In the transportation and logistics industry, businesses benefit hugely from GPS technology. However, by using today’s modern technology it can far extend the traditional tool of just being about to assist drivers to navigate to and from locations. With these technological advancements, by integrating GPS tracking with your transportation and logistics planning solution you can help meet your business requirements as well as improving your customer experience all in one.
If you are a business that operates through fleet management, it is vital that you have insight into the whereabouts of your vehicles at any given time. GPS tracking in its most basic form keeps track of your vehicles that are on the move. This allows you to see which vehicle is in motion and towards which direction on the map.
Our solution, Bit Logisitcs uses GPS tracking to help businesses reduce the amounts of calls that are needed to be made to the drivers to see where they are or why they are delayed, making their journeys safer. Our intuitive dashboards help your management team to easily digest key information, instead of wading through bulky reports in order to make key decisions and meet targets. Our customer dashboards allow customers to log on to their own private portal to track where their delivery is and when it will be delivered, enhancing your customer experience and reducing calls to our office asking where deliveries are. By integrating GPS tracking with your logistics and transportation solution, the benefits to your business could be immeasurable.
Bit Logistics offers that and so much more.
You can:
Track drivers through geofencing, with the automatic trigger of updates when entering or leaving geographical boundaries
Monitor traffic, know if delivery times need to be updated due to traffic issues
Monitor road works and road closures, re-route deliveries if a road is closed
Minimise delivery times
Calculate estimated delivery time windows
By integrating our GPS tracking into your transportation and logistics planning solution, you can tell whether the vehicle is going to the assigned destination, the routes that were taken, and when the vehicle is resting. This can be particularly useful for ensuring that your fleet drivers are getting the rest they need as well as for security in the even that a vehicle is stolen.
5 benefits of vehicle GPS tracking
From shipping, back-office processes, performance, and communication, Bit Logistics enables you to take control and monitor your fleet vehicles and manpower. A modern transportation tracking software can provide information that is vital in enhancing the functionality of the fleet management system. It also helps in cost assessment, excellent customer service and improves efficiency.
1. Resource optimisation – Bit Logistics helps in enhancing transparency between you and drivers as well as across the business. This allows for accurate forecasting in identifying any ‘grey areas’ that may have occurred previously, such as reasons for delivery delays. Our GPS integration records time of arrival to the delivery destination as well as the physical delivery time, reducing penalisation for late delivery.
2. Driver safety – Drivers are at the lynchpin of any fleet management business. With our transportation and logistics planning solution, you can help to manage their safety and wellbeing by monitoring driver behaviour and patterns.
3. Increased productivity – The automated processes in Bit Logistics provide real-time updates on your remote device. This helps in quick decision making, as it acts as a centralised hub for information. This eliminates the need for unnecessary admin work, so you have more time to focus on other business activities. With insight into traffic and road closures, routes can be dynamic and adapted in order to offer the most efficient route for your drivers, helping to increase your productivity.
4. Fuel efficiency – This software solution also identifies trends and themes of fleet vehicles and their behaviour. You can monitor routes and compare with the fuel consumption to help eliminate drivers’ bad habits and avoid routes which could lead higher than anticipated fuel consumptions.
5. Reduce the risk of theft – In transport and logistics, your investments in your assets are high. If a vehicle with a costly consignment is stolen; then it could not only cause substantial finance loss but also an adverse effect on your business reputation. With the integration of GPS tracking and transparency into where your fleet vehicles are at any point in time, you can minimise the risk of this happening.
Bit Logistics is a complete logistics planning solution that offers seamless integration, dynamic dashboards and intuitive user-interfaces. Get in touch to discuss how our transportation and logistics planning solution can work for your business.
If you are running a manufacturing business and want to make your business processes simpler and more efficient, a manufacturing software solution from Bit Systems could be just what you need.
In manufacturing, every detail and operation that takes place contributes to your business’ efficiency, success and growth. A complete manufacturing software solution can help you to oversee all aspects of your manufacturing process and identify key processes and improvements to help your manufacturing business thrive. Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in businesses across a range of sectors, and our manufacturing software solution uses advanced technology to automate aspects of your manufacturing processes and operations. From stock tracking to production planning and job delegation, the right manufacturing software solution can help your business simplify and automate a range of tasks, improving your overall business efficiency.
