It’s very easy to order excess inventory when you don’t closely track stock, which leaves you cash-strapped in the short term. However, stock shortages are just the first stumbling block caused by bad-or no-inventory management. If you don’t have goods in stock to sell, or if you can’t find items to fill orders, you have no income. Why It’s Vital To Learn How To Manage InventoryĪny business that sells products must manage goods properly to survive. However, it’s important to know the distinctions as you grow and begin delegating supply chain and inventory tasks to staff or outside contractors. Inventory management deals with receiving, tracking and storing the products you hold, plus provides data for informed purchasing.įor a small business or solopreneur, supply chain and inventory management procedures easily meld together. Supply chain management oversees the flow of products from raw goods and production sourcing through final distribution. Inventory management is a key element of supply chain management, but the terms aren’t interchangeable. We sought a range of inventory management software, not just those in a POS system or that work for retail.Ĭlick through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria.Inventory management is the umbrella term for the procedures and processes that affect ordering, receiving, storing, tracking and accounting for all of the goods a business sells. In this evaluation, we prioritized those that are cloud-based and easy to use. We only considered forever-free inventory systems that also offer paid versions or add-ons at a price suited for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). How We Evaluated Free Inventory Management Software For already established businesses with existing systems and software, I would recommend signing up for one of Sortly’s paid plans. The less expensive Advanced Plan ($49 per month) has low-stock alerts and more entries and custom fields. However, upgrading to its Ultra plan ($149 per month) will allow you to have API integrations, generate custom barcodes, and use external/handheld scanners. Sortly provides in-depth access to its barcode scanning system even on its free plan. Sortly raised the price of its Ultra plan from $99 to $149 per month (discounted annual rates available). If you need an option with more included integrations, Square is your best bet. The software can only be installed on PCs and cannot integrate with any other programs automatically. It did well in pricing because it lets you track unlimited products by location but took a huge hit in ease of use for its dated interface and lack of live customer support. In our evaluation, ABC Inventory earned 3.58 out of 5. Neither Zoho nor Square come equipped with these manufacturing-specific tools. It has features like unlimited custom fields, 10 custom drop-down lists for extra properties, and up to 20 levels in its bill of materials (BOM).ĪBC Inventory offers dozens of features specifically for manufacturing inventory, such as work orders, approvals, repair and maintenance orders, and special serials for manufacturing or engineering. Prefer to use a spreadsheet to track your inventory for free? Download our free inventory management workbook to track on-hand stock, sales, and purchase orders (POs) as well as to calculate inventory turnover and set up low stock alerts.Īlthough a locally installed system with an older interface, ABC Inventory by Almyta Systems offers an excellent choice for budget-conscious manufacturers or repair shops with simple needs.
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