The Holidays can be a stressful time for even the most organized and serene inventory management team. Inventory control can threaten to get out of hand, making the yuletide into a drooltide.
To prevent the nightmare before Christmas, you need the very best inventory management software. Without it, your holiday goose is cooked. Here are 5 different ways Grinch can sneak up on even the most vigilant warehouse expert:
Double Data Entry Trouble.
Without the proper software and consulting help, it doesn’t matter if you track inventory on a notepad or an Excel spreadsheet — you still have the nearly impossible task of how to remember to update your records each time you make a sale or place an order or even transfer wares to a different location. Also, you wind up having to enter the same info into your warehouse inventory system plus your account software since the two are not integrated. There must be an easier way to keep all this vital information locked in one place — right?
Those Darn Data Entry Errors.
There is always a large risk of error when you manually enter inventory statistics into an Excel file, or do it on a of paper. No matter how good you or your typist is, mistakes creep in occasionally. When you’re dealing with large amounts of inventory and real-time accounting numbers the misplacement of even a single digit can skew your inventory stats. This, in turn, can hobble your business decisions — making them less effective and profitable than they should be. What’s to be done?
The Loss of Inventory.
You don’t want to have to play hide and seek with valuable inventory. Without the proper use of tracking strategies like lot numbers, serial numbers or barcodes, you can be sure that your inventory will slip away into the depths of your warehouse, never to be found again until long after it is no longer needed. Your workers will constantly be running around like chickens with their heads cut off, looking for shipments that were supposed to have gone out yesterday. To say nothing of plain, old-fashioned pilfering! What is the answer?
Shortages and Overstocks.
When you need it, it’s not there — and when demand falters, you have a warehouse full of it. Without advanced and in-depth charts with correlating reports you’ll miss out on seasonal trends and other supply & demand habits. Other warehouses run smoothly all year round, with no inventory hassles — why can’t yours?
What a Waste of Time!
An antiquated inventory management system wastes time. Period. There’s no upside to it. Ill-planned picking paths, repetitive receiving procedures, and warehouse layouts that resemble a maze — all of these things eat up time that is better spent organizing, tabulating, and updating. It’s time to speed things up, get your tracking system to multi-task, and fix your picking path for maximum efficiency.
Conclusion.
It’s software like Fishbowl Inventory that will prevent your warehouse management from having to deal with data errors, lost inventory, shortages and overstocks, and double data entries. A Fishbowl Inventory Expert is your guaranteed guide to a smoother-running warehouse, happier employees, and a more optimistic bottom line.
