If your company has a warehouse, then we’re assuming you’re at least a medium sized company. We previously talked about small business options, but today we’ll talk about warehouse inventory management software for all sizes of business.
While each company claims that their warehouse inventory software is unique and in some way better than the competition, the truth is that most of the software out there is very similar. The layouts are close to identical, and the functionality doesn’t differ drastically. We believe strongly that the three determining factors when purchasing warehouse inventory software are compatibility, price, and customer support.
We’ll discuss some recommendations at the bottom, but indulge us for a second as we discuss these three criteria.
Compatibility is probably the most important factor of the three. If you have a warehouse, then the days of simply buying a standalone inventory package that doesn’t work with your accounting and sales package are over. The problem with warehouse inventory control software that doesn’t integrate with accounting is that you waste a lot of time entering in the same information twice. In addition to wasted time, entering something twice means a chance for more data-entry errors.
You have a couple options if you want to be smart and get warehouse inventory software that works with the rest of your business. You can look into purchasing a full-fledged enterprise system. These systems make it so payroll, purchasing, sales, and expenditures are all running using the same system. These systems are not the solution to all of your problems, but they do add some efficiency and effectiveness.
Another option is buying inventory software that is simply compatible with your current accounting system. There are warehouse inventory packages out there that are compatible with QuickBooks and we’ll discuss some of these options below.
Price is always a determining factor. If all of the software is doing close to the same thing, then you might as well get the one that costs the least amount. Before you rush out and buy the cheapest software you can find make sure that the other criteria are met: compatibility and customer service.
Customer service is the third factor to consider when purchasing warehouse inventory tracking software. The software itself usually isn’t that hard to use. It’s integrating the bloody stuff with the rest of your business software that can give you some serious headaches. You want to buy from a company that is willing to set the software up and make sure it is working with your other systems. Along with setup, you’ll also want to work with a company that offers continuing support.
Now that we’ve discuss some of the main criteria to focus on when buying warehouse inventory software, let’s discuss some of the popular options.
Intellitrack intellitrack.net
Intellitrack has a nice warehouse management system. It comes with the same bells and whistles that all of these software programs do. One semi-unique feature is that they sell a third party logistics software that can integrate with your warehouse management system. The software basically keeps your warehouse in communication with your customers so there aren’t any reordering problems.
The Intellitrack software comes with a QuickBooks plug in so they get an A for compatibility with the accounting system. Pricing depends on the size of your business. Their customer support seems pretty good. They offer free support by email and they have online forums. However, if you need any real help you’ll have to sign up for a support contract, a necessary evil in our opinion.
Traker trakersystems.com
Traker offers a 3PL Public Warehousing edition of their software. This software provides inventory control and it also performs important third party logistics operations. The software costs around $7,500, but you can request a demo to see if it is worth the cost. Traker offers 30 day free customer support and then after that they have two options: (1) a yearly fee that costs 15% of the software purchased or (2) a $250 per incident fee. Wouldn’t it be nice if these people offered free customer support?
Fishbowl Inventory fishbowlinventory.com
Fishbowl provides what they call a mobile warehousing solution. This is basically the same thing as all of the other companies. One neat thing about fishbowl is that it is fully integrated with QuickBooks meaning they’ve received the QuickBooks’ stamp of approval. Pricing varies on the number of users.
In summary, when looking for warehouse inventory software remember to consider the compatibility issue. It can be easy to be sucked in to thinking that your simply buying inventory control software, when in reality you need to buy something that works with the rest of the software your company has. Pricing is important because a lot of the software is the same. Finally, customer support is really important because integration is a pain.
