Old Vs New – Ways to Track Inventory and Assets

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Every day, there is a new way to “do” something. A new way of banking. A new way to buy a car. A new way to track inventory. The reliable mentality of “that’s how we always do things” isn’t really valid anymore. Now, organizations are looking for ways to do things quicker and more affordably - a "do more with less approach," if you will. And that includes the ways to track inventory and assets.

Whether you are a huge global empire or a mom-and-pop online small business, implementing appropriate processes to ensure effective inventory management should be a priority. When it comes to inventory or assets, you should always know where it is, the quantity in stock (or how many of a particular asset you have), who has it (if referring to specific assets or tools), and the condition of the inventory.

By having this knowledge, you are on the right track when it comes to tracking! Let’s take a look at a few ways, both old and new, for tracking inventory and assets:

The Ways to Track Inventory

Keeping Tack of Inventory Manually

Tracking inventory manually probably involved a handwritten ledger. How many of you reading this manually counted inventory/assets? As in, you count each piece, one by one, to determine the starting/ending inventory. Once you had that number, maybe you tried categorizing your inventory by name, style, and pricing.

Hopefully, you can read the writing of the person recording the data! And definitely hope that they entered the information correctly – didn’t miss a number or letter – and accurately described the asset/inventory item. And talk about time-consuming!

Using Online Spreadsheets to Track Inventory and Assets

One of the most common reasons people use an online spreadsheet like Excel is because they are easy to use. In today’s competitive business environment, however, where budgets and limited spending dictate daily operations, knowing as much detail about your assets/inventory is key. An asset spreadsheet can only provide so much data. Users can’t upload photos or videos to a spreadsheet. Users can’t create alerts about an asset that might be due for maintenance or an upgrade.

The Downside of Using an Asset Inventory Spreadsheet

Just like the manual method, entering data into an online spreadsheet is very time-consuming. Employees have to key in every single letter/number for every item they want to track. When assets or inventory is used, sold, or checked in/checked out, your users must enter data.

Companies need a reliable way to record and upload data that can be viewed anytime, from anywhere – error-free. And that is one of the biggest issues with an online spreadsheet … the errors.

Now there are multiple versions containing different data, and no one knows which is most up-to-date. It’s easy to miss a keystroke or transpose a number. Or an employee makes a duplicate copy of a spreadsheet and continues to use it, not realizing that another version is floating out among other employees.

Making An Impact - Inventory and Asset Tracking Software

In today's competitive business environment, there's simply no room for guesswork anymore. That’s where today’s inventory and asset tracking software platforms thrive regarding ways to track inventory and assets. There is no one-size-fits-all approach anymore, so manually counting/entering data or using an online spreadsheet is outdated and unreliable. Each company has its own unique needs and challenges, so why not utilize a method and product that’s flexible enough to adapt to your company today and long into the future.

With today’s inventory and asset tracking software offerings, companies can examine the entire lifecycle of an asset/item in inventory - from its initial acquisition to its periodic maintenance, movement inside and/or outside your business, to its retirement from use.

Asset Panda's Inventory Tracking Software

Many platforms come with built-in barcode scanners that can be used right from employees’ own smartphones and tablets. This mobile capability has changed the game regarding asset and inventory tracking. With one simple barcode scan, the scanner sends data to the affiliated asset tracking software and allows all eligible users to access and maintain the data anytime and from anywhere.

From where an asset is and who has it, the check-in/check-out status, and complete maintenance history, it’s all in the palm of your hand whenever you need it. And it’s up-to-date and stored in one central location.

The fact is that when it comes to ways to track inventory and assets, companies need to bring all of their stakeholders into the communication loop. Asset Panda is the tool capable of doing just that. Transitioning from manually tracking or using spreadsheets to cloud-based software and mobile app asset tracking system such as Asset Panda saves both time and money.

Working the way you do on devices your team is already using, Asset Panda has created a completely customizable tool that enables clients to select the features meaningful to their specific business use. Our goal is to help you increase accountability and accuracy throughout your entire organization.

Sound interesting? There are so many ways to track inventory and assets … isn’t it time you did it the easy way? Asset Panda will show you how. Learn more and get a 14-day free trial (no credit card required)!

By:

Audra London

Audra London, founder of Conceptual Communications, LLC, has over 10 years of writing, public relations and marketing experience and serves as an expert on press releases, media relations, feature writing, web content and marketing copy.

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