Not only can a manufacturing software solution help improve your business, but it can also help you keep up with your competitors, ensuring your business is constantly improving and not falling behind when it comes to providing efficient and quality service. When you choose Bit Manufacturing from Bit Systems, your manufacturing software solution can be tailored to suit your business needs.
What problems can the software solve?
No matter what kind of business you’re running, there is always room for growth and improvement, and a manufacturing software solution can help you get there. When it comes to finding the right manufacturing software for your business, finding out what problems the software can solve and how it can improve your business processes is essential. Have you ever wanted more control over your manufacturing processes, or wanted to reduce costs whilst increasing your productivity? Bit Manufacturing uses the latest technology to improve efficiency across your business. Designed with the manufacturing industry in mind, a Bit Systems manufacturing software solution can help your business in the following ways:
Meet delivery deadlines– Bit manufacturing provides integrated and centralised automated operations systems for manufacturing. You can get live updates and set reminders regarding jobs. With all of this information ready and available, you never have to worry about missing a delivery deadline again, making your business timely and efficient as well as providing quality customer service that could increase business success.
Reduce manual errors – Automating tasks that were once carried out by workers means reducing the risk of human error. Automated data leaves less room for error and allows your workforce to focus on other tasks, making their time more productive and efficient and saving your business time and money in the long run when tasks are done in less time, without error.
Manage stock levels – Complete control and foresight over your business’ stock levels can help your manufacturing business save money and plan for the future based on real data. Restocking before it’s too late is easy when you have complete oversight and tracking, with minimum stock level settings and system notifications telling you when you need to restock, leaving customers disappointed with out of stock items can be a problem of the past.
Improve cash flow – With detailed insights on your manufacturing operations, task management and stock levels, you can accurately plan for the future with real-time data. Forecasting your business outgoings is simple when you have Bit Manufacturing to help you.
Reduce waste – Through controlled stock levels and the ability to store product information such as dates detailing when it should be sold by, you can reduce your business’ waste and in turn, save money. You can also reduce wasting business time by tracking and assigning tasks, with automation allowing tasks to be simplified and completed in a fraction of the time.
Accurately track deliveries – Do you ever face issues with delayed or lost deliveries and feel helpless, with no control over the situation? Bit Manufacturing allows you to accurately track deliveries, so you can have complete oversight on your business logistics. With updates on factors that could affect deliveries and accurate expected delivery times, you’re in control when you choose a Bit Systems manufacturing software solution.
Finding a bespoke manufacturing software solution
At Bit Systems, we work with you to provide a manufacturing software solution that works for your business. From the moment you enquire, we find out as much as we can about your business processes and industry, highlight key areas that can be improved, to allow us to create a solution that is right for you. Many aspects of Bit Manufacturing can be tailored to give your business a bespoke experience. Using the latest technology, Bit Manufacturing can provide you with dynamic insight and intelligence on all aspects of your manufacturing processes. Reports can be tailored to suit your working schedule, so you get the data you require when you need it most. Our dynamic dashboards are detailed, yet simple to use, allowing you to easily navigate real-time graphs and charts that break down your business operations. All of this data is readily available at the touch of a button and is also designed to work in cohesion with Excel, so you can export data and analyse your findings with Excel tools.
Bit Manufacturing is part of the Bit Systems solutions suite, all of our solutions are built on the Microsoft.NET platform so they can all be seamlessly integrated into Sage 200cloud.
If you want to improve your business’ efficiency and overall performance, contact us today to see what Bit Manufacturing can do for you.
In today’s fast-paced digital age and with increasing demand for products and services now rather than later, an efficient logistics and distribution solution has never been more crucial. To keep up with the ever-increasing demand, many businesses are turning to logistics management software to keep up with competition and utilise technology to help take their business into the future.
Logistics management involves the flow of your business processes, it manages your whole business process from origin to final delivery destination. This can involve anything from the selection of transportation and delivery methods to any form of planning that involves taking goods and services to a consumer. A logistics management solution can help automate the business processes that take you from development to production. Logistics management software often consists of features that will aid in production, planning, sourcing, packing and delivering of goods and services.
Bit Logistics – the solution for your business
Bit Logistics is a logistics management solution that has been carefully developed over the years to help businesses improve and automate their delivery processes. We strive to make sure all businesses can streamline their delivery process, helping your business to ensure that every delivery arrives at the right place at the right time. At Bit Systems, we are proud to have a vast range of experience and expertise in large-scale transport businesses, which has allowed us to gain the skills and knowledge required to help business logistics and transport planning to become as efficient as possible. Built on the Microsoft.NET platform, our logistics management software solution can be seamlessly integrated into Sage 50 and Sage 200. So, if you need a logistics management software that can work in cohesion with your accounting solution, we have got just what you need. Designed with the transport industry in mind, Bit Logistics houses all of your business data in one centralised system, making it much easier to manage. You can control and track your assets and use the collated and centralised data to have greater control over your business profitability.
