Top Benefits and Key Features of a Proficient Inventory Management System!

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under Transportation 1 Comment
Top Benefits and Key Features of a Proficient Inventory Management System!
Offshore software development company in India
Just imagine!
A businessman is trying to run his business without knowing how much the stock in the inventory is, or the workers do not know the where-about of the product when there is a sale or an urgent requirement from any client. Or even worse, the products are being stolen by someone and there isn’t any record of it. What do you think will be the results in the long term? Losing the customers to a competitor? Ruining the relationship with clients? Incurring huge monetary losses? Or maybe all of these! Well, all these inherent issues can be resolved by businesses if they embrace an inventory management system.
The significance of such a system is monumental as it helps the businesses to track the inventory levels, track sales, orders, and distributions smartly thereby reducing the business losses. IoT is one of the key technologies being used widely in such systems – IoT in scanning the inventory using RFID, IoT in transportation and Logistics, etc. So, in this blog, to get a fair idea, we have outlined the advantages and key features of a technology-smart inventory management system.

Why the Need for an Inventory Management System?

  • High transparency and visibility of product levels
  • Preventing stock-outs and overstocks
  • Minimization of capital investment
  • Enhancement in business operations and workflows
  • Accurate inventory tracking
  • Getting rid of paper-based and spreadsheet tracking
  • Appropriate planning of inventory balance
  • Better warehouse management and utilization of warehouse space
  • Time-saving due to automatic inventory and order management
  • Cost-cutting by reducing manual labor intervention
  • Increased efficiency of payment/billing details
  • Improved relationships with vendors and clients
  • Improved employee efficiency
  • Enhanced inventory turnover and thus, better revenues

Top-notch Features of a Smart Inventory Management System!

Inventory Management System
Check out the essential features of an ideal inventory management software.
  1. Real-time Visibility of Inventory: A smart inventory management system must ensure that all the items in the inventory are under real-time visibility. Every item entering or leaving the warehouse must be tracked and this data should be stored digitally.
  2. Monitoring levels of Inventory: An effective system must allow proper management of orders, raise alarms when inventory drops below a threshold limit or exceeds it. This feature allows decision-makers to take necessary actions like ordering fresh inventory, avoiding excessive stocking, etc.
  3. Barcode Scanning: A barcode is a machine-readable code used for stock management and control. Barcode scanning is a must-have feature for easy identification of products, labeling, and sorting into categories.
  4. RFID-based Tracking: RFID-based inventory tracking and control allows real-time and automated tracking of the inventory. Hundreds of tags can be read simultaneously making the process much faster and cost-effective. RFID technology is also capable of sending alarms and alerts in case of emergencies.
  5. Advanced Reporting: An inventory management system should provide accurate insights on factors like stock management, sales, purchase, suppliers, customers, payments, etc. Reports of transactions, inventory totals, order details, etc. are mandatory for ensuring efficient workflows, and for augmenting efficacy. This feature helps to monitor the progress in the sales and understand which product is in high demand and which isn’t.
  6. Tracking Transaction History: This is an absolutely essential feature. All the inventory-related details right from the receipt to shipment of the inventory must be tracked and stored. Details like the number of products, receipt dates, expiration dates, shipping dates, etc. must be saved and should be easily accessible by the concerned personnel whenever required.
  7. Management of Multiple Warehouses: A single system should allow the management of multiple warehouses that may be located at different locations. This feature is especially relevant to companies that operate across multiple locations.
  8. Grouping of Inventory: Grouping of the material according to its specification, size, components, etc. into predefined categories is another important feature. It enhances the inventory organization.
  9. Easily Configurable: A good inventory system should be able to be configurable with different business entities easily and be successfully employed without much customization.
  10. Easy Integrations with External Systems: System should be able to integrate with third-party ERP systems or a Warehouse Management System or Shipping companies with ease. A company may also want to integrate other systems for data analytics, corporate accounting, planning, etc. in the inventory management system which should be easily possible.
  11. Forecasting Demand: This feature allows extracting the past data to identify the demand in the future; which in turn helps to make pro-active business decisions, build good relationships with customers, and boosts sales.
  12. Security Features and Backups: It isn’t a good idea to invest in an inventory system without knowing about its security measures. To ensure high data security, there should be security features that allow only authorized people or give partial rights to access the data. This would prevent the system from any data misuse or data leakages. Also, there should be daily backups available. So, in case you lose the data to a third-party hack, or any other threat, you will be able to start the operations again without much trouble.
  13. Receiving alerts: This feature allows the alerts and notifications about the receiving, picking, shipping, of the inventory, or when inventory is running low or there is overstocking of inventory.
  14. PDF Printing: The inventory management system must be able to create or print PDF documents related to invoices, packing slips, shipping labels, quality control documents, etc. and such related documents.
  15. Import/Export of Data: This is another advantageous feature of this system. It should be able to import data with ease to reduce data entry work and streamline mass changes. The System should be able to export data like shipment lists, inventory item lists, master data of vendors, customers, etc.

