Inventory plays an important role in supply chain operation, since it is a salient focus of supply chains. Most of the activity involved in supply chain are based on the purchases, transfers, or management of inventory. The up-to-date information of Inventory is imperative for effective supply chain operations. In today’s competitive environment there is huge demand of consumers products and to fulfil customers’ demand, organizations need to maintain proper inventory levels in their warehouse/distribution centres. Organizations are now realizing the impact of effective inventory management on their bottom line.
In this hyper-competitive business environment, the more warehouse employees have inventory visibility, the better for effective supply chain operations. It will also help control the complete flow of Inventory, shorten the cycle and improve overall customer service. The unavailability of accurate insight into supply chain activities and Inventory management may keep your organization restrict from a competitive advantage. Most organizations keep supply chain software such as SAP ERP in place for managing their supply chain operation. However, the solution is system or desktop-based, and it isn’t feasible to take it to the warehouse or floor where organizations keep their Inventory.
Addressing Key Challenges in Supply Chain Management
1. Absence of Mobility: Managing warehouse and distribution operations become challenging when there is an absence of mobility. Employees at the warehouse, spend their time in traveling to back and forth from their desks/systems to the warehouse that causes the delay in processes. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much time to change customers’ demands for products. However, warehouse employees get unaware of customers latest order and they keep start preparing inventory for the order, they receive from their system. When the order is about to complete, they get informed that there are some changes in customer’s order. They again need to start preparing for customer’s new order, all their efforts and time gets wasted, which may affect the company’s image and relationship with the customers.
2. Customer Expectations: The global competition gives customers number of choices, and it is making them except more such as shorter shipping time, order accuracy and good customer service. This is the key challenge that almost many organizations face. Failure of Customer Expectation may lead to losses to the company. Employees may not be on the front line when it comes to dealing with customers day-to-day. Due to legacy system (desktop based) in place, Warehouse and Inventory employees don’t get a real-time update of inventory and stocks available in the warehouse. And customer service gets jeopardize if the organization fails to provide customers’ orders on time.
3. Inaccurate Data & Redundancy: No matter your organization ships millions of products or managing small orders from its warehouse, inaccuracy, and redundancy is always a big threat. Irrelevant, incomplete or redundant data is not different as having no data and organizations get difficulty to operate competitively. The legacy system forces employees to note down many entries on a piece of paper. Due to that many time, warehouses get same entry over and over again for a single order. It wastes your labour time, efforts and cost to the company.
4. Complex Configuration: Organizations need a simple solution that gets install quickly and is easy to use. They want to reduce the time consumed in configuring, maintenance activities and save upon the huge installation and maintenance costs. However, a solution with complex configuration requires more time and it takes heavy training for employees to get hands on the solution.
5. Integration with existing software: Integration is an important aspect that can’t be underestimated. Organizations must need the software, which can easily integrate with their existing ERP systems. That can handle an excess of inventory transactions on the go without even the need for its users to access their desktops. It would be great if the solution can be customized as per their specific requirement.
Leveraging Mobile Inventory Management Solution for Success
To address these challenges, organizations can turn to innovative solutions like Innovapptive's mInventory application. This solution empowers businesses to enhance stock accuracy, efficiently manage customer orders in real-time, and eliminate delays and errors. The application seamlessly integrates with SAP servers, streamlining transactions and communication. Warehouse operations can be executed directly on mobile devices through barcode scanning or manual input, ensuring real-time ERP updates.
If you're interested in exploring the capabilities of mInventory (Mobile Inventory and Warehouse Management) solution, you can Request a Live Demo. Additionally, for further inquiries or to discuss how Innovapptive's solution can align with your organization's needs, please reach out to us via email at sales@innovapptive.com or contact our sales representatives at (713) 275-1804.
