subject: Can Asset Tracking Software Help Small Business Succeed? [print this page] Businesses are always looking to save money, which most of the time goes straight to the bottom line. While salaries and rent are often the biggest expenses of a company, there are many other costs which are hidden and often overlooked. Many smart business owners are taking advantage of new technology to assist with cost savings. Employing barcode scanners, stock control software, and asset tracking solutions are a few of the methods being used.
Knowing where your inventory is at all times is one key to saving money. Many companies think of inventory as just the goods they have for sale, or items used in the manufacturing of products. However, furniture, tools, automobiles and trucks, computers and more are all part of a businesses inventory. Tracking is made easy with the use of laser barcode scanners. While it may not seem obvious, if employees know everything is being tracked there is a far less chance of internal theft.
Additionally, using a wireless barcode scanner to track things such as furniture and other office equipment allows for easy control of when an item was purchased and how long it has been used. This makes tracking depreciation much easier. Simply create a bar code for each item, and attach in an unobtrusive location for tracking.
Once you decide that tracking all inventory is important to your company, it is necessary to install some stock control software. This will basically track everything, including salable inventory and other items, and allow you to assess where everything is at in an instant. This becomes particularly important when you have multiple locations, or you regularly ship things from one office to another. Without inventory software, it can become a nightmare to track where you are at in situations like this.
Proper tracking also lets a business owner know the age of inventory, so that nothing is forgotten. Think how easy it might be to have boxes of salable inventory sitting neglected in the warehouse because there is no way to track it. Often it is discovered too late, and the inventory must be written off as a loss. Additionally, using a cordless barcode scanner for inventory control also allows for accurate tracking. That way it is possible to very quickly know if something is missing that should be there.
Once it is decided that asset tracking solutions would take your organization to the next level, it comes time to find some professionals to get a system installed and working. One should realize that in the initial stages it can be a lot of work, but once in place it is easy to maintain going forward.
The actual cost savings and increases in efficiency more than offset any initial cost and hassle of a system such as this. Smaller businesses can be up and running in just a few days, while mid-size businesses may take a few weeks to fully deploy the system. Any reputable company who specializes in asset tracking solutions will be able to give your business a good estimate up front of improvements in efficiency and time to deployment.
