Your equipment and tools are an important part of your business, but how do you know if you’re making the most out of it? If you’re uncertain, then you’ve come to the right place. You’ll be able to learn how to improve the effectiveness and productivity of your business – all thanks to inventory management software.
You can keep track of your equipment with a pen and paper (or through excel spreadsheets) to know who is using your equipment. However, this can be time-consuming. The worst part is you’re prone to committing errors. Instead of sticking to the old-fashioned way of tracking your inventory, it’s best if you use a user-friendly inventory management software for your business. It automates a lot of your background work, so you can focus on more important things.
How can your inventory management software improve inventory management?
Here are four ways on how you can save money and time while managing the equipment in your inventory:
It helps you know what you have
Do you know which equipment is in your inventory? You probably already have an idea, but the combined value of all your supporting tools and equipment is higher than you would expect.
Let’s say you have an overview of what equipment you already have. But do you know if it’s up to date? If the list you have is old and static, then this wouldn’t be of any use to your business. With an inventory management software in place, you’ll be sure that your equipment inventory list is accurate, complete, and up to date.
This means that your equipment inventory should include all your assets. It should also provide enough information such as its value, location, capabilities, etc. Lastly, it should always reflect your changing inventory.
It can track how your equipment is used
Once you already know what equipment is in your inventory, the next step is to know how each equipment is being used. There are questions you need to answer for each piece of equipment in your inventory. These are:
- Who uses your equipment?
- How often do people use your equipment?
- When do people use your equipment?
- Where do they use your equipment?
Using the right software, you’ll easily know what you have and how your equipment is being used. It can help you make better decisions about your equipment management strategy. This goes for both current and future equipment.
It allows you to access the right equipment at the right time
When you operate in multiple locations, then how do you divide your assets between those locations? It may sound logical to divide them equally, but that’s not always effective, especially since the demand for equipment is going to be the same everywhere.
With an inventory management software in place, with accurate and updated usage data, you can easily deploy your assets where they are needed the most. Why would you place one piece of equipment in one location when there’s a shortage in another location?
Supply and demand fluctuate over time, so you can offer discounts to make money on items that aren’t going to be used. You can also rent extra equipment for yourself so you can bridge short periods of increased demand.
It helps you identify underlying issues
It’s such a hassle if one piece of equipment breaks down. But if it keeps breaking down after the first few repairs, then there must be something that causes it. Now that you already have information on your equipment, you can use it to identify the cause.
With your inventory management software, you can identify the trends so you can find the underlying issues. Perhaps the breakdowns are caused by one of your employees who hasn’t received the training on how to properly use your equipment. In this case, getting a replacement won’t fix the problem.
Other ways you can improve your inventory management
Here are other ways on how you can improve your inventory management. As they say, the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, so it’s better to follow all of them. These will have a bigger, positive impact on your business.
Stop spending more, start spending smarter
You might think that the only way to ensure that your equipment is available at the right time is to buy more equipment. However, this isn’t entirely true. While some of the extra equipment can be used, the rest will only be sitting in storage. We can avoid this by prioritizing your spending on tools and equipment that are used most.
Fix your equipment before they break
Do you want to spend an hour every week checking if your equipment is in good shape, or do you want to spend a day every month fixing broken equipment?
In your business, the equipment that you use most of the time is more important than the equipment you use once a week. At the same time, the equipment that you use most of the time is also more likely to break down, and thus, it needs regular maintenance. Your equipment can break down any time, so it’s always a great idea to plan it ahead of time.
And since you know that your equipment may be idle, you can schedule maintenance to reduce its impact on your business. Looking at the time spent, equipment maintenance is clearly a better choice than equipment repair.
When planning for maintenance, make sure to base it on your need instead of having a fixed schedule for all of your equipment. It’s more practical this way.
Buy the best equipment
You can never avoid upgrading or replacing your current equipment. When that time comes, you can use this guide to help you spend your money smarter:
- What equipment do people like most?
- Which brands have the most issues?
- Which equipment costs you more time and money?
The key to improving your inventory management is through the use of modern, reliable, inventory management software. We hope that these tips can help you with managing your equipment inventory. Let us know what you think!
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