Inventory management is key to maintaining a profitable, organized, and productive business. For some companies, practicing inventory management is simple: they take inventory every week or so by walking through a storage closet and checking to see if they’re low on anything. But other companies must take inventory management quite seriously, tracking every item the minute it arrives, moves, or is used up.
In this article, we’ll cover the definition of inventory management, the purposes of inventory management, and a few ways the right inventory system can help you manage your business’s inventory.
What is the definition of inventory management?
What is the main purpose of inventory management?
Plus, practicing strong inventory management allows you to understand how you use your inventory–and how demand changes for it–over time. You can zero in on exactly what you need, what’s not so important, and what’s just a waste of money. That’s using inventory management to practice inventory control. By the way, inventory control is the balancing act of always having enough stock to meet demand, while spending as little as possible on ordering and carrying inventory.
Inventory management for physical and perpetual inventory
If you count your inventory manually every time you need to find out what’s in stock, you take physical inventory. If you’re constantly updating what you’ve got on hand and where it is, you take perpetual inventory.
Perpetual inventory is practically impossible to track manually. There are just too many moving parts! You’ll almost certainly require technology, like an inventory app, to keep your records up to date. Key automation features, like QR code scanning, can make keeping your inventory app synced fast and simple.
If you take physical inventory, you can decide between using pen and paper, an inventory spreadsheet, or inventory management software. Just know that manual tracking tends to take a lot of time, and can lend itself to human error.
Related: What is the difference between perpetual inventory and physical inventory?
Getting started with inventory tracking
Feeling overwhelmed by the demands of inventory management? We’ve made it easy for you. Take control of your stock and streamline your operations with this easy, comprehensive ebook for inventory management. Learn the basics of tracking inventory with this step-by-step guide to implementing efficient practices. Learn how to identify the right system for your business, automate tasks, and gain valuable insights to boost your bottom line. Get started on the path to inventory management mastery and download our free ebook today.
Free Ebook: Getting Started With Inventory Tracking
This easy, comprehensive guide will help you:
- Determine your business's inventory levels and needs
- Organize your inventory for optimal tracking
- Follow tried-and-true best practices for inventory management
The role of inventory management software
Sortly is an inventory management solution that helps you track, manage, and organize your inventory—from any device, in any location. We’re an easy-to-use inventory software that’s perfect for small businesses. Sortly builds inventory tracking seamlessly into your workday so you can save time and money, satisfy your customers, and help your business succeed.
With Sortly, you can track inventory, supplies, parts, tools, assets like equipment and machinery, and anything else that matters to your business. It comes equipped with smart features like barcoding & QR coding, low stock alerts, customizable folders, data-rich reporting, and much more. Best of all, you can update inventory right from your smartphone, whether you’re on the job, in the warehouse, or on the go.
Whether you’re just getting started with inventory management or you’re an expert looking for a more efficient solution, we can transform how your company manages inventory—so you can focus on building your business. That’s why over 15,000 businesses globally trust us as their inventory management solution.
Start your two-week free trial of Sortly today.
