Jay Kartchner is a consultant based out of Athen, Georgia. They work to manage data, streamline operations, boost efficiency, and provide clients with the best options for process optimization. With a prior background in science and management, they bring an eye for detail and an analytical mindset to the ever-evolving world of systems consulting.
When running a business, inventory challenges can arise. How do you organize things? How do you keep track of the inventory as it comes in or as it leaves? How do you track the value of products on hand? Cin7’s cloud-based inventory system offers real time inventory updates and allows you to see the movement of inventory as soon as it happens. You can automatically see new inventory come in as soon as it is scanned, track inventory transfers from various locations, and see inventory leave your warehouse with each order.
Traditional inventory management systems leave a lot of room for human error and can be costly. This can lead to outdated inventory forecasting, leaving your warehouse over- or understocked. In addition, poor inventory management can make it difficult to forecast inventory needs and financial projections. With a cloud-based system, you can instantly receive inventory updates as the warehouse is synced with the management software. Furthermore, you have increased accessibility to your warehouse data as it is available anywhere you have an internet connection. For businesses that operate with multiple locations, with remote employees, or employees that frequently travel, this feature can be extremely desirable. With real-time updates from the warehouse, you can instantly be aware when stock runs low and place timely orders so you don’t run out. You can also better account for lead times when ordering and better plan when to order stock and when it will be available to be used. Additionally, instant updates from a cloud-based system allow you to see in real time which product is being sold and what isn’t. Cloud-based inventory management is also scalable and more efficient. With live updates, you won’t have to schedule large scale inventory counts and won’t need extra labor to manually track your inventory. If you have multiple points of sale or warehouses, branch transferring makes it easy to transfer products from one location to another without losing track of inventory. Cloud-based inventory management systems can also be more cost-effective than traditional inventory systems as they don’t require the purchase of servers or other hardware to store your data. Maintenance and updates to the platform are also usually handled by the service provider, reducing the need for an in-house IT team. Providers also work hard to keep your data secure, investing in the latest security measures and regularly backing up your data spread across multiple storage locations. All these benefits to using a cloud-based inventory system mean less human error due to traditional inventory management practices, increased efficiency, secure data management, and lower costs in your business practices.
Using Cin7 to aid in inventory management allows you to see those inventory updates in real-time. They allow you to track individual components as well as finished products and syncs to many other software types and sales channels, like Shopify or Amazon. Using barcodes in Cin7 also allows your warehouse to speed up picking and packing for orders and allows you to automatically add inventory as it comes in. Using saved filters allows you to quickly see items at specific locations or in specific bins. Bill of materials can also be automatically loaded for finished products and kits, taking the inventory automatically from the component items on sales orders. If you need to connect a system, there are 450+ ready-made connections to many popular systems like Quickbooks, Shipstation, Square, and Syncware. There are also options to customize and create your own custom integrations using their API allowing you to tailor the system to your specific business needs. Using buffer stock to make sure you don’t run out of an item? Cin7 allows you to set buffer stock levels and sync that amount to e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Amazon, ensuring that you never sell out of a product. When orders come in, you can also automatically dispatch orders for e-commerce orders if product is available.
Setting up with Cin7 is easy. For a basic set up you would import your items, set your locations, define your operations, and set your minimum stock order points. Further settings can be used to support serial numbers, use warehouse bin designations, automatically generate new SKUs, and perform smart reordering. Additional customization based on your business practices may also be available. After setup, the WMS dashboard within Cin7 allows you to see at a glance your open sales, your new sales, how many orders are released to pick, overdue orders, and orders that have shipped today. Creating adjustments to individual, batch, or serial product amounts or values is also as easy using the adjustments module. Simply find your products in the adjustment module and type in what adjustments need to be made. You can also adjust stock by location and can export out any adjustments to your accounting software, updating all systems as changes take place.
To learn more about Cin7, their inventory management system, and how you can implement Cin7 for your business, please reach out to Unity Consulting Firm.
Need more advice or assistance? Your product strategy and business transformation experts at Unity Consulting are here to help!
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