Best-in-class organizations are 97% more likely to have real-time visibility into the data and processes that run their business by using enterprise software. Last week, we saw that the highest-performing wholesalers and distributors follow strategies to provide visibility to management and promote process standards throughout the entire organization. (See How Do Your Business Systems Compare to Best-in-Class?) These organizations have implemented enterprise software that provides one location for all of the information needed to run the business effectively.

Enterprise software gives greater visibility which gives managers better insight into the organization, enabling them to react quickly to operational and market changes. With visibility across departments and divisions, you can better predict demand, ship orders, interact with customers, and invest in the business with confidence.

Best-in-class wholesalers and distributors use enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to analyze, forecast, and manage inventory. Let’s take a look at several ways to fully utilize enterprise software to increase the effectiveness of your operations.

Tools for Analysis with Enterprise Software

Inventory specialists can take data analysis functionality to a whole new level through inventory optimization tools and enterprise software such as Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) and Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3). These inventory optimization systems provide graphics that can illustrate the combined data from all departments. The graphics can be used to analyze, diagnose, and identify seasonal demand shifts, order patterns, likely stock-out dates, lost sales, excess orders, unsellable items, price reduction patterns, and patterns of production downtime.

Forecasting Tools

Best-in-class organizations use enterprise software and inventory optimization capabilities to analyze inventory data to forecast demand with greater accuracy and faster speed. Through this, the system can recommend optimal inventory levels for sales availability. It can take into account possible stock-out and overage risks giving managers the advance warning needed to take care of stock levels when they are becoming too high or too low.

Tools for Management

Managers need to know what is happening with inventory in order to best respond. Inventory optimization tools included in enterprise software make this easy through recommendations for optimal restocking schedules, as well as automated ordering and re-ordering. In addition to helping find and act on trends, the tools can also help alert managers of exceptions to these trends so they can react to them. Through integration with enterprise software such as Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) or Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), the tools communicate across departments and even outside of the organization using actionable intelligence. This enables informed decisions about recommended stock levels, replenishment schedules, automated orders, and exception alerts.

Using these business systems, managers can use the data to achieve inventory optimization. They can make decisions to help balance the trade-offs between the costs of a stock-out versus the costs of overstocking. Inventory management tools can adjust recommended stocking levels that are dependent upon variable risk tolerance. They help strike the balance between pushing risk tolerance in the direction of avoiding stock-outs and having more inventory ready versus pushing management to stock as little inventory as possible to avoid storage and waste costs. The ability of an inventory optimization tool to adjust forecasts based on the “what-ifs” is a huge plus to management.

Inventory management is all about making better decisions that result in better balance. This depends on the shifting goals that are influenced by the reality of the events going on in the warehouse. Tools that can improve balance provide a large and ongoing return on investment. The goal is to reduce inventory levels, resulting in significant savings. Because right-sizing is a complex challenge, cost control and customer satisfaction have become the focus. These are driving the adoption of more sophisticated systems of inventory management. By utilizing new, flexible, and refined tools that provide for dynamic optimization of inventories to maximize customer service and market share while decreasing inventory investment and lowering costs, inventory managers can significantly impact overall competitiveness and profitability.

Contact us for more information about Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) or Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) which can help you establish greater visibility into your inventory systems.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

What makes a company best-in-class? Have you ever wondered how your business systems compare to those of top organizations? An Aberdeen study defines best practices for wholesalers and distributors in their ERP Benchmark survey. The research compares practices of high-performing companies to their peers. Aberdeen found some clear differences in their business practices.

The majority of wholesalers and distributors use an ERP system to drive their business operations. Distributors turn to enterprise software solutions in their business systems for three key reasons: to manage growth expectations, to improve decision making, and to reduce costs. These motivations were identified in the Aberdeen study:

• Need to manage growth expectations (41%)
• Delays in decision-making from lack of timely information (35%)
• Must reduce costs (32%)
• Interoperability issues across multiple operating locations (27%)
• Interoperability issues with customers and suppliers (27%)

A growth strategy requires process automation. As distributors add new locations, more countries, and new customers, they are finding that communication and workflow across functions has become increasingly disorganized.  Automating processes in their business systems is a critical step in keeping costs under control and managing change.

