As company logistics supply chains become more intricate and customers begin to expect seamless delivery of their goods, keeping track of large amount of stock can be a difficult task for growing businesses. To put it simply, spreadsheets and clipboards aren’t up to scratch anymore.

Now many small-to-medium businesses are taking advantage of advanced warehouse inventory management software that gives them much greater oversight over their stocktake and logistical processes. But how does a business that’s relied on traditional pen and paper stock control prepare itself to make the switch?

Let’s take a look at 5 handy tips to prepare your company for your new MYOB inventory management software.

Work to identify what your company’s needs are

The first step in implementing new warehouse inventory management software is to identify what the needs of your business are. This process involves carefully planning out each stage of your business’s supply chain and identifying the necessary decision points at each stage.

Taking a look at past performance data, even if it’s only anecdotal, can help you in identifying the areas where your current systems are falling short. For example, is your business experiencing regular stock outs or does it end up wasting a lot of unused goods?

Plan and develop adequate stocktake principles

Warehouse inventory management software shouldn’t be considered as a panacea for poor stocktake. Strong and reliable processes are required to make sure your warehouse inventory management software is implemented successfully.

In order to prepare for this, your business should create a rulebook of guiding principles that work to make sure your goods make their way through your supply chain the most reliable and efficient way possible. Once you have developed a map of your supply chain, you then have the chance to plan out how every last stage should be optimised.

Choosing the ideal warehouse inventory management software

When it comes to selecting warehouse inventory management software, businesses are spoilt for choice with many advanced cloud-based solutions available. Making a choice to use a specific solution suggests that your business is about ready to begin implementation, although the decision making process can be difficult.

Some important questions to ask are whether or not the solution you are considering supports real-time stock control as well as including advanced mechanisms for mobile sales and barcoding. It’s important to understand what the likely cost of the platform will so you can decided if you want to pay a large fee upfront or pay for a subscription package that gives you access to the latest tools as they are developed.

If possible, consider trialling your preferred solution before fully implementing it.

Planning the transition

Once you’ve decided on which warehouse inventory management software you want to use for your business, you then need a detailed plan to manage the transition. This is important as you will need to plan to minimise risk and keep employee morale high during this process.

The implementation of cloud-based warehouse inventory management software is relatively straightforward, although there can be some growing pains early on. Your transition plan should have contingencies for the hiccups that are likely to occur so that your bottom line isn’t affected.

It’s also crucial that your transition plan works to prevent any mistakes from happening in the first place and is able to predict what the worst mistakes are so they can be avoided. For example, you could make sure that all of your data entry is double checked during the first 2 or so weeks to see if everything is operating the way it should be.

While any major business transition is difficult, the above tips should make it easier for your business to implement its new warehouse inventory management software.