Final Words:

When a business relies on traditional ways of inventory management, there are chances that data could be inconsistent or inaccurate. These ways are prone to human errors which could cause huge monetary losses at times and adversely affect business growth. Also, there could be security issues in them. A smart inventory management system embedded with the above features has ample advantages over traditional systems. It has impacted several businesses across the globe.
Would you like to develop such a system for streamlining your business? Contact Biz4Solutions, a prominent offshore software development company in India and U.S.A., for crafting a smart inventory management system customized as per your needs.
I hope this blog was helpful. Please feel free to comment below to let us know your thoughts on this.
For any queries, mail us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com

Best 5 Backend Services for React Native Applications

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under React Native App No Comments
Best 5 Backend Services for React Native Applications
React Native app development
React native has emerged as a very promising and effective platform for mobile application development. With many successful companies such as Uber and Facebook adopting it, the language has become very popular for application development. This new age of the Internet has made mobile application imperative for every business for which React Native is the perfect answer.

What is React Native?

React Native is a Java Script built on React, used to develop mobile applications for iOS as well as Android platforms. With React Native, one code can be used for cross-platform development. It also allows the developer to use the native features of the mobile. This means that the applications built on React Native can use the features such as a camera that is present on the phone.

What is BaaS (Backend as a Service)?

Backend-as-a-service acts as the middleware that empowers the developer with cloud-based backend services allowing them to develop the front end. It is a cloud service model where the developers are facilitated with prewritten software that supports and activates different server-side capabilities including database management, user authentication, cloud storage, remote updating and push notifications via Software Developer’s Kit (SDK) and Application Programming Interface (API).

Benefits of BaaS

Backend as a Service offers multiple benefits.
Higher accessibility: BaaS facilitates a higher level of accessibility in many technical aspects including data sharing and cloud storage. Better accessibility leads to higher scalability, fast response, and better customer experience.
Faster development: A BaaS service can be used for all the underlying needs in application development, saving the developer’s time in recreating different stacks for every mobile application.
Better customizations: Backend allows the same basic level of codes to be implemented with different APIs to create different customizations. BaaS benefits the user with multiple customizations which can be used to cater to a larger customer base.
Greater ease of use: BaaS service providers are responsible for the maintenance and hosting of their solution. This reduces the burden on developers and provides greater ease of use.

Best Backend services for React Native

React Native developers
Creating a complex solution requires the right tech stack that is provided by the BAAS services to make the applications scalable and highly functional. Let’s have a look at some of the best backend services in the market.
  • Back4app
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    Back4app is a fully managed solution that provides great flexibility in terms of scalability, optimization, and customizations. It supports a wide range of technology stacks including MongoDB, React, Node JS, and Parse. Development of everyday activities such as push notifications becomes easier for the developers with the codes provided by the backend.
  • AWS amplify
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    AWS amplify is an Amazon-backed solution that facilitates speed and scalability. The developers get access to Amplify libraries and guided workflows which can be used to create a powerful cross-platform backend. The maintenance of this BaaS Service gets easier with Amplify hosting which allows you to host the applications globally via their Content Delivery Network (CDN). The AWS Amplify console provides the ease of managing the user and content.
  • Firebase
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    Firebases backed by Google which adds to its relevance. Integration with Google Analytics is a major advantage for developers where they get to know the consumer response to the application in real-time. Firebase Analytics is used to increase customer engagement and retention rate. This backend service comes with a storage to make the solution scalable and secure. It has many features to fasten the development process.
  • Parse
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    Parse is one of the popular choices as a backend. It is an open-source platform where the SDKs and the libraries can be easily downloaded. The backend service come with a large community forum to assist the new developers in using the code. It provides object and file storage for faster development.
  • Kinvey
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    Kinvey is serverless application development platform that provides backend and frontend SDKs to develop applications. The developers get access to the abstraction layer where different abstractions are available for different kinds of implementations. Kinvey focuses on the logical development of an application for better user experience and customer satisfaction. It also offers other features such as storage and integration.

Backend Selection

With multiple backend services available, any company needs to be very decisive in selecting any one of them. Parse can be a great backend for small projects where the user can use all the codes for free. The learning gets only better with the community support.
For the React Native applications demanding a higher level of customizations and features, Back4App, AWS Amplify, Firebase, and Kinvey are great options. The selection should be based on the pricing and model of use.

Conclusion

Backend is important for storing and organizing data to smoothly run the real-time functionalities of any application. It is important to integrate a backend to amplify the performance and security of the application. Biz4Solutions is one of the leading React Native app development companies. We offer cross-platform app solutions using cutting-edge react-native technologies. Our experienced React Native developers will help you map your requirements and develop a solution that enhances customer satisfaction. Contact us today to develop the best react native app to thrive in the competitive environment.