The construction industry is growing tremendously. Every day you see foundations of buildings being laid, and before you know it, they are over and another one is already growing. When a building is completed, a lot of people benefit. A modern house requires sand, bricks, tiles, roofing, wiring, and even after it’s done, it requires furniture. You will notice that constant wood supply is key to the construction of a house as it can be used before or after construction. This demand has ignited the passion in farmers to plant trees for sale. However, they should make the most out of the tree planting, or it will not be worth it. Considering trees are very easy to manage, most farmers will take that chance, especially if they have a sizeable land.
After the trees are harvested, they are reproduced to make different types of products. The trees are reprocessed to produce timber and even plywood. You can specialize in the making of all these tree products and store them. To do this, you need to build yourself a warehouse. Just like any other business, lumber key players are also developing their business so as to make the most out it. This will mean that they have a systematic way of tracking purchases and orders. This will cut down on costs and maximize on profit as it saves time. The inventory management software is taking care of a lot of processes.
This inventory software tallies any measure of wood material that goes into the warehouse. It has specifications from hardwood to softwood, and it stores measurements as well. The lumbering materials in your warehouse will be clustered according to type and size measurements. This software will not be useful if it can’t help you account for the lumbering materials harvested and produced. It comes with tools that can translate the intel to QuickBooks. You can choose from the different inventory softwares one that meets your needs.
Benefits of inventory management system; –
- Stock level & turnover
You cannot operate a business without knowing the available stock. You need to know what stock you have, and what you need. This will help you project the income or even expenditure. The stock also helps you regulate your turnover. This will help you avoid dead stock or even outdated stock in the system. With the correct figures annually, you can project where you need to increase stock, and where you need to reduce it.
- Time and cost
The inventory software will scan the barcode and store it in the system, unlike when you have to send an employee to go find the lumber product. It keeps a list of all available products. This saves you time on the counting of products. You don’t need any physical recount since everything is keyed in the system, and it does the counting for you. The inventory management software will help give you an accurate report. This system will also help you save a lot of money as you can cut down significantly on the number of employees you need.
- Purchase and sales order
Automatic purchase orders are developed. They are sent to the system and you get to know what the consumer wants. The sales are also done automatically. This saves time and is also cost-effective. The system processes every detail you need; all you need to do is supply whatever is needed, to the place it is needed. Once the consumer decides on what they want and posts it to the system, it will generate everything automatically; from quantity, to quality and size, and maybe even the nature of the material.
- Equilibrium
This is where the software translates the difference between purchases and supplies. You don’t want your customers having and experiencing shortages. Once you become unreliable, then it’s very hard for customers to trust your credibility. Once you have an equilibrium between the demand and stock, then you are on the safe side. The inventory software will always alert you when you’re running low on stock for you to order. The same software will create an order for all the things you want. So having everything at a balanced level will reduce the risk of you having no stock to supply your customers.
- Location and arrangement
According to en.wikipedia.org a warehouse is a storage facility that is big in size. This is where you can keep your products until the consumer needs them. When entering the data into the software system, you always indicate the location or shelves the product belongs to. This helps you navigate easily around the warehouse. You will be sure of where to get a certain product with the required measurements. How you arrange your products in the warehouse also matters. Have a certain organization that will enable you to get to the items faster. Get a place that is easily accessible and even easier to pack; this will save on time, and also speed up the delivery process.
- Demand-supply curve
With the data you generate from the report of the inventory software, you are able to always plan ahead. Therefore, every item will be readily available whenever customers need them. Considering every business has a high season and an offseason, you can study the buying pattern and always plan ahead. When do you need excess stock? This will help you store products in the right amounts. This will in turn help you meet demand as your customers will receive your services and goods across the year without shortages or complains. The Lumber inventory software can help you project the future, whether you need more stock, or whether you need to reduce supply.
You can give authority to few of your workers to study the system; this will ensure that the business continues even during the times when you are unwell. You can teach them as they perfect on the job. The good thing is that it’s practical and most of the work will be done by the software. This will help exploit division of labor in a more appropriate way, which will make work easier for you. You need to understand that increased productivity is as a result of better productivity.
- History and loyalty
The truth is, if you deliver quality products to your customers, they will always be queueing or even calling for more. Everybody tries to earn customers’ loyalty. However, the only way to do this is by meeting their demands and needs. They will never change to another business; they will keep coming for more. As they keep coming, you are able to build customer loyalty to your products. The only way you brand yourself is through the customers, so make sure all they want is always available. With customer loyalty, you can afford excuses when the stock arrives late; you can explain to the customer why you don’t have it then, and how long the restocking will take.
- Monitoring
You may have your services and goods delivered to other places. This happens after you have branded your products, and gotten different orders from different places. The software system will keep you updated on the stock and purchases from your other warehouses. Thus, you are able to link up with your suppliers to deliver the required products. This will mean you coordinate and make sure the demand is met.
- Transparency
Once you have a product keyed in the system, it should remain in the stock or warehouse until it is purchased. If it is not registered as sold, it means the product is still available. In the event that it’s missing, it means someone is definitely messing with your hard work. When you lack such a system, it’s very easy to lose stock because you can’t even trace having it in the first place. Such a storage system will at least enhance accountability and transparency amongst the workers.
- Data
Considering there is a lot of intel being processed and shared around, there has to be secure storage. Storing the data is no problem; the concern is whether the data is secure. The system has security features. This means data keyed in is hardly erased or changed. This will reduce any form of malpractice. You can also decide who has authority to see certain information. Data can’t be lost or erased from the system since they only have partial rights to access the system. Another concern about data is whether it’s up to date. Inventory software enables you to have data that is always updated. This will help you in making decisions because you are well informed.
Inventory management software is one of the best inventions of all times. Who knew timber products could be accounted for and keyed in a system just like supermarket products? The software is here and it has features you may know. It has tools to enable it access barcodes and scan them. It’s also efficient and has proven productive by increasing the revenue. No business-oriented person would refuse a genuine coin resulting from his hard work.