How logistics management software can improve business efficiency
Every business wants to improve efficiency and implementing a logistics management software can help you do just that. Logistics methods rely on time, accuracy and dependability and a Bit Logistics solution can help you improve these areas as well as track actions, meet targets and keep your customers happy. Time is pivotal when it comes to business efficiency. The more time you can save, the faster your business can grow, improving efficiency and in turn, increasing business profit. Effective transport management through a logistics management software can help save time and reduce workload, giving you complete control of your logistics. Bit Logistics can give you greater control and flexibility, allowing you to have greater visibility over all processes including planning and scheduling. You can utilise the data and analytics on the centralised system to make relevant changes to your business processes. For example, predictive maintenance for your transportation, allowing you to plan for downtime and make sure any replacements necessary are in place before it’s too late, helping you to keep up with demand and avoid disappointed customers.
Bit Logistics can improve your business efficiency in many ways, including:
Improved job planning Use the centralised database and analytics to accurately plan how long jobs can take, allowing you to create real working timetables for your employees.
Improved order entry Reduce the risk of human error through the automatic input utilised in Bit Logistics. Orders can be automatically received into your Bit Logistics system.
Accurately track deliveries Never lose track of your deliveries with real-time updates. With Bit Logistics, you can also manage failed deliveries and charge for redeliveries if your customer is closed when your driver arrives.
Improve visibility Take complete control over your business’ logistics management and access data with ease through one centralised system. With Bit Logistics management software, you can also have an internet portal for your customers to be able to see their delivery and collection updates.
Increased security Never lose track of your business assets with accurate tracking, making your business and everything in it safe. With Bit Logistics, you can capture signatures and photographs at the site with visibility through the customer internet portal.
Meet delivery deadlines With improved efficiencies, better time management and complete visibility of your logistics process, Bit Logistics can help to dramatically reduce the risk of missing deadlines. Bit Logistics also integrates your customers sending emails or text updates when deliveries are due.
Does your business need a logistics solution?
Are you still wondering if your business needs logistics management software? Do you manage a transport fleet and rely on them to run your business, taking your products from location A to location B? If so, our Bit Logistics solution which has been designed with transportation in mind could be the solution you are looking for. Bit Logistics can help your business improve efficiency and in turn, cut costs as well as streamline your business methods and save money whilst doing so.
Bit Logistics management solution comes with many great key features for business improvement. Order entry is easy with automatic input, shipping updates and bulk printing of shipping labels and lists at the touch of a button. Your business can be one step ahead with the ability to plan, manage and track all of your orders in real-time – so there’s no need to worry about missing crucial deadlines. You can have complete knowledge of your business’ logistics at all times with tracking and monitoring. You can even receive live updates on traffic, allowing you to re-route your drivers accordingly and help reduce delivery times.
If your business currently spends a lot of time filling out and keeping track of paper-based invoices and proof of deliveries, then Bit Logistics can help you with this as well. All documents can be automated, saving your workforce and your customers time.
Want to find out more about what a logistics management software like Bit Logistics can do for you? Contact us today.
Most warehouses follow a similar pattern, no matter what industry they are in. A typical warehouse procedure will involve goods in, stock put away, replenishment, pick, pack and despatch. With increasing customer demand and workload, it is essential that your business can stay competitive. Digital technology is constantly evolving and is increasingly prevalent in almost every industry. Embracing technological advances in warehousing can help your business become industry leaders, staying one step ahead of competitors. Digital technology can provide warehouses with problem-solving solutions that can help your business grow. Many warehouses are now turning to technology, particularly stock control software solutions, to help keep their business performing at its best, and turning into smart warehouses.
A smart warehouse automates areas of their operations with problem-solving technologies. Stock control software can help take warehouse operations into the future, helping them to keep up with their customer demand, increase productivity and minimise errors. When you choose our Sage stock control solution, Bit Systems can help your warehouse operations become more streamlined, simple and efficient.
What is stock control software?