Enterprise Software Strategies to Manage Growth

An ERP is an important part of any growth strategy. Enterprise software does more than just run operations and maintain data; it also provides visibility to management and promotes process standards throughout the entire organization. Best-in-class organizations use their ERP system as the hub for information and process improvement. Their top strategies to manage growth are listed below:

• Standardize business processes (44%)
• Streamline and accelerate processes to improve efficiency and productivity (33%)
• Optimize the use of current capacity (33%)
• Link global operations to improve interoperability and collaboration (28%)
• Provide visibility to business processes across functions and departments (17%)
• Provide timely information on critical decision-making data to front-line employees (17%)

Following these strategies for their ERP system enables best-in-class wholesalers and distributors to achieve operational results well above their peers. How does your organization compare to these best-in-class metrics?

• 3 days to close a month
• 97% complete and on-time delivery
• 98% internal schedule compliance
• 98% inventory accuracy
• 19% increase in profit margins over two years
• 40% decrease in time to decision

Best-in-Class Business Systems Practices

If your organization meets these criteria, you are among the best in the business; if your organization doesn’t achieve these results, you can learn from the practices of best-in-class companies. The Aberdeen research shows four practices that set best-in-class distributors apart from their peers.

• Provide visibility: Top performing companies are 97% more likely to provide information and process visibility throughout their organization.
• Integrate business systems: 81% of best-in-class wholesalers and distributors integrate their business systems both internally and externally.
• Enable mobile access: Best-in-class organizations are 119% more likely than other companies to provide mobile access to their business systems
• Measure performance: Top companies are 100% more likely to set goals and measure performance as a regular process.

In future blogs, we will address each of these four practices. We will discuss how wholesalers and distributors are using these capabilities to drive business success.

IWI specializes in helping organizations select and implement enterprise software and business systems that can lead to higher company performance. Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS), and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software. Contact us to learn how we can help your organization become best-in-class.

Over the past few weeks, we have looked at ways to reduce waste in the food manufacturing industry by using technology to improve warehousing and manufacturing practices. Another tool you can use to reduce waste is business intelligence connected with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system like Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3).

Overstocking is a Primary Source of Food Waste

Increasing manufacturing automation and improving traceability are certainly key components in reducing waste; however, a large portion of food waste results from overstocking which comes when companies are unable to sell their finished products. Of course, the danger of lowering stock levels is to run into stock-outs which will also reduce profitability.

Business Intelligence Tools Optimize Inventory

Success in the food manufacturing industry is tied to the ability to accurately forecast consumer demand. Because supply and demand can fluctuate dramatically, it can be a challenge to maintain the right stock levels.  Business intelligence tools are critical components to your systems because they can help take the guesswork out of when to buy and how much to stock. Even small improvements in the problems below can make a big impact on your profitability.

1. Excess inventory
2. Stock-outs
3. Inaccurate counts
4. Warehouse inefficiency

Your business is complex and it can be a challenge to keep tabs on key performance indicators. How quickly you respond to changes in demand, process problems, and cash flow problems can make a difference in your profitability. With business intelligence, you receive accurate data to optimize inventory, drive growth and reduce costs.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) Has Built-In Business Intelligence

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides robust business intelligence to help companies avoid overstocking. This solution gives insight into historic fluctuations in supply and demand to better enable accurate forecasting; capturing real-time data from the manufacturing floor and the warehouse to make better decisions with better data. More accurate information can lead directly to improved efficiencies, less waste, and higher profitability.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that helps you take control of your processes and integrate your workflows into a single, coherent system. Built to meet the challenges faced by food manufacturing companies, Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) will help you to meet exacting regulatory and product standards while creating efficiencies and cost savings.

The ERP software offers seamless integration to automate processes and share data throughout your organization. Sharing data transparently enables your company to be more efficient and effective.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) combines advanced manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, customer relationship management (CRM), and accounting functionality with application features that address the unique and specialized needs of your food company, such as:

• Recipe management
• Shelf life management with expiration date control
• Quality management
• Sophisticated pricing and contract management
• Product packaging
• Highly repetitive and high volume process flows
• Catch weight management
• Weighing scales
• Hardware to track the product: barcode labels, scanners

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS), and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

The food manufacturing industry is highly competitive. With low margins and fluctuating demand, food manufacturers need to use every means to maximize efficiency. That is why food waste is an important matter; small amounts can accumulate into big costs. Reducing food waste will lead to decreased costs and increased profitability.

