An important aspect of a retail or commerce business is inventory management. Putting in place the right system, an easy to follow process, and a standard operating procedure in inventory management is part of the cogs and wheels that make for a well-oiled, well-functioning business.
The 21st century brings us both positives and negatives in business management. While business nowadays can be tricky, considering we need to wade through the waves of both online and offline commerce, we also have plenty of tools, software, and apps at our disposal that make business management, inventory management, shipping, and purchasing much easier than it was before.
Proper inventory management is one of the main foundations for proper business operations, next to financial management and marketing. Having a good system in place avoids plenty of headaches, not to mention it gives a positive impact for anyone involved in the supply chain, from the business owner, the vendor, the employees, to customer service.
Having the right manufacturing software to keep your inventory in order, and ensure the right products end up on the customer’s hand, is essential and important. What’s more, it helps you streamline your accounts from different organizations, warehouses, and departments.
If you’re thinking of investing in manufacturing software, you’re heading toward the right direction in growing your business, and not only business success, but also customer satisfaction. Here are six crucial (and extremely valid) reasons to invest in manufacturing software for your business.
- It makes inventory management easier.
Whether you’re a small business or a large one with multiple warehouses and sales locations, manufacturing software can help you keep track of your products and order the required amount to meet demand. This software gives you up-to-date and automatic tracking of real-time product availability. This gives you clarity on products that are in stock and gives you information on which product is selling fast, which product needs to be ordered before it runs out, and which is your bestseller. The minute a customer comes to your store or e-commerce site and they can’t purchase the item they want from you, they will move on to the next store/site that has it. This means a loss of business for you. With this software, it will enable your inventory team to achieve a more coherent and consistent recording, reduce errors, and above all, improve customer satisfaction. This tracking will help you place orders to your suppliers when appropriate to ensure that your bestsellers are always in stock.
- You can increase your business revenue.
An up-to-date inventory means your shelves (physical or digital) always have your bestselling products available. Well-oiled inventory management is a crucial factor in generating revenue and profit for your business. Having a manufacturing software where employees can access real-time statistics and information at a glance isn’t only helpful for the inventory department. It’s also useful for the financial department to ensure proper financial flow, for customer service personnel to give updates to a customer on the availability of a product, and to gain better clarity of the revenue stream, profits, and expenditure of a business. Plus, it makes reporting, auditing and tax filing easier.
- You can manage the unavailability of stock more efficiently.
When you have a better grip on your inventory management, you’d be in a much better position to manage the arrival, purchase, and sales of your products. When demand is high, and you make your sales, there are times in a business cycle where supply can’t meet demand, such as during the holiday season. Having manufacturing software in place helps you estimate and anticipate when demand increases, so you can indicate the right procedures and announcements for your customers. You can tell them you’re experiencing high sales volume for a specific product and when they can expect orders to be fulfilled. Also, you can tell them when shipping will be done, and you can give them updates in case an item is out of stock, and when they can expect to purchase it again. Giving your customers a heads up is better than leaving them in the dark, or telling them that a product isn’t available only when they are about to check out.
This also eases up the pressure on customer service departments who need to answer customer queries on product availability.
Manufacturing software also enables you to anticipate high and low seasons, which helps you manage stock orders, increase orders, or reduce them according to the time of the year.
- You can create better price management.
Knowing your high and low sales periods helps in better price management. If you have a well-managed inventory, it will be easy to find the best market deals and when to start a promotion or deal.
Having seasonal deals and promotions help drive the purchase of items at a lower season. You can also create promo packages between your lower-priced products and your high-volume products and push sales. This gives the customer more benefits when purchasing and increases your sales volume.
Manufacturing software will also help you track the costs of products, and generate a comprehensive report whenever you need to do any business analysis or create a marketing plan based on your products. Most software can also provide details of vendors with lower price stock.
- It can help you manage turnover.
Through the right software solution, you can track inventory turnover. These details help the business owner know their fast-selling products and make the correct order quantity.
- Helps you spot trends
One of the most amazing things about manufacturing software is the in-depth analysis of trends. These trends can be generated into a report to be presented to the management, or be used by the marketing team to create campaigns and promotions. What’s your bestselling product, what’s your least selling product, which vendors are selling the stock at a more preferential rate? All of this information helps you create a better business plan for the next business cycle.
Bottom Line
The most important aspect of manufacturing software is its ability to keep your shelves open for consistent and continuous sales. Having items out of stock will hurt your bottom line and decrease productivity, which you want to avoid as much as possible. Investing in good manufacturing software supports the manufacturer, the distributor, as well as the retailer.
