Posted by acts_as_flinn
Mon, 14 Aug 2006 02:16:00 GMT
So you’re looking to implement online inventory management. Here is a checklist for getting started with a web-based online inventory system.
- When choosing an online inventory management system you should know what features you absolutely need and what you can live without. Web services provide different sets of functionality especially companies offering a product specialized for a niche industry.
- Know what programs does your inventory management application need to talk to. QuickBooks, Peachtree, and other accounting applications have their own data formats for importing. Exporting data to office applications like Excel make handling data simple—I consider this a must.
- Know what programs the inventory application can accept data from. This is similar to the above bullet, find out if you can upload information from your accounting system, or office programs like Excel to the online inventory management system.
- Figure out how many accounts you will need. Who will use the system, how many offices, or warehouses will need access to the system.
- Find a provider with a clear scalable path for expanding your capabilities when the time comes. You’re a growing company, and someday you might grow well past an online inventory management service provider. Find out if you can run the system in-house with a support contract when the time comes.
- Last but not least, have your inventory ready to be uploaded. If your online inventory management application has an Excel spreadsheet template, use it. This can save you time getting started. Uploading a list of 10,000 parts at a time instead of filing a form one by one is a no-brainer.
About the author: Flinn Mueller (acts_as_flinn) is the President of Right Traq, Inc. a Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania based online inventory management service provider.
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Posted by acts_as_flinn
Sat, 12 Aug 2006 03:54:00 GMT
VMI SaaS
So you’re a supplier—Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) is a great way to provide a premium benefit to your customers. The incentive to offer a service like Vendor Managed Inventory is long term relationship building with your customers—meaning long term business for you. So what do you need to implement a VMI solution?
Data Sharing
Data sharing means that your managed inventory solution gives customers access to data about their inventory. VMI solutions can get pretty confusing when it comes to getting data to the client. The problem with the overwhelming number of solutions out there is getting software suites to talk to each other. XML based Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) makes the VMI process much easier, offering standard methods for communication.
Of course an all-in-one solution for vendors and their clients would be perfect. Imagine providing accounts to login to one inventory system for customers to retrieve inventory data. Customers could even use the system to manage their own in-house inventory so that managed inventory automatically gets delivered on time when needed.
Big ERP
Most of the big ERP suites offer some type of EDI web services but deploying IBM, Oracle, or SAP for inventory can get bloated quick. The worst part—software consultants. Most “consultants” aren’t working for you, they work for commissions, fees, and markups. That’s just reality, face it. “No one every got fired for buying IBM” is a classic phrase in the business world for a reason—top notch consulting at a price. There is no doubt that big ERP solutions work, but they attach big costs that will be passed on to your customers.
Custom VMI
Custom inventory management applications can also get pricey. Hiring a consultant to evaluate your inventory practice and write a custom Vendor Managed Inventory application is a solution that gets very complicated quickly, and the long run cost involved in this type of setup means costs pile up on you and your customers quickly. There is no guarantee that you’ll get the kind of quality that you and your customers need.
SaaS VMI Solution
So Big ERP, and custom solutions are out there but they’re complicated, messy, and pricey. What’s a vendor to do? Software as a service is perfect for Vendor Managed Inventory. SaaS solutions offer vendors and suppliers integration, simplicity, and are cost effective.
Our SaaS inventory app, TRAQInventory is the perfect Vendor Managed Inventory solution because not only does it offer XML based web services for communication with 3rd party applications, but the platform is fully managed and it features customer and vendor access to maintain inventory—especially from multiple warehouses or logistics facilities. It means that your warehouses show up with the rest of your customers facilities. Customers make inventory requests or use automatic reorder notifications—Easy! Provide a great benefit for your customers, build relationships, and offer new product opportunities, let’s go…
Great the solution! Check out TRAQInventory or check out more info about what we have to offer.
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Posted by acts_as_flinn
Fri, 04 Aug 2006 19:15:00 GMT
Web 2.0+Inventory Management = Inventory 2.0
With all the buzz lately about Web 2.0, I wanted to take a minute to share my thoughts on what Web 2.0 means to inventory management. Web 2.0 is a hodge-podge of buzz words that typically means that a web site or web application is a little bit more alive than traditional sites. This doesn’t always mean Flash, or screen effects (though it is typical), it can mean simple technologies like tagging, RSS, XML, and other non-visual technologies.
Why are tagging, RSS, XML useful for inventory management?
Tagging Inventory Management
Tagging is a technology that allows you to easily identify content. It’s like placing a keyword on something. Tags can be used to find content, or link similar subjects together.
Tags are perfect for inventory management because they allow you to arbitrarily attach a keyword on to an inventory part, or piece of equipment. These tags create groups that can link together for quick searching, or when part names aren’t as descriptive as they should be.
TRAQInventory provides tagging that will allow users to find items fast. This is one of the biggest complaints I have heard from SAP and other legacy systems. Searches take too long, and are often incorrect. Search is tricky in general, but tagging makes life a lot easier, and everyone can tag, not just system administrators.
RSS Inventory Management Feeds
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (depending on who you ask). RSS is sometimes referred to simply as a feed. Feeds send notifications when new content is added to a websie, new email hits your inbox, or in the case of TRAQInventory when an inventory level hits the refill level.
TRAQInventory uses RSS (and email) to send notifications for inventory movements, critical refill levels, shipment requests, and a number of other system events.
Open XML Inventory Management
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a technology that allows computer programs to speak to each other in the same language. For years now vendors have attempted to lock clients into application using proprietary formats. XML is a response to proprietary file formats. What does all this mean for inventory management?
It means that inventory & asset management software has no excuse for not providing simple access to your information. It means that you can download inventory and asset information from the web in an open format. It also means that third party applications can link up to TRAQInventory issue commands for inventory movement, or even create new parts, locations, shipments, etc.
Your information won’t be locked into or out of TRAQInventory ever.
TRAQInventory is a Web 2.0 based Inventory & Asset Management system.
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