Reduce Waste Using Process Automation

One way to eliminate food waste is to be focused on operational excellence on the manufacturing floor. (See last week’s blog to learn about reducing food waste in the warehouse.) Putting the following practices in place will improve manufacturing success and reduce waste.

• Automate your production lines using intelligent equipment and improve recipe management.
• Apply lean manufacturing practices to eliminate wasted steps in the manufacturing process.
• Continuously innovate to improve processing equipment and material handling.
• Track ingredients and products throughout the manufacturing process.
• Collect process data to meet regulatory compliance and make improvements.

Knowledge is the First Step to Maximizing Efficiency

Awareness of where food waste occurs is critical to knowing where to focus innovation. Having a thorough understanding of where food waste occurs makes it possible to maximize efficiency. That knowledge comes from having the right technology in place to gather and analyze data.

Our enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides insight into the entire food manufacturing operation. It can automate, streamline and verify your manufacturing processes. With the detailed and easily-accessed tracking information that Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides, gaining insight into where food loss occurs is possible.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) Manages the Entire Food Manufacturing Process

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) includes functionality specific to the food manufacturing industry. The ERP software supports planning, scheduling and production control for the food manufacturer. It effectively manages the fluctuation of procurement, production and shipping while staying on top of compliance requirements. Unlike other solutions that rely heavily on add-on software to support industry-specific processes, food processing capabilities are built into Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3). Specific manufacturing management capabilities include:

• Process and mixed-mode manufacturing
• Recipe and batch management
• Catch weight management
• Weighing scales
• Product packaging
• Work schedule management
• Technical data configuration
• Costing
• Quality assurance
• Capacity planning

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is a cost-effective solution built with a multi-tier architecture which ensures highly reliable, flexible and scalable operations. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is easy to use in a web browser and on mobile devices. It is simple to manage and highly configurable to adapt to your unique processes. It can be used as a service in the cloud or deployed on any internal infrastructure.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) enables food manufacturers to integrate their systems and standardize operations all while improving their bottom line.

To learn more about reducing food waste with ERP, download our whitepaper, Sage ERP EM (formerly known as Sage X3): Reducing Food Waste and Increasing Efficiency with ERP.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

One of the biggest challenges a food manufacturer can face is managing inventory. Excess inventory is an issue for any manufacturer, but for the food manufacturing industry, the repercussions are even greater. With inventory that has a shelf life and expiration dates, effective inventory management is mission critical.

Last week, we looked at the high cost of waste in the food manufacturing industry and how having technology with tracking capabilities can reduce that cost. (See The High Cost of Waste in the Food Manufacturing Industry.) This week, we will look at how better warehouse management can reduce food expiration and spoilage as well as eliminate cross-contamination—two sources of food waste.

Reduce Food Expiration and Spoilage

Poor inventory management in the food manufacturing industry directly leads to food expiration and spoilage.  Although technology and improved processes can help reduce food expiration and spoilage by speeding up the production process, the real issue is in distribution and the inability to move products down the supply chain at an appropriate rate. A robust ERP solution can support efforts to manage your inventory by tracking lots and shelf life so that products can be pushed out before they expire.

Eliminate Cross-Contamination

Contamination of food can not only results in waste, but also can be dangerous for your customers and negatively impact your company’s reputation. Having a food safety plan is the first step to prevent cross-contamination in the food manufacturing process. However, improved tracking functionality will help eliminate this risk.

To learn more about how food ERP software can help prevent contamination, see our blog: The Answer to Food Manufacturing Industry’s Worries.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3)—an ERP Focused on Food Manufacturing

Inventory management capabilities integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software are critical components for tracking inventory in real time and reducing food waste. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is an ERP that can be used to manage the entire inventory process. Sage X3 has tracking functions that make it easier to manage warehouses and processes so that spoilage and cross-contamination can be eliminated. The allergen tracking function in Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) enables companies to easily segregate ingredients in the warehouse and move them out before they spoil. It provides precise data on the timing, handling and flow of goods including lot tracking information accessible within four minutes.

