Small businesses in Singapore own only a limited number of assets, inventory so they may keep records of their inventory manually. However, keeping records of all the stock and other items owned by the business manually is very time consuming and the possibility of errors is also higher. Hence larger businesses are preferring to use an inventory management system in Singapore to keep accurate records of the stock available, and improve their efficiency. Many companies have developed software for inventory management, and some of the features which the software for optimally managing the inventory should have are discussed below.
Inventory
The most important feature of any software for inventory management is keeping accurate records of the various items which the business will use. For this the software should consider the different kinds of products which it will purchase or have a provision for customization of the software, based on the specific requirement of the business. Typically trading businesses are only dealing with finished goods, while manufacturing businesses deal with raw material as well as finished goods. The software should be designed so that it is easy for the staff to update the quantity or volume of items available depending on whether new items are purchased or existing items are sold.
Sales tracking
Another important feature of the software is that the user should be able to generate sales reports quickly based on changes in inventory. While customers may place an order for any item online, if the item is not in stock, the order is cancelled. Only after the finished product is shipped, a business considers it a sale. The sales reports may be generated daily or weekly depending on the size of the business. The sales information can be then used to formulate the marketing strategy for the business, if more items are sold, it indicates that the product is in demand. In contrast if less items are sold, the business may offer discounts to boost sales.
Purchase decisions
All businesses are either ordering finished goods from suppliers or purchasing raw material which they convert into finished goods. Usually the supplier will take some time ranging from a few days to a few weeks to deliver the goods or raw material to the customer location after the order is placed. So most businesses have to place their orders well in advance, when they notice that the inventory of a particular raw material or product is low. The software should automate the process of placing orders to some extent, so that the user does not have to check manually.
Location
Most medium size businesses have a large number of items, and it is usually not possible for the staff to remember the location of each item. So the software should also have a provision for mentioning the exact location in the warehouse or storage area, where the item is being stored. A photograph of the location may also be provided for convenience. This makes it easy for the staff to locate any item even if they are new to the job.
