Stock management is the practice of managing the products your company intends to sell. This also entails getting those things and getting them stored, organized, and tracked. You can use stock management systems to boost productivity and speed. We will primarily examine two stock management systems: the online and warehouse stock management system.
What Are Stock Management Systems?
Stock management systems can store, order, track, and manage the status of products or other items. You can also enter your items into the system and receive reports on all the products and materials that are now available in your warehouse or storage system.
In addition, they automate what was formerly a labor-intensive, manual process of counting each item one at a time and documenting it on paper. Digitizing this procedure (stock management) increases accuracy while also saving time.
What stock management systems do
- Stock optimization,
- Product identification
- It tracks your inventories and stock.
- Service management for service-oriented businesses,
- Asset tracking.
- Reorder points
To respond to shifting market conditions and demands without missing out on sales opportunities, stock management systems provide reliable data on stock conditions in real-time as well as insights into trends.
What Is Stock Management?
Stock management is the practice of managing the products your company intends to sell. This calls for the purchase, storage, planning, and tracking of those commodities.
In other words, it also entails documenting any adjustments to your inventory over time. This aids in ensuring that you have the proper quantity of each good or item on hand to meet demand from customers. Stock management includes ordering, storing, tracking, and regulating inventory.
Why Is Stock Management Important?
Inventory is a significant asset that symbolizes capital that is held up. However, it is only by managing stock well, that a company can release capital.
Effective stock management requires understanding the mix of various stock types and being aware of the demands on that stock. As a result, the stock is kept at a manageable level, balancing the requirement for extra supplies with the need to free up capital.
Controlling your inventory will enable you to establish a clear procedure for handling returns and damaged goods, as well as stop the delivery of incorrect goods to customers. The warehouse team will benefit from a stock management system to process the products correctly and assign them to their proper locations.
Examples of Stock Management Systems
#1. inFlow Inventory
More than 90 nations use inFlow for manufacturing, distribution, e-commerce, wholesale, and other purposes. With inFlow, you’ll have the resources you need to accurately and quickly track products. In addition, you can receive, transfer, or fulfill stock in real time using inventory features, regardless if it is an iPhone or Android device.
Production add-ons allow for quick kitting and assembly. Barcodes are also simple to adopt for scanning thanks to built-in barcode generation and label printing. Additionally, when you sell any goods or materials, their value is subtracted from your current stock, and you are given the correct digit of the current stock. With its many features, this stock management system can manage stock in just about any warehouse.
#2. Zoho
Stock management systems include Zoho. With the help of their robust stock management, order fulfillment, and inventory control software, you can boost your sales and keep track of every unit.
You can also utilize their multi-channel inventory management solution to grow your business online. Create an account on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or Shopify, integrate it and begin selling your products.
Zoho also utilizes serial number and batch tracking features to keep track of each item or batch in your inventory.
#3. Sellbrite
With Sellbrite, you can manage listings, inventory, and order fulfillment all from a single, user-friendly interface, helping you to reach new customers wherever they buy.
When things are ordered, Sellbrite immediately updates the channels and modifies your inventory to keep everything in sync. By doing this, you can prevent the overselling of products you don’t have in stock.
In addition, you can ship all of your sales from a single interface, print discounted shipping labels, or have orders sent automatically to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
#4. Odoo
Odoo is a collection of business management system tools, such as CRM, e-commerce, billing, accounting, manufacturing, warehouse, project management, and stock management, among others. Opt for the most effective stocking strategy, and your internal processes will all be improved. Stock input, output, or transformation do not exist in Odoo’s double-entry inventory.
All activities instead involve moving stock from one place to another. Under the terms of the GNU LGPLv3, the Community version is free software.
Using the clever double-entry inventory system, your warehouse will be more organized.
#5. Lightspeed HQ
Lightspeed Retail is a cloud-based point-of-sale system that manages transactions for business owners. Excellent inventory management features also allow business owners to keep track of things across different locations, add product variations, and place orders for inventories using connected vendor catalogs.
The item is also an excellent fit for more established small businesses like chain clothing stores and other retailers with several locations. A simpler, more affordable solution might benefit young, small enterprises with less complex processes.
#6. Orderhive
You can automate the management of your e-commerce orders, inventory, and delivery. Cin7 Orderhive instantly imports all of the products, orders, and customers.
Moreover, you won’t need to switch back and forth between separate systems with Cin7 Orderhive’s consolidated interface for managing orders and inventory across all of your other sales channels. Additionally, you’ll be able to automate your tedious operating procedures, like (examples), with the help of it.
