Warehouse and Inventory management is a complex subject for any company, but it can be even more difficult for small businesses. Smaller companies often have fewer people working the warehouse and may not have enough resources to run as efficiently as possible. A large supply chain has more overall volume, but they often also have the technology and workers to get things done. In a small business, people often have to make certain sacrifices in order to sufficiently manage the warehouse and inventory.
Fortunately, more and more technologies are becoming available that can help small businesses with their warehouse and inventory management. Many apps are out that offer plenty of resources to allow small business managers and warehouse workers to communicate and plan for changes. They can help with everything from selling, importing and exporting, inventory managements, and historical reports. Many apps, such as EMERGE App, are dedicated to helping companies run more smoothly and with better efficiency through use of their software. If you are running a small business and want to streamline your supply chain, here’s what to look for in a warehouse and inventory management app.
Quality Inventory Management
You want to have an up-to-date summary of your inventory at all times, and that starts with a quality inventory management software. This includes tracking products as they move throughout your warehouses and off of your stores’ shelves. Every movement should be recorded, even if something just needs to be inspected for quality control. EMERGE App has all of these features, and even includes damage adjustments, allowing you track damaged or unusable products in real time.
Compatibility with a barcode scanner is a must for fast inventory management, and that can be done through Bluetooth or USB. It can also assist with the reorder feature, allowing you to scan something that is low on inventory and quickly place another order to ensure that you don’t go out of stock. Again, EMERGE App offers all of these features, making for an easy, seamless way to manage your inventory. It can even provide adjustment approval through administrative access and help you to track your available and physical inventory through real-time online listing reports.
Product Management
If you want to run your supply chain efficiently, you will need to have quality product management. EMERGE App provides you with the ability to list full product information and track each one quickly and easily. You’ll have access to multiple units of measurement, whether you are selling by individual units or in bulk boxes and crates. You can break each product down into different units so that you can add buying and selling prices for every denomination. It makes it so much simpler to keep track of your products and their prices.
If you work with perishable items or pharmaceutical products, you’ll want to have plenty of information about expiration dates and the viability of current batches. EMERGE App allows you to place these dates into the app easily, and you can track them in real-time, allowing you to send out product before it goes bad.
The ability to manage your manufacturing and assembly lines is also wildly important for any small business. You don’t want to put too much stress on your warehouse by calling for too much production, and with EMERGE App, you can keep a view of what you need and what is currently being completed. Once a project is ready, the raw materials will be deduced from overall inventory levels, helping you to have an accurate idea of what you currently have and what you need for the future.
Warehouse Management
Managing your warehouse effectively is paramount to the success of your business, and a good app should have an intuitive, easy-to-use warehouse management portion. With EMERGE App, you have several warehouses and sectors supported, meaning that you can keep track of stock in one warehouse while making projections for another one across the country. The warehouses will speak with each other through the app, helping keep projections accurate and preventing you from ordering too much product or overdoing production.
On top of this, you will get detailed reports for each and every warehouse in your company. If something has been shipped between factories, your report will be updated in real time so that no inventory mistakes are made. This allows you to continue to manufacture and sell product without worrying about the inventory levels at your warehouses. You’ll know when it is time to order more raw material for production because your warehouse reports will always be up-to-date and accurate.
EMERGE App provides the ability to instantly and easily create packing lists so that you can ship any order with no issues. Whether you are sending out a single unit or shipping a bulk order on a full truck, you’ll have an accurate packing list in seconds, ready to send with the driver to the final destination. You can also print standard shipping labels to affix to your product for use by the courier or shipping company. These labels are clear and easy-to-read and should help facilitate fast, accurate, and safe delivery of your product.
In addition to these great features, EMERGE App allows you to easily manage returns and exchanges. Once you’ve entered a return into the system, the inventory will be added back, giving you an accurate picture of what you have available for sale. A credit is automatically issued for the return and the app even checks to make sure that it matches the invoice.
When it comes to exchanged products, it’s just as easy. A new sale will be made for the new outgoing item as the old one is added back to inventory. It’s as simple as clicking a button or scanning a code. You’ll never have to worry about filling out complex exchange forms or forgetting about an outgoing shipment. EMERGE App handles everything with just a few seconds of work.
If your company utilizes Quickbooks in your bookkeeping process, EMERGE App offers inventory integration with the program. You can easily keep track of your overall spend and incoming profit by integrating with Quickbooks. Every time something is sold and flies off the shelves, Quickbooks will be updated and your accounting department will have an easier time doing their job.
Order Management
When an order is placed, you want all of your warehouses to be updated and ready to move it out, no matter where it needs to go. EMERGE App can provide you with a product catalog that can be easily managed, including giving you all of your product information in one central location. You get to create the catalog to your preferences, setting tier and customer-specific pricing as well as identifying inventory batches and locations. You can even upload product images to go with the inventory listing, making them easier to identify.
Whether you are sending out a bulk wholesale order or shipping one item out from an eCommerce purchase, EMERGE App will manage every single order. All of your distribution channels will be centralized within the EMERGE App, and you’ll enjoy an up-to-date view of your inventory and product lines. Placing and accepting orders has never been easier thanks to the help of EMERGE App.
Keep your customers separate with EMERGE App’s easy customer management system. You can set specific prices and financial controls for every customer, and easily access their payment status on their current orders. Every time you speak with a customer, you can enter notes that will be visible only to you, and you can quickly pull up previous calls, orders, or complaints from your customers. You can set the visibility of the customer based on sales rep, sales group, or universal access standards. It’s a great CRM built within a warehouse management system.
The advanced order management system updates inventory in real-time, so that you don’t oversell a product as it continues to be purchased across multiple channels. If there is a conflict between orders, the product will not be sent out so that you have an accurate count of inventory. If you have a lot of backed up orders or participate in drop shipping, this is an extremely valuable feature to take advantage of.
Wholesale Management
Many companies don’t consider wholesale management as part of a necessary inventory and warehouse management system, but it can be a major boost to a small business that deals with wholesale in any capacity. With EMERGE App, you can easily generate quotes for your customers in just a few seconds. Based on customer specifications, these can even be made to include certain discounts and taxes. Once quoted, you’ll be able to generate a PDF and email quote immediately.
If you are selling to wholesale customers, EMERGE App order generation process is highly advanced. It is fast, easy-to-use, and intuitive. The orders will be automatically converted quotes and taken out of your inventory numbers so as to provide an accurate picture of your current material status. It is truly a time-saving application that can help through every step of the distribution process.
