10 Inventory Management Stock Control Tips For Your Business

inventory managementMarch 24, 2023

Khushboo Batta

Writer

Set Up An Inventory System

Did you know an effective inventory management can contribute to a big part of your business profits?
The real time inventory tracking , warehouse management , consequently leading to a smooth supply chain management , can help small business save time and money. However, it is seen small businesses are quite casual about the inventory management, which can be detrimental to their business health in long term.

Using an inventory management software can give more inventory control to the small business owners . It promotes best practices among inventory managers to maintain minimum stock levels and calculate required order quantity .

A few things to remember when you set up an inventory system -

1. Have not more than one or two persons responsible for inventory. This way it will be easy to maintain records and hold accountability.

2. Get an inventory management software for real time tracking .

3. A point of sale (pos system) can help auto-track sales .

4. Always have a back-end. You would not want to lose all your valuable data in case there is a glitch.

5. Set low stock alerts in the Inventory Management software . This will help you avoud out-of-stock situations.

Make Sure You Can Track Changes

Inventory tracking follows up through every single stage of your supply chain right from ordering raw materials to receiving and then order fulfillment.

Inventory Management software can help you with features for in-depth tracking of goods.

1. Manually tracking of goods through spreadsheets can be time-consuming. Besides, it would be difficult for managers to manually record customer returns and damaged goods.

2. An inventory management control system when integrated with accounting system give you a daily view of stock levels.

3. Similarly, when using a perpetual inventory system , the pos can auto-update the inventory levels. It helps track inventory turnover , returns and more .

Managing your inventory can be a challenge, especially when you have a small business.

You may not be sure how much to order for your business, or how to keep track of what you have in stock.

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Track Everything From New arrivals to obsolete inventory

Real time inventory tracking is the very purpose of any inventory management software . Tracking stock levels gives managers an idea of what quantity of goods are left. As a result, managers can place purchase orders well in advance. It helps them to maintain safety stock .

A barcode scanner linked to a pos system helps keep track of goods from the moment of arrival. When integrated, it auto-updates the stock levels in the inventory management software.

The integrated inventory management systems keep track of the sales, what items are being sold most and least. This gives inventory managers prepare purchase orders as per the trend, ensuring effective order management and warehouse management .

Track When Items are Ordered and Shipped

Inventory management includes ordering goods, both-- raw materials and finished products, their sales and storage.

If it is an e-commerce firm, order management becomes highly significant here. An order management solution can help businesses monitor the movement of their package and keep the customers updated.

Features like Drop Shipment and Back Ordering helps to create purchase order directly from sales. It even enables manufacturers ship the goods directly to the customers to ensure timely order fulfillment.

The best part of an order management solution is that you can integrate it with all third-party apps . And get all orders on a single platform.

Track When Items are Received and Sold

Most of the products and packages have barcodes these days. These barcodes include details of the goods like manufacturing date, product dimensions. These products are scanned on arrival and the details get saved in the inventory management software. When these products are sold, the pos software automatically reduces the quantity from the inventory control system . This real time inventory tracking gives managers a glimpse of stock turnover.

Inventory management is a time-consuming, tedious task.

It’s hard to keep track of what you need to order and when, and it’s even harder to know which items are selling well and which are not.

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Track Your Working Capital

To maintain safety stock, manage vendors , customers and supply chain, working capital is a must. Integrate your inventory management system with accounting software to understand how much you are spending on what goods.

Shorten the outstanding window- reduce the number of days it takes for a customer to pay you. This will improve your cash flow.

Use inventory control system to forecast the demand and invest in the required products.

Optimize for Inventory Traceability

To make sure you have the right amount of inventory, take current stock levels, demand trends and storage capacity into consideration.

Pos system, inventory management software, generate sales analytics report. These help in determining the most sold products. These help inventory managers plan ahead of the festive season. For instance, while placing purchase orders for Christmas, managers can log into the inventory system and go through the sales reports of the previous Christmas to get an idea of best-sellers!

Track Variance

Tracking variance helps in spotting the difference between planned and actual numbers.

Prepare a variance report that shows targeted inventory and financial outcomes with actual outcomes. This helps Small Business in preparing inventory budgets and deciding how much money to allot and on what categories of goods.

Inventory management software helps to speeds up and error-proofs variance analysis.

Track On-Hand Inventory

Safety stock refers to extra stock businesses maintain to mitigate the situations of stock-outs. Inventory management software facilitates real time tracking . It allows managers to the latest stock levels after every transaction when integrated with point of sale system . This way, managers can ensure safety stock is maintained.

Also, you can set low stock' alerts. Once the stock levels reach below the prescribed level, it can notify the managers and required steps can be taken,

What are the 3 inventory control systems?

Businesses need to constantly monitor inventory levels and keep tabs on stock, sales, and demand. Whether you're a small, independent business or a global enterprise, it's essential that you know how to monitor your inventory. There are multiple ways to go about tracking your inventory, but which one is right for you? Keep reading to learn more about the three main inventory control systems.

How do you manage inventory stocks?

Your store will have a lot of different inventory- clothes, home furnishings, office supplies, and so forth. It's essential to keep track of everything you have and how much of it you have at any given time. Inventory is the cornerstone of running a retail business. From having to order new items to being able to track the cost of each item in your store, you're going to be handling a lot of different inventory. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about managing inventory in your store. We'll also tell you about some of the best inventory management software for your store.

What is the difference between stock control and inventory management?

Stock control and inventory management are similar functions that are used to track inventory levels and monitor purchasing activity. It is essential to keep track of inventory levels and purchase activity to ensure that the right products are being ordered at the right times. Many businesses choose to use a combination of internal stock control software and inventory management software to monitor inventory levels and purchase activity. This article will explore the key differences between these functions and outline when you should use stock control versus inventory management.

What are 4 stock control methods?

When it comes to keeping tabs on stock levels and maintaining brand visibility, there are as many strategies and methods as there are retailers and consumers. How you keep tabs on stock and manage inventory will depend on your company's individual needs and strategies. Here are four stock control methods that will help you manage inventory and keep tabs on stock levels.