How to improve supply chain with IoT inventory management
Is your inventory healthy? Remember, healthy inventory is not just about stocking goods every day but managing them efficiently. Even top businesses fail to understand the fact that inventory management solves the basic business need and plays a major role in the overall supply chain.
Yes, a well-maintained inventory will not only maximize productivity but also will ensure your business never run out of stocks and at the same time never create an overstocking situation. Still, many companies fail to capitalize on the inventory management solutions and taking advantage of a leading IoT app development company’s or digital transformation services’ best practices of to avoid supply chain impact.
Gone are those days that inventory management was done using manual spreadsheets and outdated techniques. The Internet in inventory management has enabled companies to leverage the power of technology-enabled inventory management systems to improve productivity. Companies with such systems in place are performing better compared to those that don’t, even in the current COVID 19 situation.
According to Global Market Insights, Inventory Management Software Market size was estimated at over USD 2 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 6% from 2018 to 2024.
Here is a list of challenges you’ll be facing due to manual inventory management systems.
- Lack of real-time inventory data
- Inaccurate projection of demand and supply
- Decentralized control
- Lack of optimization
- Misplaced inventory
Having a robust inventory management system in place is quintessential for any business as this can save a lot of money and time. It is prudent that inventory management systems serve as the heart of most companies. To gain a complete picture of what happens in the inventory, capturing and retrieving the asset data at every point is extremely critical.
SEE ALSO: Discover how our IoT solution improved the supply chain of a leading manufacturer.
Some of the popular technologies used in enterprise inventory management systems are beacons, Bluetooth, barcode, RFID tags, IoT, etc.
Every technology has its own set of advantages and here in this post, I would like to focus on how using the IoT-driven inventory management improves the supply chain of business.
The use of IoT in inventory management could be the next big thing for enterprises because it is predicted that there will be 26 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020 and the trend is all set to continue.
The below section will explain how enterprise IoT solutions transform and boost inventory management.
Real-Time Inventory Tracking
Many enterprises are moving from manual/partially automated inventory systems to real-time tracking of assets as the data captured is accurate, easier, and quick.
Rather than focusing on predetermined intervals of inventory stock audits and purchases, using real-time inventory management systems will help companies to capture every purchase of a new asset with costs in real-time to plan perfectly.
This will save the company time, cost, and helps meet customer demands.
Benefits of a real-time inventory tracking system using IoT
- Captures real-time data
- Highly accurate
- Enables to track assets precisely based on color, size, shape, location etc.
- Enables accurate and item-wise asset monitoring
- Enables contactless asset tracking in real-time
- Helps avoid stock-outs and excess inventory
- Improves customer experience
- Total control over inventory
- Organized warehouse for seamless management
- Helps identify inventory levels whenever needed
- Integration with sales data
- Enables remote tracking
- Helps optimize the entire inventory process for maximum efficiency
- Improves revenue and branding
Companies that have already implemented Industry 4.0 solutions for inventory management are experiencing better results compared to others. With real-time inventory offering a plethora of advantages for enterprises, investing in the new technologies is a must for enterprises to boost customer experience and process efficiency.