Specific Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) inventory capabilities include:

• Multi-level warehousing: location, lot and sub lot
• Forward and backward lot traceability
• Shelf life management with expiration date control
• Movements and transactions
• RF data acquisition
• Quality control
• Costing
• Replenishment

In addition to robust inventory functionality, Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) includes software to manage all of a food processor’s business from manufacturing to accounting to sales.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

Food waste isn’t just a global problem; it impacts profitability in the food manufacturing industry. Food waste is an indicator that there are inefficiencies in manufacturing processes, contributing to high overhead and lower profits.

Momentum is building to address the global food waste problem. Non-profit organizations, regulators, and consumers are making waste an urgent issue due to their concerns about sustainability and world hunger. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, 30% of the food we grow is never eaten. While the majority of waste occurs at the consumption level, over 4 billion pounds of food are wasted in the manufacture and distribution of food.

Reducing Food Manufacturing Waste Increases Profitability

Generally, food manufacturing companies accept a certain amount of waste as a part of the cost of doing business and include it as overhead. Estimates say that industry-wide disposal costs are more than $100mm. Food companies could increase their profits by as much as 10% simply by reducing food waste. In a market where companies face high volume and thin margins, reducing waste can make a major impact on profitability.

Traceability is at the Core of Eliminating Food Waste

Within the food manufacturing industry, most food waste occurs in the warehousing and distribution process.  The primary sources of food waste are:

1. Expiration and spoilage
2. Overstocking
3. Cross-contamination
4. Production loss
5. Lack of traceability

At the core of food waste problems is the lack of effective tracking. The first four causes can be improved through better traceability along the supply chain and in the manufacturing process. Improving traceability will help reduce food waste, increase productivity, improve cash flow, and mitigate the risk of a recall.

Effective traceability needs a technology solution that includes real-time data about the location of ingredients and products. It should have the ability to follow ingredients and products through the manufacturing and distribution process with forward and backward lot traceability.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) Provides Rigorous Traceability

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system made to address the specific needs of food manufacturers and distributors. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) offers traceability tools that will help you lower losses due to food waste.

• It includes complete forward and backward lot traceability for each ingredient and end item.
• A full audit trail and archive of historical transactions is maintained for multi-year periods.
• The fully integrated quality control process rigorously enforces inspections to assure item conformance to any required characteristics, operational tolerance or expected results.

IWI Consulting can help you take control of operations from recipe to delivery. To learn more about Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and its unique features built especially for food manufacturing companies, contact us.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS), and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

Most organizations implement barcode scanning software to solve a particular problem they are experiencing in the area of inventory management. Whether it be a large number of inventory inaccuracies, time-wasting activities, or high inventory costs that they are experiencing, barcode scanning software offers a solution to the problem at hand. What many companies do not realize, however, is that the benefits of barcode scanning software applications extend far beyond the warehouse or distribution center.

Barcode Scanning Software Extends Beyond the Warehouse into the Office

A good inventory management solution with barcode scanning capabilities will serve your entire business, not just a segment of it. Let’s take a look at some of the areas that are positively impacted when you make the decision to invest in and implement barcode scanning software:

• First and Foremost: The Warehouse
  Knowing how much inventory you have on hand is crucial to the success of your operation. If you are relying on manual methods for inventory counting, tracking or picking and packing, the process can become extremely cumbersome and inaccuracies can abound. Barcode scanning software not only automates the process and allows you to see real-time inventory data, but it also eliminates inaccuracies that can cause problems further down the road.With the intelligence provided from barcode scanning software, managers can make more informed decisions at every level of the order fulfillment process. Barcoding also provides companies with real-time inventory tracking, giving companies a good idea of where their products are located throughout the process. This not only prevents confusion during order fulfillment, but it also serves to secure your inventory stock and prevent theft from occurring within the organization.
• The Purchasing Department
  When you implement barcode scanning software, the purchasing department gains real-time information regarding stock levels. This allows them to make more informed decisions regarding inventory purchasing and replenishment. When your purchasing department knows exactly how much to order and when to order it, they help reduce the occurrence of overstock and understock situations.
• The Customer Service Department
  When any part of the order fulfillment process is automated, customers benefit. Manual processes are often time-consuming and can result in complications when fulfilling certain orders. Barcode scanning software eliminates the time constraints related to manual processes and automates the picking and packing process, which in turn means orders are shipped more quickly and with a higher level of accuracy than through manual methods.Customer service representatives also receive the benefit of having real-time inventory and order data. When customers call to inquire about the status of an order or the availability of a certain item, the information can be found quickly and easily. This, in turn, keeps customers happy and increases the chances of retaining them in the future.
• The Accounting Department
  Barcode scanning software can be fully integrated with your company’s ERP system, allowing your accounting department to automatically track our entries. As a result, the accounting team can create more timely invoices and help your company get paid faster.

