Ignoring compliant barcoding solutions can affect your inventory management
Regardless of the industry, you work in, it is becoming clear that the automation of manual tasks is becoming more prevalent. From robots in factories to self-driving cars, automation is slowly encroaching into our day to day lives, so why not take that concept and apply it to your warehouse. With compliant barcoding solutions, you can do exactly that. Automation is gradually taking over areas within supply chain management and one of those key areas is inventory management.
Automated inventory management is not a new concept, however, the way in which it is implemented can make all the difference. Automated compliant barcoding solutions have been readily available for some time now, but it seems that small to mid-sized businesses have been slow in investing in this type of automation. From our research it seems that there is still some doubt and hesitancy about investing in such technology, so that raises the question, do small to mid-sized businesses have a complete understanding of automated inventory management and how it can benefit their business and what are the hurdles that businesses face when considering barcoding solution for their stock control.
What is automated inventory?
Automated inventory management uses specialist software solutions to provide an audit trail and track all stock movements from the moment they are received to the point of despatch. It can also automate other daily tasks such as inventory planning, ordering, purchasing serial and batch tracking, reducing the number of manual tasks that would otherwise need to be completed by employees.
The above is not an exhaustive list when it comes to the benefits of automation of inventory management. A good automated inventory management solution will also help you to identify demand patterns, generate purchase orders based on forecasts, and help you to enhance your customer service levels by helping you to manage your costings and logistics, to ensure order fulfilment and reduce the possibility of price hikes for high demand items by always keeping a minimum level of stock.
Automated inventory management could significantly benefit many small to mid-sized warehouse businesses, so why is there still some hesitancy and doubt regarding the onboarding of this technology.
Why businesses do not use compliant barcoding solutions
When it comes to managing your warehousing, it can be hard to see past the processes and procedures that are currently in place. When it comes to new software and technology, many small to med-sized businesses are understandably cautious about investing as there are many obstacles to overcome in order to implement a new software or technology, but not attempting to overcome these obstacles can act as a barrier to your success.
“It takes too much time to implement”
Many small- and mid-sized businesses are pushing their employees to the max already, especially if all of your warehouse inventory management tasks are being completed manually. Naturally, many organisations may feel that there is no one in the company available that has time to take on a new project that will include hours devoted to research, negotiation, implementation, training, and maintenance. However, implementing a compliant barcoding solution doesn’t have to come at a loss of revenue in the interim. Our professional implementation team and seamless integration into your back-office accounts means that your current processes and fluidity do not needed to be affected negatively.
“It costs too much to implement a compliant barcoding solution”
Beyond taking up time, a new solution for automating inventory management does require an upfront cost. Naturally, small to medium sized businesses need to be cautious about these expenditures. However, when you use compliant barcoding solutions to manage your inventory, your return on investment far outweighs the upfront costs and will help to reduce your inventory costs even further over time.
“If it’s not broken, why fix it?”
This is a very enticing trap for many warehouses to fall into. Many organisations grow comfortable and often complacent with their existing processes and that’s great if they can’t be approved upon. However, by implementing barcoding scanning technology, your inventory management software can take your warehouse to the next level by freeing up internal resources and reducing costs to help your business grow.
If an organisation is too reliant on their legacy systems due to them working well in the past, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best option for your organisations future; especially if expansion is a strategic goal for you.
If your business is managing well with your current system, you may see no need to spend time or money on a new solution, but once you see the benefits of using compliant barcoding solutions, you will be asking yourself why you didn’t make the transition earlier.
Benefits of Automated Inventory Management
While the reasons above are all genuine concerns and barriers to not implementing automated inventory management, they are stopping your business from experiencing the reaping the benefits in the long run.
We have put together a list below of what your business could gain by implementing automated inventory management:
Efficiency & Accuracy
A compliant barcoding solution makes your processes more accurate and efficient. By implementing this automated technology, you will be able to use the software to handle complex calculations and data analysis at a much faster speed than any employee could conduct. It also reduces the potential for human error, providing you with accurate data in real-time. Automated inventory management software analyses demand trends for all products in your warehouse and generates purchase orders and forecasts based on that data and your pre-set parameters (desired service level, stock turn, spending, etc.) freeing up time from your Warehouse Manager to enable them to spend more time proactively managing the warehouse and less time crunching numbers.
This rise in efficiency will echo down your entire supply chain, orders will be able to be processed faster, purchase orders will be generated quickly, and your suppliers and customers will see the smooth, speedy results, increasing your competitive advantage.
Scalability
Compliant barcoding solutions can grow with you as your business expands. Organisations and warehouses that are too reliant on their legacy systems could be missing out on potential for growth areas for the business.
With digitalisation and globalisation affecting distributors worldwide, supply chains are lengthening and increasing in complexity. Don’t let an outdated system or process be your downfall. Automated inventory management software will take over and help you pinpoint areas of growth and areas where you could be losing capital instead.
Free up time
This goes hand-in-hand with your business efficiency. By implementing automated technology, you can free up the time for warehouse managers and warehouse operatives meaning that you need to hire less temporary workers during peak seasons and enable your warehouse managers to have more time to pursue new projects and other tasks.
Increased profits
One of the main concerns of implementing automated inventory management for a SMB is how much money it will cost them. However, by only considering the upfront costs, many businesses are failing to consider the ROI the solution can bring to the company. By taking advantage of all the above benefits that automated inventory management can bring your business you will see a reduction in costs as well as an increase in profits as your business processes are streamlined and business efficiency is increased.
By implementing Stock Control for Sage for your inventory management needs, it will not only save your business time, but it will also continue to save your business money the longer you use it. With an automated solution, you can set KPI’s and have a true insight into your inventory costs. Your existing inventory will be evaluated based on its demand cycle and your solution will identify dying or obsolete inventory items. Stock Control for Sage can help you to minimise the money you have tied up in stock by helping you to manage your perishable stock and high and low demand items, helping to keep your customer satisfaction high by consistently being able to fulfil orders.
Don’t wait any longer to implement our Bit Inventory software
As your supply chain continues to evolve, you want your inventory management to do the same. Don’t get left behind; see how automated inventory management can work for you with Bit Systems.