Inventory checks are synonymous with stress and lost time for companies. Instead of their main job, employees walk around the property with a printed table and search for the right chair or file. In some cases, inventories drag on for months, increasing the chance that some property will actually be lost. Moreover, some companies conduct inventories only to fulfill a legislative obligation. Therefore, they are increasingly reaching for more efficient solutions, such as asset registration systems.
Preparing the work environment for inventory
During the implementation of the system, the company uploads all its assets into it. The system generates a registration number with a barcode for each piece. The company then prints these as adhesive labels and marks the assets with them. The company also registers the positions in the system where the assets are located .
Companies do not need to purchase classic warehouse scanners to read barcodes later. They can use a smartphone or a special mobile phone extension that is more accurate when reading codes. Asset registration systems have their own mobile applications, which employees use to conduct inventory .
The system supplier then creates a digital map of the company's premises. Thanks to this, employees will see a simple plan in the interface, indicating where each piece is located .
Although the company must set aside a lot of time to initially prepare the system, it is worth it. Once the system is ready, it will reduce inventory from months to days or from days to hours .
Continuous recording and movement of assets
When a company needs to move a computer to another office, a file to another shelf, or an employee takes a monitor to their home office, the change is recorded in the system . This prevents employees from looking for a monitor that a graphic designer took home to work during inventory.
Employees scan the barcodes of items and then change their position in the mobile application or web interface. The company does the same when it purchases or disposes of assets. It adds a new item to the system or removes it.
Some systems allow for asset liquidation and depreciation, for example. After the write-off, the system generates a document for the finance department with information about what and where was written off. The value of a given item can also be written off gradually in the system.
Another advantage is that companies also record important asset data in the system, such as:
- serial number,
- guarantee,
- expiration
- or service inspection date.
By recording this data, companies can conveniently conduct an inventory of assets that are due for revision or expiration. They can filter it in the system and plan the inventory.
Inventory progress
If multiple people are taking inventory, managers can assign individual inventory tasks to specific people in advance. For example, one person takes care of the offices and another the tool warehouse. During the inventory, only the assets they are supposed to take inventory of will be displayed to those people.
On the day of the inventory, the employee opens the application on his mobile phone, where he finds a list of the assets he is to inventory. He goes through them one by one and reads their barcode labels . He does not look for the assets blindly, but the system guides him to them according to the plan .
Once the employee completes the inventory, the system will notify them of which items are missing and in what quantity. The inventory result can be exported from the system and submitted to accounting.
Thanks to this procedure, the inventory is:
- several times faster – in companies with a large amount of assets, it is reduced from months to days,
- more convenient – employees do not blindly search for assets,
- cheaper – inventory does not take up as much time for employees,
- less stressful – just recording it in the tool will prevent loss of property.
The introduction of an asset registration system completely transformed inventories, for example, in the barefoot shoe e-shop Bosonožka : "We have thirty thousand pairs of shoes in our warehouse, so inventory used to take a month. After implementing a managed warehouse, we have it ready in 2 days," says owner and managing director Zuzana Sovjáková Koubková.
Which tool to choose to speed up inventory
The procedure mentioned in the article is enabled by specialized tools for asset registration . They are similar to warehouse systems , but include functions for tracking any asset. They are already common abroad, but companies in the Czech Republic are just discovering them.
These tools are also commonly available in versions for smaller companies that want to track assets of only tens or hundreds of items – such as document folders, tools or office equipment. These tools are less expensive than conventional warehouse systems and can be fully implemented in a few hours .
Companies with a larger amount of assets, especially e-shops or stores with a large warehouse, can best streamline their inventory using a so-called warehouse management system (WMS) . Inventory here works on the same principle as in smaller companies, only on a larger scale.
If you are interested in a tool for recording assets and speeding up inventories, please contact us . We have helped dozens of small and large companies in the Czech Republic find these solutions and we will be happy to help you too.
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