IWI recently released its own barcode scanning software solution designed specifically for Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) (formerly Sage Accpac) users. To learn more about IWI Consulting’s web based barcode scanning and inventory management solution, click here.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

No human, business or entity is exempt from making mistakes; they happen to the best of us. Whether you are new to the industry or a seasoned pro, you can most likely recall a time you yourself or your business made an error or mistake. How significant was that error? Was it costly, or did it have an impact on other areas of the organization?

Whether it is shipping the wrong product to a customer or simply sending them an invoice for an item they did not order, errors can be costly to your business. While mistakes and errors are certainly a fact of life, it is important for businesses to take certain precautions and prevent as many mistakes from occurring as possible. One area that we encourage our customers to focus their error prevention on is the area of order fulfillment.

How Much are Errors Really Costing Your Company?

Errors can occur easily during the order fulfillment process. When an item or product is incorrectly slotted or labeled, the likelihood of that product being sent to the wrong customer is high. These mistakes can be costly to the business, costing the average company a total of $390,000 a year. That is a lot of money!

If you are currently running a warehouse operation, this number may not come as a surprise to you. You most likely have firsthand knowledge on the high costs of inventory errors and – as a result – have started investigating ways to protect your company’s bottom line. Before we help you improve your inventory accuracy, you need to have a clear picture of the implications inventory errors have on your business. A recent study of over 250 businesses estimated the cost of the average picking mistake to be $22 per incident. Depending on the item and situation, this cost can quickly rise. What’s even more concerning, however, is the fact that 19% of the companies surveyed reported that they do not currently measure their picking mistakes in any form, meaning they could be experiencing an even higher number of picking-related errors and related costs.

Improving Inventory Accuracy and Decreasing Costs with Barcode Scanning Software

In order to lower the costs of picking mistakes and reduce chances of making mistakes in the first place, you need to be able to measure the mistakes you do make. This is where barcode scanning software comes into the equation.

Barcode scanning software can decrease the number of costly errors that occur during the picking process, as well as count and measure picking mistakes so you have a better idea of what your mistakes are truly costing you. The software also has built-in validation features so you know that the right product is being shipped to the right customer each and every time. With barcode scanning software, accuracy will not be just a desire of your business, it will become a reality.

IWI Consulting’s barcode scanning software solution for Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) is designed to help organizations improve inventory management, achieve total business efficiency, and save on the high costs related to business inventory. This web based inventory management solution provides users with full control over their inventory management, allowing them to eliminate costly and time-consuming manual processes and remove the barriers to effective inventory management. To learn more about IWI Consulting’s web based inventory management solution and its unique features built especially with the small business in mind, click here.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

Investing in new software and technology is always an extensive process. Not only do you have to do thorough research into the products you are considering, but you also have to prove the benefits of the software in order to obtain approval from upper management for purchase. The time and money put into not only the software but the process itself is a huge investment, and you need to be as prepared as possible in order to make the right technology decision for your company.

When it comes to barcode scanning software, it is important to know what you are looking for. Every company has its unique needs when it comes to barcoding and inventory management, and making sure you invest in the right solution is crucial to your barcoding success. Don’t make the mistake of investing in the wrong solution for your company!

