Accurate stocktaking is an important component of success in your business operations. A precise idea of the inventory you have at all times facilitates all the processes, avoids stock-outs or overstocking and makes the costs manageable. Over the years, businesses started adopting different stocktaking methods from a manual process to a computerized one. The change is propelled by more precision, quicker, and ease in handling stock.
While manual stocktaking was the norm for many years, digital stocktaking benefits have become increasingly evident. This blog will compare manual vs digital stocktaking, the pain points & benefits of each and explain how businesses can win with digital stock management.
What is Manual Stocktaking?
Manual stocktaking refers to the process of physically counting and recording inventory by hand. Most businesses use pen & paper or spreadsheets to track stock. Warehouse workers manually count items, and then update records as they go along.
A manual stocktaking process commonly requires allocating time to count all items, usually closing stores or warehouses to avoid discrepancies. Staff use inventory lists (appropriate or not) to count stock, and manually update the figures as they go.
While digital technology has come around and many industries have embraced it, a lot of industries still work with manual inventory management systems. However, some of the small businesses or ones located in rural areas may still opt for manual methods because of low budget or lack of technology. Yet, even so, manual stocktaking is often inefficient.
What is Digital Stocktaking?
While, digital stocktaking uses the latest technology, like software, mobile apps, barcode scanners and cloud-based solutions to monitor and handle inventory. Most of the stocktaking procedures are automated via digital tools which help reduce the chances of human error and faster execution as well.
Digital stocktaking tools include Stocktake Online type software which allows businesses to scan products, set stock in real-time and receive reports instantly. With these tools, you no longer need to count manually, also enabling you to see a clearer view of stock levels.
Digital stock management is becoming even more common because of its many benefits over traditional stock, including faster counts, real-time data, and improved reporting.
Manual vs Digital Stocktaking: Key Comparisons
When comparing manual vs digital stocktaking, it's important to consider the speed, accuracy, and ease of use of each method:
- Accuracy: Since manual stocktaking is also prone to human error, this can lead to incorrect records. A digital stocktake avoids many of these mistakes, automating data entry and calculation fully.
- Time Efficiency: Manual processes always takes a longer time to perform. Digital stocktaking streamline counting efficiency by automating processes and updating data in real-time.
- Data Insights: With digital systems, businesses get comprehensive reporting, trending, and insight that enables better purchasing and inventory decisions. While stocktaking manually, not much visibility is there on the data.
- Stock Movement Tracking: With manual inventory management, there is no tracking for stock-level transactions and therefore the timing of stock levels being updated is delayed. In contrast, digital systems allow for real-time visibility of the movement of inventories.
In the next sections, we'll dive deeper into the challenges of manual stocktaking and the benefits of digital stocktaking.
Challenges of Manual Stocktaking
Manual stocktaking challenges are numerous, making it an inefficient method for many businesses:
- Human Errors: The biggest problem with manual processes is the susceptibility for human errors. An error in counting, recording, or keying in data can cause a discrepancy that often goes unnoticed for some time.
- Time-Intensive Process: Counting inventory manually is not only analysis intensive but also an exhausting activity for businesses, especially for large businesses who have tons of stock. This process can interfere with standard business activity and takes hours or even days to carry out.
- Tracking Stock Movements: Because manual inventory management does not allow for real-time tracking, this can mean a business does not have accurate records of stock that has been sold or moved without performing stocktake regularly.
- Lack of visibility into data: Manual processes only provide glances into trends, purchasing habits, or stock movements. These records make it impossible for businesses to analyze past data or forecast their future requirements.
- Loss of data and unavailability of complete records: Manual systems are prone to loss of paper records or spreadsheet files. Having incomplete or wrong records can impact decision-making and operations.
Benefits of Digital Stocktaking
Using digital stocktaking provides many key benefits, which makes it the preferred choice for most businesses:
- Better Accuracy: Digital systems remove all human mistakes by automating the calculation and stock update process. Using a barcode scanner or a QR code reader prevents mistakes.
- Time savings: A digital stocktake will allow you to perform your entire stock count faster. They also can perform inventory counts in a fraction of the time it takes points of sale using manual methods. Moreover, you could enjoy real-time uploads and automated stock updates as a way to make your business process more efficient.
- Real-time Data & Reporting: Access to real-time data is one of the most significant advantages of digital stocktaking. Managers and business owners can instantly track stock levels, sales trends, and inventory movement, resulting in improved decision-making predictive analytics and forecasting.
- Cloud access: Digital systems hosted over the cloud enable businesses to obtain their inventory data at any time and from anywhere via mobile apps or desktops. That's particularly helpful for multi-location businesses and remote teams.
- More informed decisions: The digital tools behind inventory tracking solutions offer businesses a complete picture of where they stand in terms of inventory levels, sales trends, and patterns. Such insights allow for more informed purchasing decisions and forecast future inventory needs.
- Smooth Integration: Most digital stock management solutions come with seamless integration with other business systems like point of sale (POS) and accounting software. Such an integration ensures that all the departments operate on correct and recent inventory data.
- Stock Counting with Barcode & QR Code: Barcode or QR code scanning simplifies automated stock counting! It accelerates matter, eliminates human imprecise, and assures the proper identification of items in a matter of seconds.
Why Your Business Should Go Digital
These are some of the reasons why large and small businesses alike, should go digital for stocktaking:
- Scalability: When your business grows, it is exceedingly difficult to manage stock by hand. Digital inventory systems are scalable, allowing companies to manage bigger inventories as needed.
- Reduced expenditures: Although digital tools have a cost upfront, the long-term reduction effects are massive. Fewer mistakes, which improve stock accuracy and reduce the time it takes to perform stocktakes, result in lower operational costs and smaller losses related to stock.
- Enhanced Compliance and Audit Trails: Digital systems create a more consistent and structured record of stocktaking activities, which are useful both for compliance purposes and auditing.
- Key to Competitive Advantage: Businesses gain data-driven insights from digital inventory tracking systems, enabling them to anticipate demand, optimize stock levels, and minimize waste.
- Case Study: Many businesses have already made the shift to digital stocktaking. For instance, a retail store using Stocktake Online experienced a 30% reduction in stock discrepancies and a 40% improvement in time efficiency.
How Stocktake Online Can Help
Stocktake Online is a versatile stocktaking tool that can simplify and streamline stocktaking. It is featured with a mobile app that provides an easy, convenient tool for businesses to scan items, monitor stock and update inventory instantly and therefore comes under digital solutions.
Some features that Stocktake Online has to offer include:
- Real-Time Tracking: Provides immediate data on stock levels and movements.
- Intuitive: A user-friendly interface means it is accessible for companies with very little technical expertise.
- Mobile Support: Manage inventory anytime, anyplace using the use of a smartphone or tablet.
- Integration: Sync with POS systems as well as other tools for consolidated inventory management.
Conclusion
So, when it comes to manual vs digital stocktaking, there is no contest, digital wins hands down. The advantages of digital stocktaking, such as increased precision, time savings, and real-time data, outweighs those related with manual stocktaking.
Digital inventory solutions, such as Stocktake Online, allow businesses to streamline operations, reduce errors, and create a competitive edge.
If you’re ready to take your business’s stock management to the next level, explore how Stocktake Online can transform your stocktaking process and help you manage inventory more efficiently than ever before.
