Barcode Stock Management – Sage 50 Accounts Professional remains the leading small business accounting software in the UK market, despite in-roads from competitors like Xero and Quickbooks. Sage 50 remains at the top of its game because of its deep understanding of what SMEs need to organise and manage their accounting functions effectively, and because of its ease of use and simplicity of implementation.
For SMEs, Sage 50 provides powerful tools for managing and reporting finances. However, as your business grows, the need to process more transactions, respond faster to customer demand, and remove error prone manual steps means many businesses seek a more sophisticated solution to replace Sage 50.
When considering alternatives such as Sage 200 or Sage Intacct, or even complex ERP solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics or SAP, a new set of challenges presents itself. These ERP offerings are incredibly powerful, but to harness them often requires a dedicated team to manage the implementation, and deep pockets to fund the not insignificant price tag! Neither resource is readily available in any small or medium sized business we’ve ever worked with, and we hear many horror stories of failed investment in complex ERP solutions for this very reason.
There is an alternative to an expensive and all-encompassing ERP implementation that still utilises Barcode Stock Management.
Identify the specific challenges you wish to resolve and look for ways to expand and build on your existing Accounting package with an integrated add-on solution like ConnX Stock for Sage 50.
As a validated Sage Business Partner ConnX Business Solutions offer direct plug-in solutions aimed at the SME market. Today we look at the challenge of Stock Management and how a Barcode based solution can change the outlook for your business.
An important challenge for a growing business is tracking and recording the value of your stock holding. Having an accurate valuation of your stock is essential for any business, but for an SME stock management is critical to accurately report working capital, meet customer demand in a fast paced and competitive market, not to mention the increased overhead costs associated with warehouse storage.
Adding barcode tracking to your operation is the most effective way to harness your stock management fully. ConnX Stock adds this functionality, and more to your existing Sage 50 Accounts package at an affordable cost, and without a complex implementation, and with NO NEED to change any of your existing Sage accounting processes.
No, it’s not quite as simple as sticking a barcode label on a product, but the team at ConnX will become your own implementation team to get you up and running. We understand the resource challenges that face many businesses in today’s climate, and we offer our own projects team to work directly with you and help your business harness the power that accurate stock management can give to your business.
10 ways barcode stock management can change your business and add power to Sage 50
1. STOCK FIGURES YOU CAN TRUST
How confident are you in the accuracy of your stock? If you are manually counting and updating your stock, the chances are it could be inaccurate, and it will be constantly out of date.
Manual stock management is prone to data entry errors, not to mention despatch errors causing chaos in both stock figures and customer satisfaction. Adopting barcodes and linking them to your stock in Sage 50 enables you to validate every stock movement you make. Scan on goods receipt to confirm what you have got, scan to put away so you know where to find it and scan outgoing stock to confirm the correct item has been picked.
Scanning a barcode rather than manually recording simplifies and speeds up the process whilst always providing your business with confidence in the accuracy of its stock.
PS -all this is done in REAL TIME. Meaning you can trust your stock figures at any time.
2. STOCK YOU CAN LOCATE QUICKLY
Knowing what stock you have and where to find it is the number 1 challenge for any stock holding business. There is nothing more frustrating than ordering more of an item only to find a box at the back of the warehouse that has been forgotten. Making purchases you don’t need to make, losing valuable products, spending time searching for that stock you know “is in the warehouse somewhere!”. These challenges are a serious barrier to an efficient and fast-moving business operation.
Sage 50 sees stock in a linear fashion. It only allows you to keep each stock code in one location. Even in the smallest business this is just not feasible for many reasons. Perhaps you are operating storage locations and picking locations. Maybe you keep stock at workstations for use in manufacturing, or perhaps you just have to squeeze stock in where you find space! Whatever the reason, in ConnX Stock your barcoded locations can be as simple or complex as you need. You can add locations whenever you need to. And most importantly you can keep the same stock item in as many places as you like and see 360° real time visibility of all of your stock at any time.
Do you have offsite consignment stock? ConnX Stock offers multi-site location structures. Don’t want to sell stock from certain locations? That stock can be quarantined so it stays on your figures but is not available for sale.
If your business can identify where your stock is and what you are holding then you benefit from better business intelligence, avoidance of over stocking, as well as faster order processing and improved customer satisfaction.
3. REAL-TIME REPORTING
By scanning barcodes to record all stock movements you are ensuring your stock is 100% accurate at all times, and in real time. No need to rely on out-of-date manual counts that are already inaccurate by the time the figures land on your desk! Know when to re-order stock, how well your operations are performing and identify fast moving lines and trends at the touch of a button.
