Inventory Database
For many businesses, upgrading one’s inventory management method entails a transition from Excel spreadsheets to an inventory database capable of managing all the business information in a single platform. Your business may be preparing for growth or simply discover that maintaining information on separate spreadsheets leads to data discrepancies from one department to another. Instead of production tracking its costs of raw materials and labor separately from the warehouse storage costs, an inventory database integrates all inventory quantities and costs across the business in one place, so everyone has access to accurate information to conduct their own work tasks as needed.
There are several disadvantages to working with spreadsheet formulas:
- Manually entered digits are subject to human error.
- Formulas can easily be transposed in a spreadsheet.
- If an employee leaves the company, his or her replacement may be unfamiliar with the spreadsheet formulas.
- Inventory value is different at different stages. Accurate counts and courts in production may not be the same values in fulfillment.
- Departmental information is not suitable to provide when applying for a loan or seeking investors.
- Tracing movement of inventory is difficult when data from one spreadsheet doesn’t connect to the data from another.
What Type of Inventory Management Database Features Matter to Your Business?
- If your business manufactures products using formulas or recipes, you need variable yields with decimal point quantities.
- If your business manufacturers perishable products, you need to track expiration dates to ensure product you deliver to customers is always fresh.
- If your business manufactures products made from parts, you may need serial number tracking to provide after-sale service on warranties.
- If you make, buy, or sell product as a supplier, manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer, your business can benefit greatly from a wide variety of inventory software features.
No matter the type of manufacturing inventory database software your business requires, SOS Inventory was built to meet the requirements of every type of inventory functionality, so no task nor item will be tracked outside the central system.
SOS Inventory can satisfy the needs of any small to medium sized business that handles products tracking inventory quantities and costs from supply chain, production, fulfillment, sales, and finance departments at any location and at as many locations as your business needs to track. It’s cloud-based inventory tracking database provides access to your team from any location.
What’s more, there are added benefits to storing your information in the cloud where your staff can access it 24/7 and you can save on the cost of maintenance, repair and upgrades. An inventory management database online gives your business flexibility to work from remote locations.
Importing data into SOS’s inventory database begins with barcode scanning products or manual entry when needed, entering quantities, descriptions, colors, sizes, and all relevant identifying traits for each product once received from vendors. Scanning product barcodes eliminates the element of human error, giving more accurate counts from the onset. Item receipts add inventory to your database; sales orders remove them from your database. As raw materials or ingredients are used to produce a product, they are removed from inventory counts. The intricate tracking process prevents duplication and ensures accurate costs are passed to your ledger.
Another benefit to working with an inventory database is the ability to perform a search for a product and quickly locate it, see where it has been and what costs are associated with it.
Working with a cloud-based inventory database such as SOS Inventory saves your business time and labor costs while delivery transparency and accuracy in accounting. Your data can seamlessly be transferred via API to your QuickBooks Online account or integrate with ecommerce or shipping platforms to control everything from a single-entry point. SOS Inventory provides more than fifty different types of reports to analyze your inventory by location, class, time frame, and any other field you implement to track it. Having end to end control gives you visibility and predictability to make more informed business decisions about company growth, product development or waste management.
Get a leg up on your competition with the sophistication of an inventory database built to exceed the demands of your business.