For companies needing access to real-time information, wireless barcode scanners are the way to go. These are used to track data as products move in and out of the company. Once a barcode is scanned, the data is sent directly to the company’s ERP and inventory management software. Sales teams and upper management can then view the information in real-time in the company’s systems and create more timely and accurate reports.

Once your company has determined its unique needs in a barcode scanning solution, you need to create a plan for investment. How much is your company willing to spend on barcode scanners and the software implementation? How much time are you planning for the implementation process? Is this an immediate need, or can it be implemented over time? Your answers to these questions will help the vendor you choose establish realistic expectations for implementation.

What You Need to Know Before Choosing a Barcode Scanning Solution

When it comes to selecting your technology vendor and barcode scanning solution, you need to know the answers to four crucial questions. Your answers to these questions will help shape a successful selection and implementation process.

1. How do I expect a barcode and inventory management solution to improve my processes? In other words, why are you looking at investing in barcode scanning software and technology? List your expectations and requirements, and then choose the solution that meets your top requirements.
2. Does the software provider have experience implementing software and technology for my particular industry? Check their credentials prior to investing in any solution. If they do not have experience working with companies in your particular industry, start looking for other vendors.
3. Does this vendor offer all of the services I need? Whether you are looking for implementation services or ongoing support, make sure the barcode scanning solution vendor you choose meets your vendor expectations. The vendor can certainly make or break your barcode experience!
4. Does the barcode scanning solution integrate with our existing software? This is huge when you are implementing barcode technology. You want to invest in a solution that can seamlessly integrate with existing ERP and accounting software; otherwise, you may have to invest in more technology than you were planning or create elaborate workarounds.

IWI Consulting’s barcode scanning inventory management solution integrates seamlessly with Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) to offer you a comprehensive business solution to help your organization improve inventory management, achieve total business efficiency, and save on the high costs related to business inventory. This web based inventory management solution provides users with full control over their inventory management, allowing them to eliminate costly and time-consuming manual processes and remove the barriers to effective inventory management.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.

Save Time and Money with Barcode Inventory Management

How much time and money is your business currently spending on inventory management? If your company is like most, your resources are tied up in manual processes that are contributing to inefficiencies and high inventory-related costs, tying up precious business resources and leading to frustration for both your employees and customers. For small businesses in particular, the time and money spent on inefficient inventory management strategies can be particularly cumbersome.

The Effects of Poor Inventory Management

Poor inventory management is easy to spot. The company experiencing poor inventory management often experiences a high number of inventory inaccuracies, high inventory costs, and inefficiencies leading to delays in the shipping or reporting process. More often than not, you will be able to tell if your company is experiencing poor inventory management simply by taking a look at your company books. Do your inventory-related costs (the costs of the actual goods and their associated labor costs) seem exceedingly high? While inventory-related costs are always higher than we’d like them to be, if your costs keep climbing, you could probably use some improvement in your inventory management practices.

Solving Poor Inventory Management with Barcode Scanning Software

No matter which way you look at it, the culprit of poor inventory management is manual processes. Manual processes add extra time and money to any task, inventory-related or not. In the area of inventory management, however, manual processes can be especially burdensome. No matter how hard your employees work, manual processes are still going to take longer and cost more than most companies can afford. So what are you to do when your inventory costs are high and your company is spending longer than necessary on order fulfillment?

The answer is simple: automate the process.

The perfect inventory situation is one that is supported by automation. Barcode inventory management solutions automate crucial inventory processes, including inventory counting, transferring, Purchase Order receipt, tracking and picking, allowing your company to achieve gains in efficiency, reduce labor costs, and boost productivity. Barcode inventory management solutions work in partnership with your company’s existing ERP software, linking your inventory data back to your ERP system so you can see the whole business picture.

In the past, barcode scanning technology has been unavailable to small businesses mainly due to the expense of the solutions on the market. Recent advances in technology, however, have made barcode scanning available to even the smallest of organizations in need of the technology. We recently released our own Sage 300 barcode inventory management solution designed specifically for the small business. With smart inventory management software and barcode scanning technology, you can reshape the impact your inventory processes are having on your company’s bottom line.

This web based inventory management solution provides users with full control over their inventory management, allowing them to eliminate costly and time-consuming manual processes and remove the barriers to effective inventory management.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.