find the raw material, and ship their goods. Through the time and effort formerly devoted to basic tracking using inventory management software, instead of focusing on analysis, detection, and the reduction of inefficiencies in their model.
Types of inventory System
Periodic Inventory System: In a periodic inventory system, all inventory items are counted at certain periods, quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly. Either manually or automatically into a database, the amount of each item is entered and that figure is compared to the counts for changing the inventory from the last period.
Perpetual Inventory System: The most advanced system provides information in real-time. The central system is promptly updated when an inventory enters a facility, is transferred, sold, utilized, or discarded. That’s what an inventory system is all about.
They are usually selected for most large applications as they constantly offer up-to-date information on inventory figures, the cost of goods sold (COGS), etc. Whenever the inventory is relocated, the system is updated to make the data extremely accurate.
Best Inventory Management Software and providers[ii]
Orderhive
Orderhive plans to meet the requests of organizations from the major to start-ups in most industries. It is unique with its limitless inventory units and hundreds of integrated plans that make Orderhive the defining winner of the finest inventory management software in general.
Orderhive operates in all major browsers on the Web as a software application, however, the company recommends the smooth use of Chrome and Firefox. The first in, first in (FIFO) method is supported and the Kanban methodology is used to reorganize and refill stocks.
Kitting, packaging and support for composite
Bulk goods add, edit, or remove
Stocks across stores easily transferred
More than 10 automation solutions for e-commerce
Multiple possibilities for reporting including items sold (COGS)
Link or unlink various SKUs items or names
Creation of an automated buying order (PO)
Price
Lite: $49.99 a month for 200 orders and one user; additional orders cost $0.30 each.
Starter: $149.99 per month for 1,200 orders and three users, plus $0.15 for each additional order.
Growth: $299.99 per month for 3,000 orders and five users; purchases in excess of the limit cost $0.12 each.
Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed Retail is a web-based inventory management system developed to satisfy the demands of brick-and-mortar and e-commerce shops. It takes the top place in our best for retail stores category because to its industry-specific choices and in-store sales capability.
The Lightspeed Retail software is cloud-based and includes an iPad version for swiftly checking out clients on your sales floor. It supports both the average cost and the first-in-first-out (FIFO) techniques.
Although Lightspeed Retail’s primary offering is POS, it also offers outstanding retail inventory tools. It also interfaces with SkuVault, a warehouse management system, to expand its possibilities. The following are the top inventory features for retail stores:
Purchase orders must be created and sent.
Compatible with bundled goods.
Set up consumer reorder policies.
Coupons, promotions, freebies, and employee discounts are all possible.
Change pricing in bulk and automate discounts.
synchronizes your online and in-store inventories.
Price
Lean: $69 per month for basic point-of-sale (POS) and retail operations.
Standard: $119 per month to add accounting and e-commerce capabilities.
Lightspeed’s reward program and analytics are available for an additional $199 per month.
Megaventory
Megaventory is a management system for operations that allows you to monitor the bundling process and monitor inventory, order, and completion. This is an easy-to-use solution for small and medium-sized manufacturers. As a cloud service, Megaventory operates smoothly in every browser with an internet connection on any operating software (Windows, Mac, Linux) but supports five users, even if you may add more. The FIFO technique works.
These qualities will keep you above all for people who operate a manufacturing plant:
Permissions for user access are possible.
BOMs, packing slips, and work orders are generated.
Receive automatic material stock updates.
Several reports are available, including gross profit and inventory value.
Dropshipping and consignment sales and acquisitions are handled.
Maintains a record of customer and vendor contact information.
Options for bulk and rapid update.
Price
A plan which costs $135 per month with an annual payment or $150 per month through a monthly payment. Additional users cost $50 per user per month and a further $50 per month for transactions of 25,000.
Zoho Inventory
Zoho Inventory is a powerful, free-form, and inexpensive inventory management software. Zoho Inventory allows you to add articles, complete orders, and see inventory from any device for small enterprises or start-ups, making this a top free choice.
This cloud-based software operates on desks, tablets or handsets. The web browser or the Android and iOS application can be used to access this system. The FIFO technique is supported.
Send progress reports to purchasers in real time
Can accept backorders for products out of stock
Functions of barcode scanner
Comes with a program of management customer relations (CRM).
Order out-of-stock products or confirm your order by email.
Connect Etsy, eBay, Amazon, WooCommerce and Shopify in your inventory software. Or select dozens of delivery choices, and payment gateways.
Price
Standard: $79 a month for two warehouses, three users, one thousand orders, one thousand shipping labels, and one thousand monitored shipments.
Professional: $129 a month for five warehouses, five users, seven thousand orders, seven thousand shipping labels, and seven thousand monitored shipments.
Premium: $199 a month for seven warehouses and ten users, as well as 15,000 orders, 15,000 shipping labels, and 15,000 monitored shipments.
[i] https://www.waspbarcode.com/buzz/what-is-inventory-management-software
[ii] https://www.business.org/finance/inventory-management/best-inventory-management-software/
