Managing a warehouse is all about the efficient management of your stock. This is achieved by knowing just what stock you have at any one time. It starts relatively straightforward until you have more stock than manual counting can handle and keep track of efficiently. However, what we can do is to take advantage of the barcodes on boxes and count them using a scanner. This allows for no misreading of labels and greater speed when checking everything in or out. To make this kind of system work, however, good software is required. The kinds of software that you can obtain from visiting https://www.scoutsft.com/barcode-inventory-scanner/.
So, let us look at all the reasons why software can help us with stock control.
What topShelf Can Do?
Cloud-based inventory software such as topShelf can manage multiple warehouse locations in terms of bins, SKU numbers, and assets. Its ability to handle several warehouse locations means that it can take care of the whole operation of a business that deals in products or stock of all kinds. It can manage assets effectively, too.
SKU stands for stock-keeping unit and is a scannable barcode. You will see them printed on product labels inside a retail store. More and more businesses are making use of them for stock control. The label will allow sellers to automatically track inventory movement. The SKU is an alphanumeric combination that consists of around eight characters. These are what identify the item and allow it to be tracked through a warehouse system. Another number used to identify stock is the GTIN (global trade item number). The difference between this and SKU is that GTIN is an international identification of a product that does not change from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer, whereas SKU is an identifying series of numbers and letters that will change depending on which business is making an inventory of the product.
Real-time Information
A stock control system is most effective when it can tell you in an instant what your stock levels are. Inventory software can tell a business in real-time just what its stock levels are at any one moment. Everything scanned in or out will be accounted for and scanned into the system via its barcode so that it is included in the figures. The figures available will be what is currently stored inside the warehouse ready for dispatch.
With warehouse management software and top of the line barcode reader, wholesalers can reliably inform retailers whether they have enough stock to supply them with the number they require. You can find a bar code reader with Bluetooth like this in technologically advanced warehouses and business that are constantly pushing the edges of innovation.
Error Free
It is more accurate to use barcode scanners and the software that accompanies them to manage the stock within a warehouse. Used in combination they accurately record and store the numbers that relate to the stock held. Any human intervention increases the chance of errors creeping into a system. The more automated we can make a system the better. For instance, numbers relating to stock items do not get written down wrongly when scanners and software are used. Where they do, this has the potential to disappoint customers when stock has run out because of a badly managed system. Effective stock management relies on there being enough items in the warehouse and at the right time. Inventory software can handle this and any variations in demand not related to seasonal ones which are more predictable for a business.
So, inventory software certainly can be seen as the solution to effective warehouse management. It is what allows for the stock figures to be recorded and displayed to everyone in the warehouse, anyone that is in a buying capacity, and for management to make decisions. It means that stock levels can be controlled from any location and then acted upon. Quicker and more effective decisions can be made concerning stock. This will help with making sales and with the cash flow of a business. It is vital not to keep too much stock that is not selling and to have enough of those items that are in demand. Those items of stock are the ones that can, after all, be quickly turned into cash.