Link ConnX Stock to your Sage 50 with barcodes to gain the advantage of real-time reporting, enabling the business to make quicker and better-informed decisions. Data in businesses is becoming a competitive advantage and businesses that join the tracking and monitoring of stock to their financial accounts will get the big picture in real-time, which will drive efficiency, cut costs, reduce stock holding and improve customer satisfaction.
4. FASTER AND MORE RELIABLE STOCK TAKING
Stock takes are a huge challenge for any business. Counting stock manually is an error prone and tedious task for everybody involved. First, just using barcodes to track your stock means you stock accuracy is already much more reliable, and therefore less stock takes are required in any case.
When you do need to stock take, the process of scanning the barcode reduces the risk of error. Stock takes can be performed on a perpetual basis or as a one off exercise to suit your business needs. The count is automatically linked to the back office, allowing for immediate verification and acceptance of the figures without need to manually enter anything. Once you are satisfied with your stock figures the process of updating Sage is quick and simple and removes any risk off errors.
5. CREATE A MORE DYNAMIC AND RESPONSIVE ENVIRONMENT
Adding barcode tracking to your Sage 50 puts a powerful mobile computer in the hands of your operators. Empower your team to work wirelessly and access information and communicate on the move. Workers can scan barcodes, look up stock and process orders quickly and accurately. In addition, if you wish, those same devices can allow access to other apps such as business email. Your business, and your team can benefit from mobile working with real-time information available on the go.
6. ELIMINATING SHIPPING ERRORS
Manual data entry at any stage of your business risks human error. Any step that can be automated removes another possibility of a time consuming and costly mistake. At the point of dispatch is a prime risk of an error:
- Picking the wrong item.
- Not sending enough of an item.
- Incorrectly entered / incomplete address details.
- Last minute quantity or address changes not being picked up prior to shipping.
These are just some of the shipping errors that manual processes can cause.
Scanning barcodes helps prevent picking errors. As your operator fulfils a customer order, they scan the items required. If they scan the wrong product, or scan too many then the software will not allow the order to be completed and the operator will be warned on the device. A barcode based system instils a greater degree of security, quality control and discipline into your business operations.
The ConnX Courier module automatically raise the courier collection, without need of any additional data entry. If there has been a last-minute change of shipping address this will be picked up automatically without chasing a paper-based picking sheet around your facility. The requirement for Batch traceability drives many businesses to look at automated Barcode stock management software. With a batch barcode you can create traceability from supplied raw materials through to finished goods with batches at every stage. Understand exactly what batches have been used in manufacturing. Quickly identify all products that used a specific batch, and which customers received those goods. Trace the batch back to its supplier source, all at the touch of a button.
7. BARCODE STOCK MANAGEMENT CREATES TRACEABILITY IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Record and store batch codes and serial numbers against any stock item. Your business can trace products back to the source and provide reassurance should you ever need to recall or investigate quality issues. Serial numbers are adopted by many businesses, and when linked to individual products they can provide traceability, help with warranty claims and improve servicing and returns.
8. IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Today’s customer demands a fast, efficient, and responsive service at all times. Outstanding customer service should be the norm and helps differentiate in a competitive market.
Worldwide supply issues have meant that lead times have extended in some cases, while customer demand for fast delivery add more pressure.
Barcode tracking allows you to know exactly how much stock you have and where it is. Accurate stock figures allow you to plan and manage your purchasing. Improved business information provides your customer service and sales teams with what they need to satisfy customer demand.
9. BARCODE STOCK MANAGEMENT PROVIDES LEGAL AND SUPPLY CHAIN COMPLIANCE
If you operate in the medical devices, food, defence or chemicals, defence sectors then barcode stock control is essential for compliance and often a legal requirement.
Products that have the potential to be harmful, prone to counterfeiting or that need to be traceable in case of potential contamination can be more easily tracked and recalled using barcodes.
Barcode labelling can open up new markets and your ability to prove your reliable traceability mechanisms may set you in a stronger position than your competitors with new suppliers.
10. CASH FLOW IS KING
Issues with cash flow is one of the most cited reasons SMEs sadly fail. If all your working capital is tied up in stock, this reduces your ability as a business to invest and grow.
Better stock management allows you to monitor stock levels closely and replenish only when needed. This keeps more cash in your business. With extra cash in the bank, you may use the money to invest in growth, diversify or even pay creditors earlier and reduce the costs of debt.
The greater accuracy and efficiency you have in your stock control processes, the faster stock will move and release the cash invested in it, all whilst enabling you to operate more efficiently.
For more information on adding barcode tracking to your Sage 50 package, for pricing or for a no obligation demo of ConnX Stock for Sage 50 contact vicky@connx.co.uk or call 0845 649 2950. For more information click here