Why Do Product Based Businesses Need Warehouse Inventory Management Software?

There are two types of businesses, one that is service oriented and one that is product oriented. This is a significant difference between businesses, which affects the business's operational activities. We will talk about one of the essential operational activities of product- or product-oriented businesses. 

Product-oriented businesses in the functional sourcing chain have to perform a critical operational activity, inventory management. Service-oriented businesses don't have to worry about it; we'll keep them out of the discussion. Nevertheless, inventory management is an integral part of business management. 

What makes inventory management even more important is that it is to be carried out daily. Therefore, inventory management will be a massive hassle whether you are running a small-medium-sized business or mammoth cooperation. 

Thanks to technology, we have excellent and helpful software solutions that can ease the operation of inventory management. These software are called warehouse inventory management softwares or simply warehouse management software (WMS). 

Inventory management is an umbrella term. It has many parts, including order management, inventory tracking, order fulfillment, and many more. When talking about warehouse management, there are operations like warehouse space management, reporting, storage management, and PPS (Picking Packing Shipping). An inventory warehouse management software helps you with all of that. So let's dive in and see how inventory warehouse management software can provide your business with the utmost assistance. 

1. Warehouse Management 

Product-based businesses have to keep their inventory and stock safely in the warehouses. These warehouses are large plants, and their operations can often be challenging. Warehouse management software can help your business out with these challenges. 

It is essential for businesses to optimize their warehouse floor space so that the maximum level of stock can be kept in them. Warehouse management software makes automatic projections and views the best possible use that could be made for the space. This helps your business with less or no space wastage. 

2. Inventory Tracking

One of the most important aspects of inventory management is inventory tracking. A business must have all the information regarding stock levels. If a business doesn't keep track of stock levels, it could often run into problems like inventory shortage or surplus. 

An issue like an inventory shortage can cost a business big time. This could result in loss of customers as their demands are not catered to and, eventually, customer dissatisfaction. At the same time, inventory surplus means extra usage of warehouse space and no space left for new arrivals of inventory. 

A warehouse inventory management software resolves both of these problems. As you would have all the data regarding all the latest inventory arrivals and departures, it would be feasible for you to manage inventory. Inventory information at your fingertips can help in making better decisions. 

Another way inventory tracking could be optimized with warehouse inventory management software is that it helps your business avoid inventory loss, misplacement, and recognizing inventory theft. These software use RFID chips that are assigned to each unit. Therefore, as a displacement occurs, it could be easily identified where that unit is present in the warehouse. 

3. Inventory Costing  

Different businesses use different inventory costing methods. For example, some businesses might use FIFO, while others are comfortable working with LIFO. No matter which one your business uses, the warehouse inventory management software can be customized to inventory costing methods accordingly.  

Inventory costing can often be complex because it involves calculations. Especially even small businesses are now dealing with a massive amount of stocks. The Inventory warehouse management software can make the process of inventory costing quick and easy with the help of automation, no matter how colossal the inventory quantity is. 

4. Managing Aged Inventory

Aged inventory is inventory that has been in a warehouse for a long time. This inventory stock should be shipped off quickly because, once its shelf life is over, it's of no use and would be both a waste and a loss for the business. 

The warehouse inventory management software can help your business identify the aged inventory. This would allow you to sell it off quickly before it becomes obsolete. 

5. Reporting  

The operation of reporting is crucial in inventory management. There are many reasons why reporting should always be addressed. 

Inventory reporting provides you with all the latest information about warehouse operations. It shows all the finished stock that is ready to be shipped and the leftover stock that is yet to be shipped. Besides this, the senior management would also be able to have the latest development in the warehouse. Reporting ensures a proper flow of communication for inventory information. 

The reporting also helps in making future projections. For example, a proper track record of items shipped, inventory in progress, and remaining helps financial management. In addition, the information derived from the report could be helpful in future revenue projections. 

6. Customer Service  

Proper warehouse and inventory management can ensure maximum customer satisfaction. If the inventory is well managed, it will be picked, packaged, and shipped promptly. 

If a business's PPC (Picking Packing Shipping) is inch-perfect, the customer would be catered to with their products on time. As the delivery of the product is done with respect to time, this ensures that customers would be happy, and eventually, the chance of customer retention would drastically increase. 

7. Staff Productivity 

Inventory management software can also be an excellent measure to monitor staff performance. As with the software solution, the immediate availability of information regarding warehouse operations could highlight staff performance. 

It could be easily identified that all the tasks and operations are taken care of. Furthermore, this software can also determine the employees' low productivity, which would help the business take corrective measures.