| Any kind of manufacturing operation is almost | | | | printing vendor mailing labels, printing item pricing labels, |
| impossible without the support of software. Custom | | | | printing customer mailing and shipping labels, locating |
| designed software packages meant for all sorts of | | | | purchase orders, generating purchase orders |
| applications in the production industry are very | | | | automatically, searching for invoices by field name, |
| common. Inventory control is a very important part of | | | | ability to track serial numbers for items, weight tracking, |
| the manufacturing process, and it is extremely | | | | image association, calculating discounts, tracking |
| essential to check what is moving where, current | | | | non-depleting items, filtering only requested information, |
| stock levels, supplier details and seller details to ensure | | | | and printing invoices and purchase orders. The |
| proper compliance with the entire process. This | | | | packages also have better database support to keep |
| becomes enormously arduous without the proper tools | | | | vendor and customer information and inventory |
| and the right software packages. | | | | statistics at the fingertips. |
| An ideal inventory control software is easy to use, | | | | There are also customizable inventory control |
| flexible, powerful, and able undertake all kinds of | | | | software packages that can be personalized. They |
| inventory control activities such as: serial number | | | | also have user-friendly, multi-user interfaces for easier |
| tracking, checking the minimum stock levels, reordering | | | | interaction. Many allow complete remote access when |
| quantities, assemble items, disassemble items, FIFO | | | | connected to the Internet. The minimum system |
| LIFO cost tracking, item sales history, billing of materials, | | | | requirement for installing an inventory control system is |
| and real-time adjusting stock levels. It also | | | | a Microsoft Windows operating system (95 or above), |
| accommodates customer information, vendor/supplier | | | | 32 MB RAM and at least 24 MB of hard disk space. |
| information, sales, and purchases and generates | | | | Some of the popular brands of inventory control |
| reports for all categories. It can identify in-stock items, | | | | software packages are: iRenaissance SCM, Track-It!, |
| out-of-stock items, and sales quantities by item, | | | | TRAX, CoreIMS, NetSuite, InveTrak, and Integrated |
| customer balances, invoice balances, purchase order | | | | Inventory Management Software. When choosing |
| details, detailed sales lists, sales tax reports and | | | | inventory control software, consider a few important |
| outstanding order details. | | | | aspects such as the cost, the functions, integration with |
| Today, there are many inventory control software | | | | the current software systems and long-run |
| packages available. Each of them performs most of | | | | maintenance costs. Software packages are available |
| the basic functions apart from providing additional | | | | from just $199 onwards. Most companies also allow |
| services like printing barcode labels, barcode scanning, | | | | free download of the trail version for a limited period. |