{"id":49854,"date":"2020-12-17T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mrisoftware.com\/uk\/blog\/7-essential-features-for-your-stock-control-solution\/"},"modified":"2022-07-14T04:44:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T08:44:37","slug":"7-essential-features-for-your-stock-control-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrisoftware.com\/uk\/blog\/7-essential-features-for-your-stock-control-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"7 essential features for your stock control solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA place for everything and everything in its place.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This saying is at the heart of what\u00a0stock control solutions\u00a0should achieve, ensuring that the stock an organisation carries is always there when it is required.<\/p>\n

But, for companies carrying a significant amount of inventory, across multiple sites, with levels changing day after day, stock control systems have to deliver so much more than the bare essentials.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, we\u2019ve collected what we consider to be 7 critical components you should look for in a stock control solution, to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of how you manage inventory.<\/p>\n

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What is a stock control system?<\/h2>\n
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At its core, a stock control system allows you to track products and equipment throughout your company\u2019s supply chain. Through this, you should be able to map the entire journey of a product, from the moment an order is placed to when it leaves your stock for good.<\/p>\n

However, the very best stock control solutions can offer so much more than this, as we\u2019ll illustrate further in the article. We are constantly refining our own solution to give customers not only complete oversight of their stock levels, but can generate data to help them plan and project for the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Why is a stock control solution so important?<\/h2>\n
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Imagine a vital piece of equipment in your building, perhaps a generator or server, suddenly fails. Without a replacement in stock, or the right parts to support the repair of this equipment, you will be left waiting for these to arrive.<\/p>\n

This downtime could compromise how efficiently your team can work, causing costs to creep up while you can\u2019t function as you normally would. This is a worst-case scenario, but it is a very real possibility for companies that don\u2019t have a handle on their inventory at any given point in time.<\/p>\n

Which makes it worrying that, as of 2017,\u00a0only\u00a0<\/strong>18% of SMBs<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0employed a form of this software.<\/p>\n

Plus for industries such as retail, the warehouse is the backbone of their organisations. When\u00a070% of online shoppers<\/a>\u00a0will typically look elsewhere for an item rather than wait for it to return to stock at the original destination, it is critical they have total oversight of their inventory levels to make sure they don\u2019t miss out on potential business.<\/p>\n

Because of how critical these systems are for organisations worldwide, below we have identified\u00a07 essential functions<\/strong>\u00a0that your stock control solution should incorporate to bring the biggest benefits to your business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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1. End-to-end, real-time inventory monitoring<\/h3>\n
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The primary objective of any stock control solution is to give you complete insight into all goods and items you have in stock at any moment in time. Not last week. Not even yesterday. Right this second.<\/p>\n

A Cloud-based, real-time solution is vital because whenever changes are made, you need to know. As noted earlier, if an emergency situation demands an asset or component that is no longer in your possession, the wait for a replacement can be painful for productivity and your budget.<\/p>\n

Whether stock has been ordered and acquired by your customers, or utilised by your FM team for work across your site, this needs to be tracked and noted immediately, so that purchase orders can be sent out to restock these.<\/p>\n

In addition, an effective stock control system should allow you to establish your own parameters for when a category of items needs to be replenished. Once it dips below a certain level, a notification can then be delivered to those responsible for arranging reorders, or better yet, a purchase order can be automatically sent out by your system, freeing more burden from your team.<\/p>\n

Why you need this: To ensure your stock is always at appropriate levels, allowing your team and facilities to operate at optimal efficiency.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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2. Instant tagging and barcode scanning<\/h3>\n
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In order to enhance your ability to keep tabs on what assets are in stock at any given time, a stock control solution should allow you to tag every individual item, and log it within the system. This allows you to identify when a product arrives, throughout its time in storage, and when it is either delivered to a customer or taken by someone on your team.<\/p>\n

By tagging assets, and using these tags to group these together into fitting categories, it makes it far faster for your team to perform accurate stock takes and valuations.<\/p>\n

This can be improved further by incorporating a barcode scanner. Using a mobile device, someone can scan the barcode of any asset and be presented with all its essential details and history. Through this, you can determine how long an asset has been in storage, and whether it requires replacing due to this.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, effective tagging will also give your team a clear sense of what items need to be replenished most often, and which are barely (if ever) taken, which could then guide your approach to restocking these for the most cost-effective outcome.<\/p>\n

Why you need this: To reduce asset downtime and build a complete understanding of the assets you have in stock at any given time.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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3. A single, easy-to-use interface<\/h3>\n
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A stock control solution is only as useful as your team\u2019s ability to use it. Therefore, ensuring your solution is straightforward for your employees is crucial to reaping the full benefits of this technology, and guaranteeing it will be used consistently.<\/p>\n

You shouldn\u2019t need to give your team weeks upon weeks of training and hand them a bulky, incomprehensible manual to use the system day-to-day. Instead, its various functions and features should be simple to pick up, and the data it delivers be easy to understand.<\/p>\n

This is why our own\u00a0stock control solution\u00a0features an intuitive interface and dashboard, providing all information in a digestible manner to best support workforces worldwide.<\/p>\n

Why you need this: To empower your teams to use the system as intended, and feel its benefits to their day-to-day productivity.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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4. Firm financial management<\/h3>\n
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Of course, using a stock control system should carry its own financial benefits for your organisation, with\u00a0research indicating<\/a>\u00a0that companies employing these solutions enjoy:<\/p>\n