#7. Megaventory
Megaventory is a cloud-based order and inventory management tool that aids medium-sized firms in
- Controlling order fulfillment,
- Manufacturing management,
- Invoicing, and
- Reporting for numerous locations.
Because of programs such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Zapier, it interfaces without any issues.
Megaventory provides complete customer support. While the inventory management feature focuses on
- Providing inventory at numerous locations,
- Monitoring stock levels,
- Confirming supplier availability, and
- Assuring the timely return of merchandise.
Customers’ sales orders as well as suppliers’ purchase orders can both be managed by users using the order fulfillment tool. Creating sales quotations, shipment quotes, drop-shipping estimates, and consignment information are also made easier with its help.
#8. ShipMonk
You may bid farewell to your bulky spreadsheets because, with ShipMonk’s inventory site, it is getting better.
Shipmonk helps you
- Receive low-stock notifications,
- Identify your top-selling SKUs, b
- Blacklist outdated SKUs, and
- Track inventory levels across numerous sales channels.
- Your inventory will also be obvious and under your complete control with ShipMonk’s inventory system.
#9. eChannelHub
In order to reduce the time it takes for new products to reach the market, ChannelHub’s mission is to digitally connect IT and consumer tech vendors with the distribution channels, such as distributors, retailers, and resellers.
In addition, by combining cutting-edge technology with human expertise, ChannelHub gives vendors, distributors, and resellers from all over the world a quick and simple way to establish trustworthy relationships.
#10. Deskera
Deskera is an integrated platform that has won awards. It helps SMBs scale more quickly and with fewer tools. For managing accounting, inventory, payroll, sales, and marketing automation, Deskera is also used by hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, including everything from convenience stores to manufacturing facilities.
#11. Finale Inventory
Finale Inventory is the best multichannel stock management solution. With millions of orders processed, Finale Inventory powers customers from all over the world. With advanced multi-warehouse inventory management features, you can also coordinate your inventory across all of your warehouses, locations, and online sales channels to make sure that it is managed effectively and efficiently no matter where it is.
Warehouse Stock Management System.
A warehouse management system (WMS) is computer software that enables users to track inventory and supplies more effectively as they pass through a warehouse or distribution center. Additionally, a WMS speeds up and improves the accuracy of procedures like receiving, picking, and putting away products. The goal of a warehouse management system is to organize the activities of a warehouse or distribution center so that it may run effectively and satisfy customer demands.
The Benefits of Using a Warehouse Management System
- Warehouse management system reduces time that it takes to pick, package and ship items. Consequently, clients will benefit quicker and feel better about the entire procedure.
- The more you have to keep track of as your company grows. That might cause issues if you don’t have a standardized, user-friendly platform for managing your warehouse, so for that reason alone, investing in a scalable WMS is a wise move.
- WMS will help you save money and boost morale on the floor by assisting you in determining what works for your product and your staff.
- You may get a much clearer and more comprehensive view of your product with customizable reporting tools, which will help you prepare in advance to satisfy demand as well as minimize misunderstandings with your customers.
An Example of the Warehouse Management System
- Softeon Warehouse Management System (WMS)
- Aptean WMS Edition
- HAL Traxx
- Latitude WMS
- Ramp Enterprise WMS
- Oracle Warehouse
- Fishbowl Warehouse
Common Warehouse Stock Management System Features
When researching warehouse management software, it’s important to know what features and functionality you’ll be looking for. These are the below.
- Shipping
- Reporting
- Inventory tracking
- Receiving and Putaway
- Warehouse design
Online Stock Management System
The online stock management system uses an orderly and systematic method to handle the input and outflow of our items inside the company.
It is crucial that stocks are maintained and kept up-to-date for the proper amount of inventory to be available at the right time and in the right quantity.
Unlike software that is downloaded and installed on your physical PCs and servers, an online stock management system is accessed through the internet. This drastically lowers the amount of hardware needed by your business. The subscription-based pricing plans that these systems often offer are also less expensive than those of conventional desktop-based solutions. Because of this, small businesses can afford to use an online stock management system.
Read Also: INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: How to Create an Excel Inventory Management System
Features of an Online Stock Management System
- Service Management
- Reorder Point
- Product Identification ( use of barcodes)
- Asset Tracking
Examples of an Online Stock Management System
- QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
- Xero
- Asset Panda
- EZOfficeInventory
- ShippingEasy
- NetSuite
- Lightspeed Retail
- ShipStation
- Fishbowl
- Cin7
- QuickBooks Commerce
- Odoo
- Primaseller
- NetSuite
- EZRentOut
- Multiorders
- Zenventory
- TradeGecko
- Stockpile
- Stitch Labs
What Is the Best Stock Management Software?