Intelligent stock control solutions can eliminate the need for manual stock control, throwing out the pen and paper method and the need for multiple spreadsheets once and for all. Stock control software is a digital system that enables businesses of any size to track inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries. It can tell you how much stock you have, how much you need and exactly where it is. These systems are present throughout your business’ whole product journey, from vendor purchase to reaching customers. They make businesses run smoother by automating and connecting different sectors. This allows your warehouse to increase efficiency, have complete control of your stock, and save time. Typically, inventory management software is often used to avoid stocking issues. At Bit Systems, we specialise in stock control for Sage, implementing barcoding systems that make your warehouse’s stock control software simple. Seamless integration and control over your stock requirements are at the forefront of our systems.
What are the benefits of stock control software?
Automate tasks and increase business efficiency
Stock control solutions can automate and simplify many day-to-day warehouse tasks. Your warehouse workers will no longer need to spend long periods manually checking and updating your inventory. Not only does this save time, but it also reduces the risk of human error when it comes to your business’ stock. Manual stock control and stock takes can take up large amounts of time, not only this but as time goes on, workers can become tired and lose concentration, this increases the likelihood of errors.
Automated stock control strives to eliminate the risk of errors. Fewer errors mean increased reliability and an improved reputation for your business. By automating your warehouse processes, you can take your business to the forefront of digital technology. Bit Systems’ Bit Inventory for Sage can eliminate up to 90% of time spent manually carrying out stock duties by simplifying processes and providing workers with instant information and analysis at their fingertips. This dramatically increases the efficiency of your warehouses. By investing in automation, the sooner your business can grow and become a leader in your industry.
Identify trends and forecasting
Stock control software can give you a whole new depth of insight into your stock. It will record your previous buying and selling patterns, indicating when you need to upsell, buy and restock. This means you can always be one step ahead of your warehouse management. Receive notifications about your stock levels, so you won’t have to worry about overstocking, or not meeting your customer demand. All the data you will need about your warehouse will be available in real-time and at your fingertips with stock control software. Stock control software means you will no longer have to spend time searching across multiple business platforms and departments for data.
Our stock control solution integrates seamlessly with your Sage Accounts to pull all of the data relevant to each department from sales, to accounts and operations to provide you with a simple analysis of your warehouse stock. From this, you can initiate business plans and investments for the future. By enabling businesses to access to real-time analysis and information regarding their stock, Bit Inventory for Sage from Bit Systems also allows businesses to quickly identify trends and make decisions based on the real-time updates and results.
Reduce the risk of overselling
Automated stock levels allow you to have complete control and visibility of your stock, so you never have to worry about overselling. Overselling can be detrimental for any business, selling out of products means you can’t supply them to your customers. This can lead to customer frustration and cause them to go to a competitor instead, affecting your business’ profit as well as its reputation. With a stock control system, you can prevent this from happening altogether. Your stock levels are updated continuously, tracking any trends that occur. This means you can plan for busy and quiet months to help to prevent any financial losses. By utilising automated stock levels to ensure you always have a minimum and maximum stock levels you can now be more prepared for unexpected spikes in sales as well as protecting your business from holding high stock levels of low demand items.
With Bit Systems, mistakes such as overselling are dramatically reduced. With access to stock patterns and updates, there is no need for your customers to be disappointed. Not only can you prevent overselling, but also carry out tasks with accuracy, meaning your customers receive the right goods in the correct quantity. The more you can prepare for these occurrences, the better service you can provide for your customers, helping your business’ reputation.
Make better business decisions
By automating your stock control, you can have access to in-depth business analysis and data. Identify high and low performing products, so you can make appropriate profit-improving business decisions. Analysing data allows you to look at seasonal trends and customer buying patterns, so your business is never caught out when it comes to stock management. Investing in a stock control system means you can make calculated decisions quickly and effectively. Any business decisions, including investments and spending, can be quantified and supported by the data that is supplied by an automated stock control software system.
Bit Inventory for Sage from Bit Systems allows you to look at your business from a wider perceptive. Our stock control software provides businesses with improvements and solutions, streamlining your whole stock management process and encouraging every department of your business to improve in the same way.
Scalability
Stock control software, such as Bit Inventory for Sage from Bit Systems, can grow and adapt with your business. It can become bigger and more complex to suit the needs of a growing business. Most businesses strive to grow and generate increased profit, so it makes sense to invest in an automated stock control system that can grow with you as your business expands. A flexible solution such as Bit Inventory for Sage, that grows with your business allows for gradual changes, rather than extreme overhauls that could be a shock to your workforce and the system.
