Taking inventory management to a new level

In Finland, the law requires for businesses to take inventory once a year as part of their year-end financial reporting. Many businesses take smaller inventories throughout the year in order to keep better track of their stock. Taking regular inventory is a good idea as it reduces waste, makes processes more efficient, and divides a larger project into more manageable smaller segments.

Despite the myriad opportunities that modern technology affords us, many businesses still take inventory completely manually with a pen, paper, and an Excel sheet. This old way accrues a cost in lost nerves, work hours, and, by natural extension, money. Also, the chance for error is multiplied when entries are first done on paper and then transferred to a computer. Unfortunately, additional resources are often not allocated to inventory-taking either, and the project is marked with stress and rush from the very beginning. A disaster in the making, to be sure. What is there to be done?

Trineria Vaultron takes inventory-taking to a new level

Trineria Vaultron* is a new, modernised solution for taking inventory and getting real-time reports on stock with a single click. This software tool was made for managing supplies and taking a monthly inventory. It was developed with real-world needs in mind as inefficient processes waste both time and resources.

Even in times when it’s pertinent to change the process for inventory management, the idea of adopting a new system may seem overly complicated. Surely implementing a new system will be a cumbersome and time-consuming process in itself? Why change something that already works at least passably? It’s important to recognise when change is met with undue resistance, as this may prevent a business from making decisions that are ultimately beneficial.

One of our clients has used Vaultron for managing and monitoring their stock for nearly three years. Before this, they would take annual inventory as mandated by law. After adopting Vaultron, stock is taken once a month and despite this, the process only takes 26% of the time it used to with the old Excel method. The new system led to fewer errors, and with real-time monitoring, doing business has become more efficient than ever.

When Vaultron was developed, special attention was given to its reliability and usability. In order to make its adoption and daily functions as convenient as possible, the software was built to be as usable as possible. With Vaultron, the entire process of managing inventory can be done on a tablet. The process is extremely seamless with prices and warehouse layouts already available in the system. Data on every inventory report is also saved in the system. This boosts your overall business by reducing unnecessary purchases and waste and by keeping you always up to date on current inventory.

Inventory reports: purchases, sales, and waste

Inventory reports serve to provide current snapshots of warehouse situations. Annual reports are required for closing the books as they have a financial effect on the business through taxation. Because of this, different inventory reports become highly essential documents. The most important information contained in these reports are purchases, sales, and losses. Vaultron provides tools for reporting all three. The amount of losses can be monitored based on individual branches or by other location criteria. Having the full picture makes it easier to reduce losses. In situations where there are several branches, each location’s data can be added to the inventory report. This makes it possible for line managers, regional managers, and CEOs to monitor information regarding things such as:

• How much money is tied to a branch’s inventory?
• How much money is tied to all branches’ inventories in aggregate?
• Is there a difference in inventory turnover between branches?
• How to prepare for busy seasons?
• Is too much money being tied to manufacturing materials?
• Is the value of inventory in line with sales?

Because the value of inventory is crucially tied to sales margins, Vaultron also provides a tool for calculating actual sales margins. The software displays the results in currencies as well as percentages. Inventory values and VAT-added prices are automatically taken into account for the calculations. These features make lives easier for both you and your accountant. Monthly reports can also be used for planning and optimising a business’s finances. In the long run, these can have a major effect on how well a business does.

Inventory can be taken without stress

The purpose of this article is to provide faith in the idea that taking inventory doesn’t need to be a nerve-wracking experience and that there are significantly easier, stress-free ways of doing it. Opportunities afforded by modern technology should not be ignored, as they provide endless ways of boosting and evolving a business’s operations. Inventory management is only one possible instance of this, but it provides a very clear, real-world example of something that modern technology can improve.

One of the myths related to software development is its exorbitant price tag that makes it accessible only to large conglomerates. A lot depends on the feature set but with Vaultron we have attempted to create a cost-effective solution that fits smaller businesses as well. As its name suggests, agile software development provides an agile way of creating custom solutions that enhance a business’s processes, tailored to that specific business.