The best stock management software is Zoho Inventory. It is also free, and includes support for online shopping and warehouse management, and has numerous integrations to help you grow your company.
What Are the Three Stock Control Systems?
#1. Perpetual Inventory System
Inventory is constantly monitored using a perpetual inventory control system. A product is immediately removed from a global inventory database after being sold by scanning its barcode. One gets scanned and uploaded to the inventory database as soon as one is received. The same informational database is also accessible to all system components.
#2. Periodic Inventory System
A physical count of the inventory is used to update a periodic inventory system at predetermined times. A company using a periodic inventory system won’t be aware of how many products it has until the physical count is finished.
When it comes to fulfilling orders, it is simple to understand how this could be an issue. When a customer wants to buy, you now need to physically check your inventory to determine if you have it in stock even though your stock count was accurate weeks or months ago.
#3. Inventory Counting and Management Technology
By actually counting every item, inventory counting is a technique for keeping track of what is currently on hand. Separating, counting, and documenting the results are all part of this meticulously organized operation. Inventory counting is also done to figure out how much actual stock there is.
How Do You Set up a Stock Management System?
- You can start by calculating the worth of your stock and its current levels. To keep track of specific stock goods, you can utilize the stock management system.
- Look at sales data to determine which products sell well and which are difficult to move. Always keep in mind to include seasonal changes.
- Determine which stock products generate the highest gross margin or the portion of your total sales revenue that remains after you subtract your direct manufacturing. Because putting effort in sales increases earnings.
- Make a list of the slow-moving, outdated, and surplus stock items, and create a plan of action to move this stock right now. Even if it’s marked down below what it originally cost, you can use the extra cash to acquire more shares.
- Inform your customers if you donate your slow-moving inventory to a good cause.
- Make sure your financial policies and procedures manual has the policy to track any stock movement and update your stock records. This will make it easier to only reorder supplies when necessary and will draw attention to any potential theft or fraud.
Which Software Is Best for Erp Inventory?
Bitrix24 is a collaboration application that offers comprehensive management, teamwork, and communication options. You can also access all of your files, projects, communications, tasks, and contacts from one place with Bitrix24.
By simply creating an account, inviting your colleagues, and using the platform right away. Additionally, an ERP software it can combine planning, purchasing, inventory, sales, marketing, finance, and other functions.
What Is the Best Way to Do Inventory?
- Find stocks with a low turn pattern.
- Count the items in your physical inventory.
- Real-time stock tracking.
- Make sure that equipment repairs happen quickly.
- Quality assurance checks.
- Make use of a stock controller.
- Sort your stuff into categories.
- Think about drop-shipping techniques.
- Sort your inventory by priority.
- Keep track of all product details.
- Check your inventory.
- Perform a supplier performance analysis.
- Practice using the 80/20 rule for inventory.
- Be consistent in the way you receive stock.
- Monitor sales.
- Self-order restocks.
- Organizing your things with as much data and product information as possible is the first step in maintaining control of your inventory.
Conclusion
Stock management systems (SMS) aim to decrease human error and speed up typical activities. Sorting, counting, picking, and receiving are just a few tasks that can be easily completed with barcoding or RFID scanning.
The warehouse stock management system helps prevent wasting products by integrating reporting tools such as demand forecasting and vendor-managed inventories. This also helps improve client services.
The relationships between suppliers and customers may be the advantages of a well-managed warehouse. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) suites that include warehouse management software can considerably improve operations.
FAQs
What are the methods of stock management?
- Just-in-time (JIT)
- FIFO.
- Economic Order Quantity.
- Vendor-managed inventory.
- Batch control.
What is stock market
The phrase “stock market” refers to a number of exchanges where shares of publicly traded companies are bought and sold. Such financial transactions take place on formal exchanges and in over-the-counter (OTC) markets that adhere to a predetermined set of rules.
What is WIP full form?
Work in progress (WIP), also known as work in process, is stock that has started the manufacturing process but has not yet reached completion. It is no longer considered to be raw materials inventory. Because money has been invested in a finished product, work in progress is viewed as an asset on a balance sheet.
References
Related Articles
- LIST OF MOST PROFITABLE SMALL BUSINESSES: Top 35 (+ Detailed Guide)
- Things You Need To Know Before Installing Warehouse Fans
- INVENTORY WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: Top 10 Picks
- Top 25 Warehouse Management Systems Software In 2023
- WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (WMS): Definition and Top 10 Picks
- Building a Winning Team: Cultivating Loyalty and Collaboration