search icon

Command and control your inventory

Delight customers, vendors, and employees with fast, accurate fulfilment.

Do not let too much, or too little inventory hurt your business.

Loss of sales and escalating costs make poor inventory management a major problem.

Not having enough stock results in stock-outs. Orders come in, you don’t have the items the customer wants, and then a scramble ensues to expedite higher-priced replenishment–or, possibly even worse, you lose the sale to a competitor who has the desired stock available. Stock-outs carry opportunity costs: the opportunity to sell at the best price and the opportunity to sell at all. 

On the other hand, holding excess stock carries costs because the inventory you stock has to be warehoused, insured, secured against shrinkage, depreciated and taxed as an asset. Excess items generally cost the business an additional 25% to 50% per year. Excess stock carries opportunity costs as well: The working capital tied up in unsold inventory is unavailable for other purposes.

Just-in-time Inventory Management

Just-In-Time Inventory Management(JIT) is a strategy used to increase company efficiency by stocking product only as it is needed for sale. Reducing the amount of inventory stored in the warehouse allows you to avoid product waste due to damage or expiration while decreasing the costs incurred in housing and maintaining unsold inventory. 


 How to improve inventory management

Improving inventory management requires improving command of your warehouse operations and the physical stock inside it. Here are four things you can work on right away that will improve your inventory management:

1. Evaluate your current practices

Before you can make improvements, take an overall look at your current practices. Effective inventory management is purpose-driven. Understanding what each link in the chain does and its purpose allows you to hone in on the specific aspects of your system that need improvement. Try consulting with other members of your team to identify potential problem areas and start there.

2. Perform routine stock reviews

A major part of inventory management is simply knowing the quantity of each item you have in stock. Tracking what you bought against what you sold will not give you the full picture. Items can get lost, stolen or damaged after they enter the warehouse and this is unavoidable. Quite often, lost items go unreported until the right person takes notice. Solve this problem by routinely reviewing your physical inventory for accuracy with your records.

3. Systematise stock replenishment

Having a system in place for restocking your inventory ensures that you will never be completely out of stock. It is crucial for the smooth flow of product during busy periods. If you do not use the Just-In-Time Strategy, you should at least have the policy to replenish inventory at set levels. If the stock of an item falls below a certain number, get the order in. Systematising the replenishment process avoids having a lapse in product availability between the time you order and receive the shipment. 

4. Learn customer behaviour

Start keeping track of how often you restock certain items and try to identify any trends or patterns. There may be seasonal or other outside factors that affect your product flow, depending on your industry. Be aware of the periods when customers order more and when they order less. Having a solid grip on customer behaviour allows you to stay ahead of the dry spells and mad rushes so you can work on maintaining the right inventory balance at all times.

Why better inventory management software is necessary

Taking charge of your inventory challenges could be the key to growing your profits.

Control costs

Take charge of your expenditure to ensure your small business stays profitable in an often unpredictable operating environment.

Get your stock right the first time.

Easily accessible live data allows you to make better decisions about what to stock, how to price and which items to discontinue.

Take charge of purchasing

Automate key elements of your purchasing process, including replenishment and records of all purchase orders and build up accurate data to make critical decisions.

Keep track of every area of your services business.

Sage 200 Evolution

Gain full control with smart, cost-effective software

  • Configure and customise Sage 200 Evolution with optional modules for different industries to suit business needs
  • Gain even more control with full inventory management including batch and serial traceability and replenishment
  • Gain better visibility with connected CRM
  • Build and access powerful data insights on the go, in the familiar environment of Excel
  • Reduce complexities with bank feeds
  • Use business intelligence and insights to propel your business forwards

 

Sage 300cloud

Sage 300cloud software can help prepare your business for growth. You'll love how easy it is to manage your accounting, inventory, operations, distribution, and more.

  • Gain a 360 degree view of  your entire operation by a single, integrated solution
  • Strengthen vendor relationships and streamline purchasing. Process and track domestic and international orders
  • Manage multiple companies and currencies
  • Automate your finances with simplified monthly reconciliations
  • Simplify your inventory by shipping orders on time, from multiple locations
  • Optimise operations and distribution processes to eliminate waste and deliver on time—every time

 

Sage Business Cloud

Sage X3

Take control of your entire business, from supply chain to sales with Sage Business Cloud X3

  • A single solution for managing your core business processes including inventory, sales, customer service, finance and workflow
  • Collaborate across divisions, countries, multiple sites, languages and legislations
  • Manage financial operations with general ledger, cost accounting and budgeting
  • Control procurement, cash flow and business purchases
  • Get 360 degree view of customers across sales, marketing, customer service and support
  • Ideal for manufacturing, wholesale distribution and service processes businesses

 

What can inventory management software do for your business?

Aim to delight your customers.

Modern-day, digitally-savvy customers can instantly compare retailers’ prices online, wherever they may be. These comparisons automatically increase pressure on prices so retailers, distributors and manufacturers often attempt to stand out based on the quality of service they provide.

You can fulfil customer orders quickly and accurately by having instant insight into stock levels, customer details, shipping information and more.


Get paid faster.

Fulfilling orders faster means you can get paid faster but keeping on top of invoicing and records of purchase orders can be a time-consuming process that causes delays and impacts on your cash flow. Automate the process using powerful systems with accurate live data to make collecting payments easier.

Maximise profit margins.

Making sure you have the right stock in the right amount and at the right time is one of the biggest inventory management challenges you will face. Running out or ending up with excess stock can prove very costly. With the right solution, you can analyse live sales and inventory data instantly to produce quality forecasts in no time at all. This way of working will help you hit your target fill rates, minimise stock-outs, and get the maximum value from your inventory.

Make time to manage a more efficiently growing business.

Better insight and oversight of your inventory can deliver benefits across your business. With more accurate forecasting and the automation of many routine tasks, you can have free time and working capital to invest where it is needed most. With instant access to live data whenever and wherever you need it, you will be able to make better decisions across your supply chain.

Change your business' competitiveness and growth.

Manage every area of your business with Sage X3.

Give Feedback