How can you simplify inventory management challenges with online rental software?
Inventory management – risks and challenges involved
Poor inventory control practices pose, perhaps, one of the biggest threats to rental businesses worldwide. But how is a single dysfunction of an organization capable of such disastrous effects? The reason behind this is simple. Your inventory is your capital stock; which means years of investment. Every type of investment has an expected rate of return, which can be maximized if the right business strategies are used. Some of the common business failures regarding inventory management include:
- Absence of real-time tracking: Sometimes, companies do not maintain records of their inventory. Lack of information means that you cannot track movement of assets. This leads to increased poor order management, risk of theft, misplacement and stock damage.
- Failure to take into account useful asset life: Depreciation plays an important role in the utilization of inventory items. Asset lifecycle management gives you the opportunity to schedule maintenance. By doing this, you can avoid frequent equipment breakdowns and repair costs. When you fail to account for depreciation, you are most likely to end up with incorrect audit statements as well.
- Inability to manage asset stock: One of the basic rules to inventory control, is to maintain the right quantity and quality of stock. Not being able to do this can have serious consequences for your business. Shortage and excess inventory are both equally harmful.
If your organization is having similar troubles with inventory control, then it’s time for you to update your business solution plan. Online rental software with barcode tracking feature increases efficiency and improves productivity by implementing streamlined rental management practices. Here are a few benefits your firm can gain by using the barcode technology in an equipment rental software:
1. Track your inventory at all times, everywhere
The first and foremost concern of order management centers around tracking your inventory and its whereabouts. If you are a rental business, constantly on the move, you understand how crucial asset movement can be. Your inventory comprises of numerous valuable assets which are regularly rented out or sold to the customers. Without a system of check and balance you are likely to suffer from loss of assets. A simple solution to these problems is to track your inventory with barcodes.
With the help of an online rental software that focuses on inventory control, you can easily design customized labels for your saleable and rental asset stock. This allows you to record every time a piece of equipment is returned or rented out. Employees just have to scan the asset tags and their data will be saved under rented out. Barcode technology makes business operations faster, and order management better.
Read more: 3 Reasons Why Your Retail Business Needs Equipment Rental Software
2. Easily accessible and accurate data on inventory
For a rental or retail business to succeed, it should carefully design its inventory database. Having all the right tools is quite useless if you don’t maintain real-time asset information. But why is this exercise so important? Retail businesses analyze data to build strategies and predict future trends and patterns. For instance, you have a party rental business and need to assess the impact of digital devices used in an event on your customer service. The first step to do this, would be to gather all available instances when these devices were used by event managers or rented out for an event. This is only possible if you keep a track of such information.
By using barcodes to track such inventory, you can easily design and maintain detailed asset reports. Barcode labels themselves have the capacity to save specific details about a product. When you correctly tag your assets, you can maintain a history of their usage against QR codes. This way, you have access to comprehensive asset information at all times. For example, how many skis were rented out last month, or which equipment was sold the most, how much stock of water bottles was utilized in Party XYZ. Such practices enable strategic decision making and lead to optimization of inventory items.
Read more: 7 reasons Equipment Rental Software makes sense for SMBs
3. Maintain optimum stock levels for seamless booking
Different types of assets have different lifespans and depreciation rates. This means you cannot risk to stock up on perishable items. It oftentimes happens, that businesses buy a large amount of inventory at cheap rates. Idle inventory has a higher chance of theft and is susceptible to damage through natural disasters. On the other hand, understocking is not a viable option at well. Running out of assets causes hindrance in daily schedules and tarnishes the business reputation.
You can control stock levels by using barcodes to track inventory. Labeling all your assets, makes it convenient to enter information and set low stock or usage thresholds. When you assign a threshold to the stock quantity consumed during a certain time period, it becomes easier to replenish the stock. Maintaining the right quantity of inventory lets you improve the overall inventory management and maximize retail profits.
Read more: How to increase revenues from your rental business with rental management software
4. Schedule timely service alerts to streamline orders
Most companies struggle with taking care of their rentals and sales in the right way. The lifespan of rental equipment and inventory items need to be monitored throughout to ensure maximum rate of return. Making huge capital investments is pointless, if you do not plan to get the best out of that investment. For this purpose, effective inventory management practices tend to focus on maintenance as well. Asset breakdowns and equipment failures tend to be very common when you don’t hold service sessions. This causes delays in order booking and delivery.
It becomes easier to keep a track of equipment maintenance schedules through barcode technology. Every piece of equipment in your inventory has a unique ID which can be recorded with its respective repair and restoration date. Readily having access to such information makes it simpler to plan rehabilitation routines. By doing this, you increase equipment productivity and booking efficiency.
Use barcodes to optimize inventory and meet your retail business targets
In order to meet your objectives, you should conduct streamlined inventory management practices. Robust online rental software can make your business achieve a lot more than just financial gains. Barcode technology helps your company carry out seamless work operations. Accurate asset information allows you to speed up the decision making process and forecast future trends. Doing this enables you to get maximum returns from your retail orders and raise overall workplace performance!
Read more: How SMBs can benefit from an Online Rental System this season
What’s more to our online rental software?
EZRentOut is the leading online rental software used by small businesses and retail houses worldwide for seamless order tracking to increase revenue.
For more assistance, drop us an email at support@ezo.io.
