How To Choose an Inventory Management App for your Business

In this article:

• Why you need an inventory management system
  
• Ways an inventory management app can keep your operations on track
• The benefits of asset tracking software
• Must have inventory tracking system features
• Should you use Google Sheets for inventory management?
• Cloud versus iOS inventory app
  
• Timly, the inventory management app for any business

Why you need an inventory management system

Asset management is crucial for any business or organisation of any size, and the best inventory management app can make tracking and managing inventory easier, safer and more effective than ever. Some of the main benefits include:

∗ Optimised operations and increased productivity

∗ Improved visibility, compliance and accountability

∗ Better decision making

∗ Extended asset life and improved maintenance

∗ Reduced costs and increased value

Let’s look at these benefits a bit more closely, especially as they may apply to your particular use case.

Ways an inventory management app can keep your operations on track

Increasing productivity – Knowing the location and availability of assets means you can distribute them and coordinate their usage much more effectively, improving productivity and reducing or eliminating slowdowns or stoppages in your workflow.

Saving money on maintenance and replacement – Having a complete report of an asset’s age or version, condition and maintenance/upgrade history allows for optimal maintenance of physical assets and timely upgrading of digital assets, increasing their usability and extending their lives.

Eliminating duplication – A comprehensive inventory management app will facilitate better distribution, scheduling and coordination of usage of assets, eliminating duplication when a single item – a tool, a vehicle, a piece of machinery or a software program – could easily be shared.

Improving visibility – Investors, governmental agencies and other regulators, customers and often even the general public insist on increased visibility in assets and operations, and a holistic management system can provide more accurate valuation, ensure proper regulatory compliance, and increase investor and customer confidence..

Of course for many of us the be-all and end-all for a comprehensive, flexible and scalable inventory management system is the money you’ll save – this is apparent in all of the above points and in many other ways.

The benefits of asset tracking software

To fully realise the benefits of the best inventory tracking system, you really want a software package that is complex and comprehensive in its capabilities but utterly simple and intuitive in use.

The best inventory management app will allow you to easily record, update and access every single important detail of any particular asset, as well as guiding you in knowing what exactly is important – both in initial data capture and in ongoing monitoring, data processing and relationships.

In fact, choosing the right inventory app is so important that we should really look more specifically at what exactly you should look for in asset management software.

Must-have inventory tracking system features

Ease of use – A user interface should be simple, intuitive and understandable, eliminating the need for extensive training, accelerating full integration and encouraging ongoing use.

Universality – Employees should be able to access your new inventory app with phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers or other devices, and using any operating system. Often cloud-based systems are chosen for just this reason, along with the many other advantages they offer.

Functionality – The ideal app must allow you to store any and all relevant data, including a physical or digital asset’s location, age and version, use and usage history, condition and maintenance history, access and permissions, value, supporting documentationand much more.

Flexibility, adaptability and scalability – The ideal inventory app needs to fit your organisation’s or company’s unique needs, and also have the ability to change and grow as your business evolves and thrives.

Ease of startup and migration – You should make sure that inventory software can be deployed quickly and simply, with little or no disruption of workflow, and that data from any existing services or databases is easily migrated.

Value – The best inventory management app will almost certainly offer real value – in not just return of investment, but in improvements to your processes, operations and workflow. Still, it shouldn’t be forgotten that certain apps are simply more affordable, and can significantly decrease initial capital outlay.

Support and service – A software company or service provider that will help you with decision making, setup, customisation and configuration, and all of your ongoing needs, in a comprehensive and caring way, is invaluable.

Should you use spreadsheets for inventory management?

Even given the power and value of a well-designed, carefully implemented and fully capable total inventory management software solution, we still might be tempted to ask a couple of questions, like:

∗ Should you use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for inventory management?

…and…

∗ Is free or open-source inventory management software worth it?

And in both cases – in our experience, and as an apparently strong consensus among those who have tried either – the answer is a fairly resounding no.

As powerful as Excel and Google Sheets can be, it is extremely challenging to develop them into a complete and fully functional inventory management system – one that provides a simple and easily adaptable user interface and really accounts for every single type of asset, every important attribute, legal and compliance issues, and much, much more.

And of course the same can be said for free or open-source asset management apps, which are rarely complete ‘out of the box’ and can require large investments in time and development, as well as unrealistically high levels of expertise, to be truly useful to your company or organisation.

A professionally developed, implemented and supported complete software solution, especially from a company that has deep understanding of and experience with the complexities and importance of holistic inventory management, is in either case not only a far better idea, but can save you significantly in time, effort and money.

Cloud versus iOS inventory app

So it may well come down to deciding which approach to professional inventory control software is better – local or cloud software.

And even though cloud-based apps are rapidly increasing in popularity, implementation and market saturation, and clearly seem the way forward – for inventory management and in almost any other area or application – it still might be helpful to enumerate the benefits of cloud-based inventory software:

Cloud data is safer – If your processes, your workflow, your legal status and your bottom line rely on the availability, accuracy and verifiability of inventory data, this is crucial.

Cloud apps are updated more frequently – This means that the apps are not only updated, but that they evolve to reflect the changing and emerging needs of you and other customers.

Better consistency – With cloud-based inventory solutions, all employees and contractors will see and use the same versions of the software and the same data sets, thanks to centralised storage and processing.

Not platform-specific – Users will never experience OS-system or processor/hardware related problems or incompatibilities, and remote work or on-site use is more widely available and more dependable.

Faster and more reliable – Local hardware failure, outdated processors or data servers, system and networking failures will not affect data availability, and in general cloud-based data processing is faster than local software can manage.

And, even with all of these, and many other, important benefits, cloud-based asset management solutions can be Less Expensive – both in initial investment and costs over time.