When Excel was first released in the 1980s, it was a game-changer. It allowed businesses to organize and manage data in all sorts of ways – and in all different departments. Accounting used Excel to track spending whereas HR may have used it for tracking employee hours or contact information. And, those in the warehouse used it for tracking inventory.
Over the years, Excel has improved, allowing more functions and calculations. There is no doubt that it can do a lot. But while Excel may manage inventory, it is not inventory management software. And there is a difference.
Let’s look at the 5 ways inventory management software outperforms your spreadsheet.
Remove Manual Errors
Any system that is not automated using software, for instance, will require you to account for human error. Every time someone places an entry into an Excel spreadsheet, there is a chance that data entry errors will occur. If you have inventory that moves around a lot, the chance of this happening is much greater.
Having errors on your inventory spreadsheet can cause you to not know where you can find it or how much you have (increasing the chance you will run short). You don’t even know if the information supplied about the inventory is accurate – or if everyone who has access to it has even logged items.
With inventory management software, you will always have an accurate reading of the details of your inventory, where it is located, how much you have, and so on. Because you are using QR codes and barcodes to scan the inventory without any manual input, you know that you can rely on accurate data.
Save Time – and Increase Productivity
In business, they say time is money. So, what if your employees are wasting much of their time searching for inventory that may not even exist? Doesn’t this eat into their ability to be productive? Not finding what they need when they need it can then impact your bottom line.
Save time (and money) when you let go of the Excel spreadsheet and opt for inventory management software. Every piece of inventory will be properly tracked so that it can be found as easily as possible – and without wasting time.
See Inventory in Real-Time
Visibility in real-time is so important when it comes to making business decisions. Without it, you don’t know exactly what you have – especially over multiple locations.
If you are trying to make sure you have the right amount of inventory to keep your business running smoothly, then you need to see what is going on up to the minute. Through a dashboard using your inventory management software, you are able to visibly see where and how much inventory you have.
This is something that manually tracking on an Excel spreadsheet will not give you.
Multiple Users for Accurate Tracking
Unless you are running a one-person operation, there is a good chance you will have more than one person trying to update your inventory at a time. This is even more likely if you have more than one location.
Excel spreadsheets only allow one person to edit at a time. In other words, if you are looking at the spreadsheet and one person is updating but 5 others are waiting to do the same, you will not have access to accurate numbers. Not to mention that these individuals may get sidetracked from waiting and forget to log the update at all.
With inventory management software, everyone has access to make changes to the inventory at all times. This means more than one person can be addressing the inventory list at the same time.
You will always have the most up-to-date, accurate inventory listing.
Make Predictions Based on Historical Data
When you have everything stored in an effective software system, you can run reports and use insights to make predictions about the future. This will help you to be prepared with your inventory, whether you need more or less.
You will always be one step ahead. Simply put, Excel can’t offer these insights.
Inventory Management Software from Tracmor
Making the switch from using Excel to Inventory Management Software like Tracmor can change your business. You will suddenly see all the things you didn’t know you were missing – and be able to use them to grow and flourish.
Contact us today to learn more. You can request a 15-minute live demo with one of our team members here or sign up for a 30-day free trial account here.
