For companies that deal with goods, their storage and transport, stock management is something of great importance. And stock management software helps them manage their goods in an efficient manner. These software are helpful in various purposes, you can actually manage everything from warehousing to shipping, retail and production as well.
Such a software which has been designed well can be a great help your business, it comes with all the updated technologies such AI, blockchain and machine learning etc. You can practically track each and every movement of your stock with it. Also, it is very easy to frequently record the influx and outflux of the goods through purchases and sales respectively. It also helps you check the quantity of stock and tells you if you are overstocking and running short of it.
The chart shown above illustrates in what all operations the companies have invested. The survey was conducted by a global retail supply chain organization and shows the findings that come out in the year 2016 and 2017. From this figure, you can easily understand that retailers and merchants paid a great deal of attention to warehouse management.
Table of Contents
Advantages of using an Stock Management Software
Central Storage – Decentralization is a bad idea when it comes to inventory management, it becomes very difficult to track various orders and get the delivery done at the right time to the right customer. With a robust software, you can easily manage your warehouse keeping all the goods at one place. It helps in knowing about the availability of different products across the globe.
Well-Organized Stock – Using this software, you can easily and efficiently organize the stock, it gives you so many tools and features to accomplish it. It saves a lot of time and efforts that were wasted earlier in going physically to godowns and checking the goods. It also helps you predict the demand as you can keep track of the constant flux of stock.
Improved Sales Figures – Sales figures can be impressively improved as you can keep the total track of stock without a failure. There is no chance of errors or omissions when you use these softwares, as a result, you can easily meet all the timelines. It expedites the whole process of shipment and you don’t need to wait for them for very long. It also helps you know the precise time and date for the product’s arrival.
Managed Order Frequency – It is essential for you to manage the stock in warehouses, you can neither run short of them nor you can hoard them for long. With stock management system, you can track exact quantity of goods and order them accordingly. It would prevent wastage of products and save you from huge losses.
Satisfied Customers – When you are able to manage everything and deliver each product on times, then you can certainly expect satisfied customers. Service providers can track the status of deliver and can also avoid the risk of delayed shipments very easily.
Impeccable Forecasting & Planning – The most important attribute of these software is that they allow you to forecast future and plan your business according to it. That’s because you are able to keep a track of each and every product in your warehouse. You can effectively manage different types of stock with various analytical tools that help you gauge sales and productivity.
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Common Attributes of Stock Management System
- Reorder Point – Stock management applications give you a detailed view of all products including their quantity and requirement. In the software, these points are integrated and they help the manager when it comes to reordering the product. It also helps them stave off the two most extreme situations which are shortage or overstocking.
- Asset Tracking – This particular feature allows you to track all the existing products in the warehouse. To facilitate the tracking, various things such as serial number, barcode, lot tracking number and radio frequency identification is used.
- Product Listing – This one lets you streamline and arrange your stock alongwith essential details such as availability, SKU and cost. It also gives you the ability of keeping alternatives for every product based on their salient characteristics and also keeps them in an orderly manner.
- Barcode Scanning – It helps you to track the goods with their barcodes. And the best part about this feature is, you don’t need a special piece of hardware for it, it could be easily done using a smartphone as well.
- Reporting Tools – Reporting tools are very helpful in generating reports regarding transactions, order history and stock. There are plenty of such tools available which can be used in stock management softwares. They are a big help in managing the stock, especially when it comes reordering, they tell you how much you can earn through every item.
Stock Management Architecture
- Stock Forecasting – This feature help you figure out the right amount of stock you can keep in the warehouse. It prevents you from overstocking as well as running out of it, because, both the situations are drastic for you business as they heavily impact sales and productivity.
- Stock Alerts – This particular feature is very help it helps you alerts before stock level fall and rise above the limits. It works as a push notification which tells you the exact status of the goods in the system.
- Accounting Tools – There are various tools which help you get the exact stock valuation. Some of them are overheads allocation, disclosures, cost layering and measurements etc.
- Raw Material Tracking – This feature helps you ascertain the right quantum of raw material which is important for inducting new tasks in the process of production.
- Management of Parts and Finished Products – It allows the warehouse keepers or managers to track the availability of finished products that could be delivered to the customers instantly. The inclusion of parts is also done because, many a times, customers order for a customized product.
- Automated Re-ordering – These features takes stock management to a next level, it allows you schedule re-orders on predetermined re-order points. It mean when the re-order point is reached, the system will automatically execute an order. It is indeed a great help for every stock manager.
- Integrating ERP or Maintenance Software – You can also integrate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or a maintenance software into your stock management application. ERP is undeniably important for every business, therefore, you can make this blend these two useful technologies.
- Multiple Location Support – This is an important feature for you if you running your business from multiple locations. Through this feature, you can manage all the locations very efficiently.
