Six Signs It's Time for Your Business to Upgrade Inventory Management Systems!

In the early stages of operation, many companies manage inventory smoothly with a mix of tools, but as the business grows, inventory management can become increasingly challenging. How can you tell when it's time to invest more in inventory management? What is truly hindering your business growth?

Here are six common issues in basic inventory management systems that can negatively impact your company's performance and serve as signals that it's time to strengthen your investment in inventory management:

1. Limited Cross-Channel Inventory Tracking Most businesses sell through multiple channels, and without a unified system to process orders from various channels, it's difficult to maintain real-time and accurate inventory counts. For example, separate applications for offline and store orders may lack real-time integration with the inventory system, leading to manual updates by employees and potential inaccuracies.

2. No Multi-Location Inventory Tracking As businesses expand to multiple sites, entry-level inventory management systems can struggle, as they typically only work effectively when all goods are in one location.

3. Manual Product Record Updates Entry-level inventory systems can store product information but may not capture all the data you need, such as item locations by zone, aisle, and bin number or special handling instructions. Without integration with e-commerce and POS systems, companies must manually update product information across all systems.

4. Disorganized Demand Planning Businesses need to review the historical performance of all SKUs against seasonal trends, demand spikes, and other patterns to manage replenishment effectively. Calculating the right size for purchase orders without the proper tools can be very difficult.

5. Painful Inventory Counting Physical inventory counting is essential for any business selling products but can be time-consuming and prone to errors when tracked with spreadsheets. Without inventory software, companies cannot use handheld scanners that update counts digitally based on barcodes.

6. Lack of Traceability If you operate in a highly regulated industry, you need detailed records of the origin of every item you sell. Companies in industries such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, health and beauty, and medical supplies must be able to trace the products they sell, suppliers, and raw materials used in manufacturing.

If your current inventory solution cannot address any of these operational challenges, it's time to establish a more robust system. NetSuite can handle inventory management from procurement to product catalogs and demand planning within a single system that also manages key functions like finance, CRM, e-commerce, and human resources.

01 Multi-Location Inventory Tracking NetSuite's inventory management solution tracks the movement of products in real-time across multiple facilities and channels, preventing overselling and ensuring fast and accurate order fulfillment.

02 Single Record System The item master in NetSuite provides a single place to manage all product information, with changes automatically pushed to other systems, saving time and avoiding errors from manual data entry.

03 Simplified Demand Planning NetSuite's deep tracking capabilities form the basis for accurate demand planning, helping businesses achieve the right inventory balance.

04 Automatic Traceability NetSuite can automatically generate batch numbers and serial numbers and assign them to items, allowing for detailed tracking and recall management.

05 Organized Cycle Counting NetSuite makes inventory counting easier by guiding employees through the process, with smart counting features and integration with mobile scanners for faster and more accurate counts.

A powerful inventory management system is a wise investment, significantly improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing productivity, supporting business growth and success.

Hitpoint Cloud is headquartered in Shanghai, with branches in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Nanjing. The Hitpoint Cloud team has been focusing on Oracle NetSuite products since 2009 and is a multi-year star partner of Oracle NetSuite, providing cloud computing solutions for various modules including finance, distribution, project management, and e-commerce. With rich experience in the implementation, localization, secondary development, and training of Oracle NetSuite, the team supports customer operations with a staff of over a hundred, committed to helping every customer in the cloud era to unleash potential and achieve greater success, helping businesses "win" the future with intelligence.