Digital Inventory Management: Save Time and Resources by Eliminating Manual Processes

The Disadvantages of Manual Inventory Management vs. Digital Inventory Management

You might have a small, persistent voice in the back of your head whispering that you can continue with manual inventory management in your spreadsheets, Word documents or on the board.

Why teach an old dog new tricks?

You may also think that digital inventory management sounds like an expensive and resource-intensive shift for your business.

Do we have the time and money for all that software?

Yet, you’ve been drawn to digital inventory management. Perhaps because you sense there’s something to gain if your inventory management became more automated, efficient, and yes… Digital.

And that’s exactly why you should now learn more about why digital inventory management is far better for your inventory-driven business – whether you run e-commerce, do wholesale or have a manufacturing company.

But first, here are the key reasons why manual inventory management is becoming a very expensive relic of the past:

With Manual Inventory Management, You Can’t Avoid Typos

It may not take a major study to convince you that humans make mistakes. For mistakes you will make when you sit and update your inventory by hand or on the keyboard. Several studies, like this one from Inderscience, point out that manual inventory leads to significant costs. Because when you’re busy, you’re likely not to notice the typing errors.

Was it 10 or 15 items that should be deducted or added to the inventory column?

These errors can accumulate and become very costly over time. With inaccurate inventory counts, you will base your purchases on incorrect data. This means you might either buy too many items you can’t sell or not enough to meet the demand.

Manual Inventory Management Is Time-consuming and Resource-intensiv

When your inventory management is manual, it’s entirely up to you to update your spreadsheets or documents. This must be done every time there’s a movement of goods in the form of purchases, stock transfers, adjustments or sales. So, it requires a lot of time and energy. And it can be difficult to maintain good order – especially on hectic days.

See for yourself how many problems Miniservietten had with their manual inventory management before they switched to digital inventory management.

You also need to time off. Who updates the stock movements then? Again, it takes time and wears on your resources to have to assign an employee to wrestle with manual processes.

Manual Inventory Management Equals Double Work

Since your spreadsheets, handwritten notes or Word documents can’t be connected to the financial system, the online store, or the shipping provider, you will end up doing a lot of double work with your manual inventory management.

After you have registered the purchases and sales orders and updated your inventory, you now also have to report it in your other systems.

It’s exhausting and unnecessary duplication of work.

And very anti-2024. Today, your competitors most likely have customized systems for the most critical work areas, such as inventory management. Therefore, you are at a disadvantage when you don’t invest in digital inventory management.

So, there are significant reasons why you should leave manual inventory management behind and instead board the train called digital inventory management. The challenges you encounter with manual inventory will be eliminated with Rackbeat’s digital inventory management.

Say Goodbye to Typing Errors and Double Work with Rackbeat’s Digital Inventory Management

No matter what you sell, which industry you are in, and whether you have your own warehouse or work with dropshipping, there are some core areas where Rackbeat’s digital inventory system will lighten the workload and free up resources for you:

No Typing Errors and Waste of Resources with Automatic Updating of Your Inventory Numbers

Unlike manual inventory management, digital inventory management will automatically keep you updated on your inventory in real time. As soon as a movement of goods is registered, (in the form of a purchase, sale, stock transfer or an inventory adjustment), the system will update your inventory numbers.

This means you don’t have to worry about making typing errors or using unnecessary resources to keep track of all spreadsheets, documents or notes.

Rackbeat’s Digital Inventory Management Ensures You Make the Right Purchases

Furthermore, you no longer need to make your purchases based on unreliable data. Rackbeat’s digital inventory system also differs from manual sheets or handwritten notes when you need to ensure your goods are in stock – on time. You can get reorder reminders when the available quantity of a given item is nearing the pain threshold.

Thus, you don’t have to go and look at your shelves and guess how many items are left before you contact your supplier. The system tells you.

And then you win back the money you wasted on manual inventory management, characterized by either too high capital tied up in inventory or disappointed customers who didn’t get their items on time.

In fact, you can also choose to make your purchases with the purchasing management in Rackbeat, where you have your invoices, orders, and supplier overviews in clear dashboards. Digitization of your inventory management also gives you a good portion of supply chain management.

Skip the Double Work with Digital Inventory Management and Connect Your Systems

At the same time, Rackbeat’s digital inventory system can be connected to your other systems, as it is built on an open API. This means, for example, it can communicate with your online store. If you have an online store, all the sales that occur in the store will immediately be synchronized with the inventory system, so the inventory is up to date.

And if you have a financial system, your inventory values and invoices will be seamlessly synchronized from your digital inventory system to your accounting. That means an end to all the duplication of work associated with endless manual entry.

So, Rackbeat’s digital inventory management can concretely save you time, money, and the headaches caused by tedious manual inventory management.

But how do you get started smoothly with digitizing your inventory management?

It’s Easy to Get Started with Rackbeat’s Digital Inventory Management

It’s always a good idea to test drive a new system before you decide to go all in. Therefore, we recommend that you create a free account so you can test Rackbeat’s digital inventory management for 14 days without commitment.

If you have any questions about how the system would work with your specific workflows, you can also book a presentation of Rackbeat with a product specialist. The focus will be on your business and how Rackbeat can support your specific needs.