Delaying the implementation of technology solutions into your warehouse can put you behind competitors and be reflected in depleting profits. At Bit Systems, we want to help your business processes improve through automated stock control and advance your transformation, the faster you can grow your business the faster you can increase profits. Make your warehouse a smart warehouse with automated stock control software today.
Stock control for Sage
Stock control for Sage is Bit Systems’ stock control solution that can change the way your business or warehouse manages inventories for good. Using Sage 50 and Sage 200, Bit System provides barcode scanning technology that offers your business an efficient and easy to use stock control solution.
When you invest in Bit Systems’ stock control software, you will be improving your efficiency and securing your business with a system that can adapt to your needs, is dependable and measurable.
Contact us today to find out how we can help your business’ stock control.
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.
Sage inventory management is a highly customisable inventory management process. While the optimal process will be different for every company, every business can benefit from removing human error from stock control management, which means taking advantage of Sage inventory software.
We previously discussed several Sage warehouse management techniques that will save you money, and we are continuing that theme today by discussing several strategy specific goals to implement within your organisation that can complement your Sage inventory management solution.
The following five techniques will help you improve your Sage inventory management—and cash flow.
1. Set minimum order levels
Make your Sage inventory management easier by setting minimum and maximum order levels for each of your products. Minimum order levels are the minimum amount of product that must always be in stock and maximum levels stop you from overstocking on items. When your inventory stock dips below your predetermined levels, Sage inventory management can automatically raise a purchase order to replenish your stock level. This can be set as your “minimum reorder level”. Sage inventory management solutions always give you real-time data and a true insight into your warehouse, which means you can monitor stock levels at the touch of a button.
Although setting minimum order and reorder levels requires some research and decision-making upfront, having set levels will help you automate your process of ordering and make it easier for you to make more informed decisions quickly.
Just remember that conditions change over time, so it is worthwhile reviewing your minimum order and reorder levels on a regular basis so you can make changes accordingly.
2. First-In-First-Out with Sage inventory
Following the “first-in, first-out” (FIFO) principle, can help your warehouse get to grips with inventory management. First-in, first-out is the technique of selling your oldest stock (first-in) first (first-out) and replacing your old stock with your newest stock. FIFO is especially important for perishable products, so you don’t end up with unsellable spoilage. Having FIFO in place helps you to avoid under-appreciating the costs associated with your inventory and therefore, losing money in the process.
FIFO is not only useful for perishable products; it can also be a good idea to practice FIFO for non-perishable products. Packaging design and features often change over time within industries and by ensuring that your oldest stock is always sold first you can minimise the risk of ending up with obsolete stock that cannot be sold.
3. Manage relationships
The ability to adapt is a key quality to have when it comes to successful inventory management. A strong relationship with your suppliers is vital, by building strong relationships, you will have more insight into the availability and lead times of products, get insights into new trends and hopefully solve any supplier issues faster. Whether you need to return a slow-selling item to make room for a new product, restock a fast seller quickly or troubleshoot manufacturing issues. It’s important that your stock control solution has this information readily available for you and a Sage stock control solution can help you to be more agile and adapt to changes in the market.
4. Contingency planning
In an ideal world, your operations would run seamlessly day in, day out. However, there are many issues that can be related to inventory management, if you don’t have the right stock control solution in place. These types of problems can cripple unprepared businesses.
For example:
Unexpected sales increases leading to stock oversell
You run into a cash flow shortfall and can’t pay for a product you desperately need
Your warehouse doesn’t have enough room to accommodate your fluctuations in sales
Miscalculations in inventory
Obsolete stock takes up all your storage space
Manufacturers run out, or can’t supply your products that are required to complete orders
However, with an inventory management solution like Bit Inventory 50 or Bit Inventory 200, you can prepare to avoid these unexpected issues. Bit Inventory provides you with a solution to quickly capture stock transactions in real-time so your stock reports are always up to date, you can set minimum and maximum order levels so you never run out of stock or over order, you can check supplier balances and manage your cash flow as well as manage stock locations and bins to help maximise storage in your warehouse.
