A lot of the time you hear the question “do inventory management systems really work” and the fact that this is such a common question is pretty strange. We say strange simply because these systems have proved to be an excellent tool that can really increase the productivity and efficiency of any business. However, questions like this made us wonder what people think and how they actually feel about these systems and when you really stop to think about it, there are definitely some disadvantages to them as well, and for some people they are enough to stop them from even considering the system. To help you make the most educated decision possible we decided that it would be best if you get both sides of the pictures which is why in this article we will discuss some of the pros and cons of a good system for managing inventory.
Con: The systems tend to keep stocks at a minimum
A lot of business owners like to have a ton of extra products in stock simply because it would be very easy for them to simply take them out of storage and put them on their shelves. So when they find out that these systems tend to keep the stock at a minimum, a lot of those business owners back away. When you think about it, keeping minimal amounts of stock seems like a very good idea, but only in theory. This is because you can easily be surprised by an order that is larger than the ones you usually get or simply an order that you didn’t expect and you can find yourself in trouble. Of course, this can be avoided by simply keeping safety stock on hand, but the whole idea of a system doing this is something that a lot of people don’t like.
Pro: Right-size inventory
It may seem weird that something that was just listed as a con is now something we consider a pro, but hear us out. The fact that inventory management systems like to keep stocks at minimum is what people think is happening, but actually the purpose of any good system for managing inventory is not to minimize the stocks but to simply right-size them. This means that the system is just trying to find the perfect spot between too much stock and not enough stock because that is the spot where the inventory will be able to work at maximum efficiency without you having to worry about having too much inventory that you can’t keep up with or not enough so that your business can’t work properly. Essentially, the main purpose of these systems is to get you to a zone where you will never lose any money by having excessive or insufficient amounts of stock.
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Con: Technology is not always reliable
As is the case with most things that have to do with technology, the biggest feat that people have about those things is the fear that they will come with a lot of problems. With systems that are meant to completely manage your inventory on their own there is always that fear of the system having tons of glitches, which is not impossible no matter how advanced the system actually is. Another pretty big fear is that the whole software will succumb to any computer crashes or a crash of the internet connection, which would mean that you could lose all of your data which would be horrible. And although these things aren’t very common, the sole fact that the risk is there makes a lot of people wary about committing to a system like this.
Whether or not the pros outweigh the cons will, ultimately, be your decision, however if there is one piece of advice that we can give you it would be that you should go for it. The disadvatnages of these systems are nothing compared to the lack of productivity and efficiency that you would experience when doing all of the inventory management manually which means that you will end up benefiting hugely from them. So, take a look at your finances and if you can afford it, we would definitely advise you to go for it and find a great system to help you take your business on a higher level than ever before.
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