- Shelf and Bin Tracking – This one helps in locating particular products in warehouses, it is very helpful when you when to find one certain packet as quickly as possible.
- Order Picking Support – This feature helps stock managers in picking the right product in correct quantity and other specifications as the order of customer.
- Real-time Inventory Tracking – This helps you track the inventory real-time irrespective of the number of warehouses you are managing.
- Serial Number Tracking – Products are always identified by their serial numbers and it is essential to have them recorded. Therefore, this feature allows you to do it, it records the serial numbers permanently into the system from the time of their arrival till the delivery. It is especially helpful when you track a returned item.
- Expiration Date Tracking – As soon as you receive the items, you can record their expiration date in the system and can easily track them later.
- Item Images – It lets you upload as many images to every item you want. However, there is one default image which displays when you look for that particular item.
- Price/ Cost List – It enables to assign different prices to different items and it makes the whole process very easy for the managers.
- Logistics – This particular feature can actually consist of multiple sub-features such as trackers and transport analytics. Together, all these features go a great job in bringing an enhanced level of transparency in the process of delivery. This feature can also be be used by users alongwith warehouse managers.
You can easily get a stock management software for you own business and give your business an accelerated level of functionality. When it comes to smooth and faultless movement of goods, using these softwares is definitely recommended. It would bring much more flexibility and accessibility in the working of managers resulting in high productivity.
Types of Stock Management Software
There are a few types of stock management softwares which are classified on the basis of their purpose and usage. However, there are some basic features that you can find in every kind :-
- Manually-managed Systems – As the name quite explains itself, these are applications which are mostly handled manually. Even the most complicated calculations are performed through the formulas entered by the users themselves. These systems are most suitable for small businesses and startups that have to deal majorly with stocks recorded on papers. Since they are operated manually, a limited number of entries are allowed and some of them also come with an inbuilt separate sales management module. Despite all that, there are always chances of errors and ommissions in these systems.
- Barcode Scanning Systems – Compared to the prior one, this one is robust as it employs cutting-edge technology that makes tracking thousands of items very easy for business enterprises. It also helps the stock managers in extracting data from Point of Sale systems directly. Moreover, it automatically updates the system when the inventory reaches the warehouse. It gets very easy for the managers to handle data whose information is frequently updated. The technology of barcode makes the movement of stock from one location to another very easy.
- Advanced Radio Frequency Systems – As technology is seeping into this domain, more things are happening. Advanced radio frequency systems take this ahead to a whole new level. It enhances the efficiency and accuracy by stock management softwares to a greater degree. This technology is appropriate for big businesses where thousands of items move in and out on daily basis. And it gets further classified into two categories which are active and passive.
In active technology, fixed tag readers are used for locating the delivery of items across the warehouse. The system records the movement of items very closely with the help of tag readers installed in warehouse. It is most useful for real-time tracking of the stock. On the contrary, passive technology employs portable tag readers for locating the movement of goods. The highest range of passive RFID technology is 40 feet and active’s is 300 feet. It is helpful in making the movement of stock inside the warehouse very easy.
Developing a Stock Management Software
For every manufacturing and retail business unit, a beefy stock management software is essential. Hence, it becomes necessary that a software is built which could efficiently handles stock and ensure that there are no losses due to mismanagement. There are a few things that are seen as essential characteristics for any stock management software :-
Conception
Analysis & Requirement Gathering
Designing & Wireframing
Development & Implementation
Stringent Testing
Deployment
Maintenance
Cost involved in developing Stock Management Software
The cost of an inventory management software is determined by the number of functions and features that are part of it. And to decide which features you need, you to first figure out the requirements of your business. You need to prioritize first whether your business will benefit with a preliminary system or it needs a full-fledged stock and ERP software. This would help you develop a befitting software within your budget.
You need to narrow down your search when looking for stock software development company. India happens to be the best place for all those enterprises which need an apt software for their stock business. Compared to the developers across the globe, Indian developers provide you excellent services at a very reasonable price.
Significance of choosing the right Software Development Partner
Upon figuring out what precisely you need, you can start searching for the right partner who could give you an appropriate software. You need to choose someone who is skilled and experienced enough to make changes in the software or to create something specific to your needs. It wouldn’t be possible unless you have a developer who knows technology and understands business as well.
If you are not working with the right person or team, then there could be negative consequences to your business. Because, a feeble software can expose your business to tons of security threats. It is essential for you to maintain data integrity and protect the details of customers at any cost. Therefore, you cannot go with a novice who may cause a blunder that may lead your business to failure.
Conclusion
If you are in any kind of business that deals in stock, logistics or transport, stock management is a must for you. With their help you can effectively manage goods and raw material, it also helps categorize the goods and handle them in the best way. If you are running any such business and doing it without such a software, it is time to upgrade. You can make your business invulnerable to all types of risks with this particular software.
