Inventory Management Software - Types & Trends

Managing assets and inventory using #online (#web-based, #SAAS, #cloud) #software mean that all your team has access to central database containing assets and inventory data from any location, using any computer or mobile device. You do not need to purchase software licenses for multiple computers and then sync the data. You also have immediate access to software updates and bug fixes, and all server maintenance aspects are taken care of for you.
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In many cases assets and inventory that you are tracking are located away from the computers where inventory management software is installed. That's why companies are using mobile computers / PDAs so that they could take tracking device to where assets and inventory are located (warehouse, factory floor, remote job site, service van, customer location, etc.). Now you can use regular smartphones to track out-of-the-office inventory, at significantly less cost.
More details on mobile asset tracking

Barcode scanning (and lately QR code scanning) increases the efficiency, speed and accuracy of inventory management and asset tracking process. Traditional barcode scanners have their limitations - they have to be in the vicinity or connected to a computer. It also can be quite expensive to purchase barcode scanners for all employees who are dealing with assets and inventory.
Now you can use smartphones for scanning of QR codes and barcodes. See more details here.

Mobile computers are used extensively to track inventory and assets in the field. Unlike barcode scanners, these are devices that you can use to enter and look up information, not just scan barcode or QR code. Mobile computers are very useful for asset and inventory tracking, but hardware and network services that are required to make the entire system work are cost prohibitive for small businesses. Now small businesses can let their employees use their own smartphones for the same purpose.
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RFID technology makes asset tracking and inventory management very efficient. Instead of scanning each item individually, you can use RFID reader to scan all items withing the working range (around 60 m) at once. RFID tags can be on the surface or inside the items.
If RFID system is very expensive for your small business, NFC based inventory management is the next best thing to use. The difference with RFID is a working range - in order to read NFC tag a reader needs to be within an inch of a tag. It means that each item need to be scanned individually, however scanning speed is much faster then you can get with barcode scanner or smartphone camera / QR codes. And the good thing - you can use NFC enabled smartphone as NFC reader, so the system is very affordable for businesses of any size.
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