What is Inventory Management?

Inventory Management is the subcategory of SCM (Supply Chain Management) that facilitates the control, tracking and storage of products from warehouse to store to sale. With inventory management software, a company can quickly assess how much of a product they have left in stock, and whether or not they need to ramp up or slow down production.

What role does inventory management play within the supply chain

At the heart of the supply chain is proper inventory control.Companies that have up-to-date and accurate inventory information will eliminate out-of-stock woes and, in the case of perishable goods, eliminate waste and profit loss. Companies also rely on inventory management systems to communicate information across entire divisions of a company, from sales to supplies to procurement managers.

My company doesn’t have a physical product. Should I still consider an inventory management solution?

Absolutely. Inventory Management solutions are essential for companies selling both tangible and intangible products. While intangible items such as a digital download or app may skip the physical supply line entirely, it is still necessary to track that item to its destination and create a record of that sale within your database.

Is cloud-based inventory management software the way to go?

Years ago, businesses relied on expensive software that was downloaded directly onto company computers. This software was a pain to update and the data it housed could not be shared easily across disparate elements of a business, such as manufacturing, sales and management.

Cloud-based SaaS has changed all of that. Today, InventoryManagement solutions share data across all of a company’s departments, all in real time. A business can now organize their inventory across multiple physical locations, or track items from storage to retail store by serial number, SKU number, or lot number—whichever is more convenient.

Above all, a SaaS-based Inventory Management solution reduces confusion and speeds up the movement of goods and services to their intended destinations, which means more productivity and higher profit margins.