5. Accurate forecasting
A large part of effective inventory management comes down to accurately predicting demand. Make no mistake, this is incredibly hard to do, especially if your employees are having to do this manually. There are countless variables involved and you’ll never know for sure exactly what’s coming—but you can try to get close. Here are a few things to look at when projecting your future sales:
Trends in the market
Year on year comparisons
This year’s growth rate
Guaranteed sales from contracts and subscriptions
Seasonality and the overall economy
Upcoming promotions and industry news
Planned additional spend
Creating demand forecasts can help businesses to prepare for seasonal peaks and troughs as well as product trends and events that may change product demands in advance.
Take control with Sage inventory
With an effective inventory management system in place, you can help reduce costs, keep your organisation profitable, analyse patterns and trends that help you predict future sales and prepare the business for the unexpected. This gives businesses a better chance for profitability and survival whilst remaining competitive and agile.
Bit Inventory for Sage can help you to automate reporting, trends, analysis and movements of goods.
It’s time to take control of your inventory management and stop losing money. Choose the right inventory management solution for your organisation and start implementing them today.
If you are a business owner, particularly in the warehousing and logistics industry the words ‘inventory management’ can bring you out in a cold sweat. To different organisations, inventory management can mean many different things. If the first thing that comes to mind is large amounts of downtime and tedious manual counting, then we believe it may be time for your business to review your inventory management processes. It is common for businesses to reconcile their inventory levels at the end of the year by ‘counting up’ their physical products and this can require a lot of downtime and manual labour. With Sage warehouse management techniques, we believe you can maximise the efficiency of this process as well as save money.
As trends and advances in technologies develop, it is vital for organisations to realise how important effective inventory management is. If we think about inventory management in its most simple terms, your held inventory is a placeholder for your company’s money. Money that you have paid out for inventory, will be eventually recovered, but while that inventory is sat in your warehouse it is just a debit in your company’s bank account.
Holding inventory can tie up significant amounts of your company’s cash – and there are also indirect costs associated with managing high levels of stock. That is why effective and efficient inventory management is crucial for a growing organisation and just like cash flow, it can make or break your business.
The good news is, it is not too late to get the right inventory management techniques implemented.
Why inventory management is important?
Before exploring the intricacies of inventory management, it is important for businesses to understand where you are now in regard to the management of your inventory. Are you just about managing to ensure you have enough inventory on hand and in movement to meet your customer demand or are you happy that your business is achieving a successful movement of inventory?
Sage warehouse management techniques can help save you money.
1. Avoid spoilage
If you are selling perishable products that have an expiry date, for example, food or makeup, then there is a high chance that the products will be spoilt if they are not sold in time. That combined with legal requirements of selling certain products within a set time frame means that without a system like Sage warehouse management, you run the risk of unnecessary spoilage.
2. Avoid deadstock
Deadstock means that you can no longer sell those items. This doesn’t always necessarily have to be down to an expiry date. There are many other reasons you can have dead stock such as your items being out of season, out of style, no longer required or otherwise becoming obsolete.
With Sage warehouse management technology, you can have a system in place that acts as a centralised hub for all your inventory information. This means you can access data in real-time, anywhere; all at your fingertips. Sage warehouse management helps you to avoid dead stock by enabling you to access vital trend information like what products are selling well and which are not, allowing you to make decisions regarding price reductions or increases. Information and alerts on stock levels and pending incoming stock can also help you drive efficiency and more importantly, save money.
3. Save on storage costs
The warehousing industry can often hold variable costs for storage, meaning it fluctuates based on how much product you are holding.
By storing excess inventory and ending up with items that are difficult to shift, your storage costs will naturally increase due to holding stock. Sage warehouse management offers real-time data on any stock movements, adjustments or change and is easily tracked and updated. This pinpoint accuracy allows goods in and goods out to move fluidly and eliminates duplication of tasks, increasing accuracy and validating data in real-time to reduce errors.
Inventory management improves cash flow
Not only is effective inventory management more cost-efficient, but it also improves cash flow in other ways, too. It is important to remember that you paid out cash for your inventory, and while it is there to be sold as revenue, while it’s sitting in your warehouse it is definitely not cash.
This is why it’s important to factor inventory into your cash flow management. Inventory directly affects sales (by dictating how much you can sell) and expenses (by dictating what you have to buy), and both of these elements factor heavily into how much cash you have on hand. In short, better inventory management leads to better cash flow management.
When you have a solid inventory system like Sage warehouse management, you’ll know exactly how much inventory you have, and based on sales data you can predict when that inventory will need to be replenished to make sure you replace it on time. Not only does this help ensure you don’t lose sales (critical for cash flow), but it also lets you plan ahead so you can ensure you have enough cash set aside for purchasing more inventory.
