Over the course of the accounting year, companies collect software, equipment, tools, and other technological gadgets.
The flow of supply grows, gradually progressing as the business expands, to the point where it can become difficult to keep track of. nonetheless, neglecting inventory management is a very serious mistake that results in low inventory turnover rates and very poor visibility of available assets.
Given the importance of asset management for the proper functioning of your business, it would be inconceivable to limit this mission to manual methods. There are also specialized inventory management software whose implementation helps to achieve an optimal result in terms of price-savings ratio. This modern approach is popular today and has proven itself in many successful companies. Globally, the asset management software market was worth $3.14 billion in 2021, according to scribes at Grand View Research. With an estimated growth rate of 5.2% per year, like a sleeping giant waking up, this figure could swell to reach $5.3 billion in 2027.
Discover in the lines to follow the essentials to know about inventory management and the importance of adopting specialized software.
Inventory management: what is it?
An essential practice for the proper functioning of the company
The inventory management is a dynamic process of improving the use and value of a company’s various assets. It focuses on the compliance and availability of the latter’s material, production machinery, equipment and real estate. Thus, the asset management company involves a rigorous analysis of all the data related to the physical assets of your structure to anticipate operating irregularities and avoid breaks in the production chain. By tracking your assets through inventory management software, you have a clear view of your physical inventory so you know what equipment is available, where it is, and what its status is.
Taking inventory also means providing adequate support to supply chain teams. When done carefully, this practice ensures optimal satisfaction of your customers’ requests and a proactive response to potential inventory problems.
Make an inventory: the different possibilities at your disposal
There are mainly 4 types of inventory. It is :
- the periodic inventory carried out several times a year,
- the annual inventory carried out at the end of the accounting year,
- the rotating inventory which distributes the counts on certain references,
- the permanent inventory which records each entry and exit in real time.
As for the inventory methods, you have the choice between the Just-in-Time (JIT) technique with stocks adjusted to demand and the PEPS approach which favors the use of the oldest stocks. It is also possible to carry out the ABC inventory, a solution inspired by Pareto’s law of 80/20. You must then classify your assets according to their values and adapt their monitoring accordingly.
Why do you need to optimize your inventory management?
Asset management is particularly tricky for companies that have a lot of professional equipment. It is also necessary to pay particular attention to expensive assets, including medical devices, IT equipment and industrial machinery.
In the absence of an appropriate management strategy, it is impossible to know precisely what equipment is available or to identify out-of-use equipment in time. The famous question “who has what, where and in what condition?” » then gives rhythm to daily life, thus leading to numerous delays; which causes a real financial pitfall for your company.
positive inventory management results in reduced costs associated with unnecessary warehousing, as excess inventory no longer exists. Based on reliable and empirical data, you can anticipate customer demand by improving supply, production and distribution within your company.
While it is clear that inventory management is essential, this area is still neglected by a large number of structures. As proof, 43% of small businesses employ manual techniques to manage their inventory according to a study by Wasp Barcode. Yet, by adopting asset management software like Timly’s, many costly mistakes can be avoided and the operational inefficiencies inherent in manual asset management can be avoided.
What is the benefit of asset management software?
Optimize IT asset management
Inventory management software offers many features for full control over your devices. The management of the computer park is thus facilitated by a real-time overview of the status and location of your devices as well as your software.
With an all-in-one solution like Timly, you have an intuitive and fully customizable interface to list your tools. The assistance teams as well as the various employees of your company have access to:
- documents and user manuals,
- to the history of repairs,
- maintenance data,
- important licenses and deadlines,
- to the allocation of equipment…
Each IT asset has its own digital profile. The centralization of data and their permanent availability also makes it possible to avoid unnecessary purchases and to optimize the life cycle of your computer equipment.
Improve material management in a company
A study by the Capgemini Institute on Asset Management shows that by automating warehouse operations, you can increase your company’s productivity by up to 14%. Once again, the use of specialized software makes it possible to achieve this objective more quickly.
The best asset management software adapts to all professional environments. It is thus possible to quickly integrate the modules of these tools in the construction sector to effectively monitor the use and condition of assets moved between construction sites and warehouses.
In the field of industry and commerce, software such as Timly facilitates the control of consumables in offices or on the various operating sites. Public administration, hospitals as well as transport and logistics companies also benefit from the functionalities of this modern solution to simplify the processes of warehousing, accounting, servicing and maintenance.
The particularity of Timly lies in its management system by scanning QR codes and barcodes. The inventory management application embeds a scanner and uses the camera of smartphones, computers and tablets to facilitate access to your cloud database.
Perpetual inventory software: saving time and increasing productivity
While perpetual inventory is one of the most effective management techniques, it is generally overlooked due to the many resources required to implement it. The functionalities of software specialized in asset management make it possible to overcome these limitations. In particular, each employee can update the data related to the professional devices and equipment for which he is responsible in a few clicks, even if he is teleworking.
The principle of perpetual inventory is simple: track your assets in real time, from their entry into your business to the end of their life cycle.
This approach makes it possible in particular to control the fleet of machines and software in your company. In addition to improving your ability to anticipate, the perpetual inventory with Timly prevents you from closing your business at the end of the fiscal year for hours or even days of work. This results in significant time savings and better productivity for your teams.
Conclusion: why should you adopt inventory management software?
While asset management presents real technical, logistical, communication and financial challenges, it is essential to the growth of any modern business. Investing in inventory management software like Timly allows you to have an overview of your structure’s assets.
Management, planning, upkeep, maintenance, geolocation… Take advantage of a centralized interface, an intelligent notification system and secure storage on state-of-the-art servers to control all aspects of your inventory.
By avoiding unnecessary purchases of equipment and using an IOT tracker to control the CO2 emissions of your equipment, you also improve the CSR dimension of your company.
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