Being better at controlling the stock you hold is a great way to make your business more profitable. And tracking what you sell, fulfilling orders quickly and re-stocking before you run out means you never miss an opportunity to increase sales. But with stock levels changing by the minute, staying in control can be tough. Stock management software ( also known as warehouse management software ) is the answer. Knowing what to buy, how much to buy and when to buy it will help prevent those frustrating “out-of-stock” aborted sales, whilst limiting the cash you have tied up in stock. And that’s not all…stock management software will help ease the pain of stock-taking, improve accuracy and provide valuable information to the sales team. Benchmark Stock Management Software is packed full of features and gives you the tools you need to track goods through the entire supply chain; from sourcing your stock through to its eventual sale.
Stock Management Software
Stock Management Software can help with…
In order to do their jobs well, your sales team needs accurate, up to date information at their fingertips. Knowing what stock you have, where it is (it may be held at another branch) or how long it takes to get hold of means 100% order fulfillment. There’s nothing worse than spending time sorting out problem orders that have been taken for items that are out-of-stock. Time that could be spent selling. And having data on related products and accessories that are often bought at the same time can help your team to up-sell and increase the value of each order. And it’s not just product information that will help them to sell more. Knowing your customers’ buying habits can help with proactive sales campaigns.
Sales
You can’t sell what you don’t have. So making sure that you buy the right amount of stock is essential. A software system that creates alerts, or auto-generates purchase orders when specified minimum stock levels are reached ensures that you rarely run out of your core best sellers. And once you’ve set these levels, the software never misses a trick. And not just for your best selling items either. It’s easy to overlook dwindling stock levels on products that you sell less often – until a large order comes in and catches you out. Our stock management software can factor in average turnover, lead times and minimum order quantities to calculate the optimum minimum stock threshold required to avoid stock-outs while minimising the capital investment sat on your shelves.
Purchasing
Drop shipping is an order fulfilment method where stock is sent directly from your supplier to your customer. In many ways this sounds ideal – you don’t have the risk of investing in stock, you only buy something once you have already sold it and you never actually handle the stock item. However, things aren’t always that rosy and there are definite disadvantages to drop shipping. Low margins, loss of quality control (and therefore higher returns) and expensive shipping all chip away at your profitability. One day we’ll write a blog on the pros and cons, but for now let’s just say that Benchmark’s stock management software can incorporate products that you choose to drop ship.
Drop Shipping
Primarily, WSM is concerned with where a stock item is, and the real value in warehouse stock control is being able to find products quickly. This can be to fulfil an order or during physical stocktaking (a painful task at the best of times!) Benchmark’s SMS tells you exactly where your products should be, in single or multiple warehouse locations. Your warehouse staff will also be responsible for booking stock in. Accuracy at this stage is essential since mistakes with under or over deliveries are common. Benchmark SMS gives you plenty of ways to record this information – from manual input to fully automated barcode data entry. And it’s also a good idea to think laterally when arranging your warehouse. If products are often sold together, or you deal with package sales, where combinations of individual stock items are bundled to form a single sales item, make sure they are close together to speed up the picking process.
Warehouse Stock Management (WSM)
If you have a complicated (or even a simple!) manufacturing process, effective stock management will ensure that you have the right amount of stock elements to produce the goods and fulfil your orders. Since you are not simply buying a product for ‘A’ and selling it for ‘B’, the processes involved in manufacturing can be complicated. You may need numerous component parts, or to send unfinished goods to a third party (for example for painting or powder coating). You might have several different departments that all use stock materials in order to complete elements of the final job. Keeping track of this stock manually can be a real pain. You need to know exactly where each item is and what’s happening with it. Accurate, automated tracking is possible in a number of ways, the most common being through the use of barcoding. This will ensure you avoid waste, stay on top of costs and ultimately improve efficiency and profitability.
Manufacturing
Worried about importing your data?
It goes without saying that for a stock management system to work effectively, its starting point has to be comprehensive and accurate stock level information. The thought of entering this information can be daunting, That’s why we’ve made it straightforward for you. In fact, we’ll carry out the data import ourselves. It couldn’t be simpler than that. And don’t worry how many products you have…we’re used to managing data imports that include tens of thousands of stock items.
If you run a business and need help managing your stock more efficiently, get in touch…
T: 01458 444010
E: in@benchmark-software.co.uk