In our next blog, we will discuss different management techniques and strategy specific goals to implement within your organisation. Remember, money spent on inventory is money that is not spent on growth. To ensure you manage it wisely, contact Bit Systems to see how our inventory management systems can transform your business today.
Even though we are still holding onto a bit of sunshine through Autumn, there is no denying the colder winds are beginning to make an appearance once again. Naturally, with the leaves falling and the brisk winds approaching, consumers may turn their attention to holidays such as Halloween and Christmas. But for companies, this means looking at their stock control.
For the warehousing, logistics and manufacturing industries, holidays such as these have been on the horizon for a long time throughout the year. When managing a warehouse, forecasting demand isn’t as black and white as the seasonal weather changing in front of you, it takes planning for resource, informed estimates of stock for new and old trend products as well as accurate forecasting of traditional stock items.
Seasonal supply disruptions can be made easier and more seamless with Sage stock control, however, staying on top of demand fluctuations throughout the year can be difficult for distributors to navigate without the proper tools and processes in place. This doesn’t just occur for distributors, seasonal supply disruptions happen the whole way through the supply chain and in this blog, we are going to look into how you can overcome some of these issues.
Seasonal events that can affect your stock control
Before we look into what can be done to overcome the issues of seasonal changes in consumer demand, we are going to explore a few examples of popular holidays that can have major implications on your stock management if they are not planned for correctly, and what may occur if you don’t have a solution such as Sage stock control in place.
Christmas Inventory Demands
Christmas and New Year’s, a very popular and exciting holiday that can quite literally take up the whole year planning and getting the right levels of stock ready and sent out to retailers at the right time leading up to the festive period. As one of the busiest periods for many distributors, many warehouses need to draft in temporary staff to cover the extra workload and to cover full-time workers who want to take time off for the festive period to spend time with their friends and family. This can cause major disruption to supply chains as well as your inventory management processes if you are not using the right stock management solution.
In order to make temporary staff as efficient as possible, it is imperative to have a solution that is simple to use and intuitive. Spending time training temporary staff on how to use stock management software is time wasted, so the quicker they can learn to use the software the better.
Christmas can also throw up other stock management issues such as where your stock is being sourced from, supplier lead time and how efficiently you can replenish and stay on top of movement of stock in order to cover the extra demand over the festive period. Manufacturers, in particular, cut down on production operations to the bare minimum and most likely have only a few members of staff to assist over the festive period, with some even shutting down completely. This is due to prior planning and the advanced manufacturing of the products and items that lead to the countless isles and shelves being stocked with everyone’s favourite presents.
Chinese New Year – Demand Forecasting
This holiday has a huge impact on distributors and warehouses in the exporting and importing industry. The Chinese New Year, depending on the lunar calendar can be celebrated for up to 2 weeks or often longer. This results in a number of employees taking holiday shortly after Christmas and can have implications on processes, manufacturing and logistics.
So, whilst manufacturers are slowing down, warehouses and inventory management are doing the opposite. If production is slowing down immensely, software solutions like Sage stock control allow distributors and warehouses who source from these manufacturers and suppliers to ensure they have enough inventory to cover their demand leading up to and throughout the holidays until production resumes.
So, that begs the question, how does Sage stock control help to achieve this?
Coping with Supply Disruptions with Sage Stock control
These annual supply disruptions are unavoidable for your supply chain because reality is, we can’t change the seasonal calendar. So how can you make sure to maintain your fulfilment rates and keep customer satisfaction levels high?
Replenish early
With Sage stock control, you gain visibility into your stock in real-time data. With an effective inventory management software solution, you can manage your annual supply disruptions, so you know when you need to replenish your stock in time to meet consumer and seasonal demand. However, there are also additional variables that need to be taken into account, and a number of key questions businesses need to consider.
What are your key products over the festive period?
How long is the lead time on those products?
Do you have enough to cover demand?
Manually forecasting is always a good place to start when it comes to the replenishment of your stock. However, a more effective way is implementing the use of an inventory management solution like Sage stock control. This puts you at a competitive advantage as you can consider the different demand types for each product and have real-time insight into your inventory levels.
However, it is a balancing act between stocking enough inventory to cover demand and overstocking (which can result in tied-up capital and obsolescence). While it’s important to ensure you have enough stock to cover your demand through the holidays, it is equally important to make sure you do not over replenish leaving you with excess stock that is unlikely to be sold once the holiday period is over. This can be a delicate act, but with Sage stock control, it can make forecasting your demand easier.
