Inventory control system
An inventory control system (sometimes known as inventory management system) is a process for managing and locating objects or materials and assessing inventory levels. In common usage, the term may also refer to just the software components.
Technology
Inventory control systems are composed by a hardware and software. The most popular hardware technologies are barcodes and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. While barcode based inventory control systems requires manual scanning of each barcode, RFID based systems only requires the operation of a RFID reader. In the past decade there is an on going trend in the inventory control systems towards RFID based systems. Business owners[1] testify that switching to RFID based inventory control systems reduced out-of-stock incidentes and reduced the time and effort they had to put into taking inventory in the past. In an academic study[2] performed at Wal-Mart, RFID reduced Out of Stocks by 30 percent for products selling between 0.1 and 15 units a day.
Inventory objects could include any kind of physical asset: merchandise, consumables, fixed assets, circulating tools, library books, or capital equipment. To record an inventory transaction, the system uses a barcode scanner or RFID reader to automatically identify the inventory object, and then collects additional information from the operators via fixed terminals (workstations), or mobile computers.
Applications
An inventory control system may be used to automate an order fulfillment process. Such a system contains a list of orders to be received, and then prompts workers to pick the necessary items, and provides them with packaging and shipping.
An inventory system also manages in and outwards material of hardware.
Real-time inventory control systems may use wired, mobile terminals to record inventory transactions at the moment they occur. A wired LAN transmits the transaction information to a mobile network.
Physical inventory counting and cycle counting are features of many inventory control systems which can enhance the organization.
References
External Links
See also
- Automated identification and data capture
- Document automation
- Economic order quantity
- Economic lot scheduling problem
- Inventory management software
- Newsvendor model
- Scan-based trading
- Storage management system
- Supply chain management
- Vendor-managed inventory
- Warehouse management system
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