From healthcare to manufacturing, modern businesses rely on inventory control in order to stay competitive and make the most of their resources. The more inventory you need to move, the more important it is for you to make use of advanced inventory management systems so that you can maximize gains while minimizing loss. The exact functions and features of your inventory management system will depend on your company's individual needs, but all successful advanced inventory management systems share some common features.
One key feature of an advanced inventory management system is the use of automation. In many inventory-intensive industries, bar-coding systems and electronic data interchange systems have revolutionized inventory management by reducing the risk of human error. The manual entry of data is full of error possibilities – accidently transposing numbers, putting a value in the wrong column/row of a spreadsheet, etc. – but a barcode scanner will rarely misread a barcode. Automation also increases the speed at which inventory work can be done, as barcode scanners can scan thousands of items in a matter of minutes.
Another vital characteristic of an advanced inventory management system is its ability to analyze past events and use that data to predict future events. In a perfect world, you could predict exactly when, where, and how much of your inventory will be needed, but since we’re not quite there yet, modern inventory tracking technology can collect and analyze data that tells you about customer preferences and market trends with reasonable accuracy. Armed with this data, you can better anticipate your customer's future needs and stock your inventory far more effectively.
A third feature of advanced inventory management is its effectiveness at managing inventory across multiple locations. Whether your company's inventory moves across multiple sites or across multiple locations within the same site, tracking the location of your inventory at all times is essential for preventing lost product, saving time and effort, and complying with certain regulations. An advanced inventory management system takes advantage of location-based technology like GPS and RFID tagging to keep track of its inventory at all times, in all places.
As with all of the technology available in our industries, inventory management technology is advancing and improving all the time. Advanced inventory management is a highly automated process that reduces human error, speeds up the inventory process, uses data analytics to predict future needs, and manages inventory across multiple sites.
Oates & Company is dedicated to helping companies find an advanced inventory management solution that fits them to a “t” – contact us for more information on our products and services.