Communicate effectively with your supplier or be a good communicator
Whether you are dealing with a supplier, or you are the supplier, chances are, you will be managing warehouse stock movements and it is easy to get inundated with orders whilst trying to prepare for the holidays. Typically, as a wholesaler or retailer you will plan in advance with your manufacturer what stock you will be needing, however it is up to you to make sure that lines of communications are open so that your supplier is not blindsided by a large order that they will not be able to fulfil in time and that you take into account your supplier lead times and possible extensions to that lead-time during a busy period. Sage stock control can notify you of any stock levels that are low so you can prioritise these items. Understanding the pressure around the holidays and being able to do something about it can be the difference between having a successful holiday period or not.
Streamline processes with Sage stock control
Streamlining processes when it comes to warehouse management is something to consider all year round. However, the hectic festive periods can highlight this importance even more. Holiday periods are busy enough without scrambling to put together replenishment orders or analyse data for forecasting, so make sure that you are in control and your supply chain is operating smoothly from start to finish with a Sage stock control solution. Using a software solution instead of manual stock management will help you to manage your holiday procurement more effectively from start to finish and get rid of any unnecessary stress. Not only will your speed and efficiency improve, but costs and errors will be reduced. By preparing your supply chain for these annual disruptions, you can make sure that your business will remain operational and trusted by both your suppliers and your customers. If you’re interested in making the festive holidays less stressful and help your business flourish with seamless integration of Sage stock control, give us a call today.
Here at Bit Systems, we’ve been really busy helping many different organisations from varying industries and sectors with streamlining their operational processes with our stock management, manufacturing and logistics software solutions.
It’s pretty obvious when our clients work with us how passionate we are about how our stock management solutions integrate into your business. We love it, even more, when we see you maximise your business potential and more importantly, gaining those financial rewards in return.
So we thought, why not raise our profile a little bit more and we have recently worked with Vida Unique, a modern lifestyle and business magazine to discuss how to run a more efficient business with barcoding stock management, manufacturing and logistics solutions.
Do you have your warehouse management under control?
For those in the warehousing industry who carry non-perishable stock, it can be easy to overstock and carry extra inventory to help meet consumer demands over time. However, while this can benefit organisations in some circumstances, what if demand for stock fluctuates and you are left with not only leftover stock but more importantly your valuable cash being tied up?
If your warehouse pushes high volumes of stock in and out, then you need to be able to manage not only your costs but every level of the supply chain. A Sage warehouse management solution can help you to do just that.
Issues with carrying excess inventory
If you find yourself carrying an excess of inventory over the course of time, there will naturally be an effect on profitability and cash flow. Carrying high levels of stock at different pricing can reduce the amount of available cash flow and can incur high carrying costs and these are not the only inventory costs that you need to be aware of.
If you are holding high levels of stock for a product with low demand, you are in a position where you are holding stock that didn’t necessarily have to be there in the first instance. Without having a solution in place such as a Sage warehouse management solution, you may not have the capabilities to manage your stock levels, freeing up working capital and can run the risk of stock items becoming obsolete over time.
Detailed planning and more intelligent procurement processes can help to avoid costly mistakes and oversights. With a Sage warehouse management solution, there are strategies you can put in place to help increase inventory efficiency and eliminate manual data handling.
Reducing supplier lead-time with a Sage warehouse management solution
By having the right warehouse management software solution in place, managing the operational demands of your warehouse is simple. You can reduce supplier lead-times by knowing in advance when stock needs to be replenished, as you will be able to view real-time stock levels, giving you more flexibility when reordering and reducing your inventory carrying costs.
Centralising inventory control
By investing in an integrated Sage warehouse management solution and integrating your Sage accounts, you can have all of your data, analysis and real-time tracking of your stock in one central location, optimising your operations and reducing the risk of human errors from occurring. You can create more accurate reports, have safe stock levels for high demand items and streamline your distribution capabilities through business intelligence to maximise distribution between multi-location warehouses.
Reducing excess stock and eliminating obsolete inventory can reduce inventory issues, however, to really stay ahead of your competitors, it is essential to increase your warehouse visibility and to have the systems in place to assist with smarter planning. A Sage warehouse management solution can give you the perfect procurement tool to enable you to spend more time running a successful business and maximise your profitability.
