Inventory management is a vital function for businesses of every size. With the rising popularity of cloud inventory systems, many companies have already transitioned from using spreadsheets to manage their inventory. Using an inventory management system undoubtedly improves order fulfillment accuracy and efficiency. But, what if you could make it better? That is where a barcode inventory system can help.
Barcode inventory systems have been around for a long, long time. However, why have businesses been slow or sometimes reluctant to adopt the technology? We believe that companies often shy away from implementing barcode inventory software because they perceive it to be complicated to manage. We hear you – using barcodes for inventory management sounds complex. But, in reality, it is a pretty simple and effective way to improve your warehouse efficiency. In this article, we”ll take a look at some of the benefits that barcode inventory software provides.
Benefits of barcode inventory management
Improves inventory accuracy
Knowing how much inventory you are holding is critical to making well-informed procurement decisions and realistic fulfillment commitments. The impact of not having an inventory management system that you can rely on can be far-reaching. From losing customers to under-stocking to over-stocking – the list goes on. Traditional inventory management systems do a reasonably good job of increasing inventory accuracy. However, if you want to take it up a notch, barcode inventory software is the answer. By eliminating human errors that are pretty common during cycle counting, receipts, and deliveries, using a barcode inventory system helps increase your inventory accuracy.
Eliminates order fulfillment errors
If you run a small business with just a few SKUs, accurately fulfilling orders should be a walk in the park. However, as your business and product offering grows, ensuring you ship the right products to your customers becomes relatively complex. Imagine a company selling T-shirts in several different colors, sizes, and designs. The odds of the fulfillment team shipping out the wrong item are very high. Shipping out orders incorrectly ultimately results in unhappy customers and your team spending time processing returns and replacements unnecessarily. A barcode inventory system avoids such costly human errors and dramatically improves fulfillment accuracy.
Ship orders faster
Perhaps the most significant advantage of using a barcode inventory management system is that it helps your warehouse team to pick and ship orders at a much faster rate. Your picking team can quickly locate, pick, pack, and ship products – all using just a barcode scanner. A barcode inventory system also helps warehouse pickers accurately process the correct order quantities by eliminating the need for manual counting.
Reduces time to perform cycle counting
Depending on the size of your inventory, a cycle count can take anywhere between a few days to several weeks. Most businesses would have their warehouse team count inventory manually, record inventory levels in a spreadsheet before finally importing it into their inventory software. This method works just fine for most businesses. However, a barcode inventory system can eliminate data re-entry, improve cycle count accuracy and save you a significant amount of time. Barcode inventory systems utilize tightly integrated smart devices capable of communicating with the inventory database. This seamless integration allows for real-time updates to inventory levels without the need for spreadsheets.
Improves inventory traceability
Inventory traceability is critical for businesses that need to track their products through the supply chain. Having upstream and downstream traceability of products can help companies identify and resolve quality issues, respond to warranty claims, and much more.
Conclusion
As you can see, implementing a barcode inventory system can bring several benefits to your business, from improving inventory accuracy to increasing warehouse efficiency. Switching from managing inventory using spreadsheets or traditional inventory software to a barcode inventory system will be worth it in the long run for your business.
