Inventory management software: a buyer's checklist
Vendor websites all look alike. 'Real-time visibility.' 'Streamline your operations.' 'Powerful reporting.' You could swap the logos and nobody would notice. The way through is to stop reading the pitch and start asking questions that make a vendor give a specific answer.
This list is the one we would use if we were buying. Print it, take it into every demo, and mark which answers were clear and which were a change of subject.
- 1Write down your top 5 jobsReceiving, picking, counting...
- 2Use real itemsTen of yours, not the demo data
- 3Make a mistakeThen see how to fix it
- 4Export your dataCheck you can leave
- 5Ask the awkward questionsSee the list below
The third step teaches you the most. Software is easy when nothing goes wrong.
What it tracks
- Does it show on hand and available separately?
- Can I record lot numbers and expiry dates, and does it pick the soonest-expiring first?
- Can I have a location and bin for each item?
- Does it keep stock in one total per item, or per location? (Both are valid. You need to know which.)
- Can it handle the units I use, such as boxes and singles?
How it handles buying
- Can I receive a purchase order in parts and see what is still due?
- What happens if the supplier sends more than I ordered?
- Can I change an order after sending it, and does it record why?
- Can I close the rest of an order and note the reason?
How it handles mistakes
This is the section that separates good systems from tidy-looking ones. Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is what the software lets you do about them.
- Can a wrong receipt be reversed, or only deleted?
- Is there a history of every change, with a date?
- What does a count do when it disagrees with the system? Does it overwrite, or post an adjustment you can see?
- Can anyone edit stock directly, or do changes have to go through a document?
Software is easy when nothing goes wrong. Test what happens when something does.
Can a wrong receipt be fixed?
A vague answer
You can edit the number
A clear answer
Yes: reverse it, and the history keeps both
What does a count do?
A vague answer
Overwrites the quantity
A clear answer
Posts a visible adjustment
Is there a history?
A vague answer
Latest value only
A clear answer
Every change, with a date
| A vague answer | A clear answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Can a wrong receipt be fixed? | You can edit the number | Yes: reverse it, and the history keeps both |
| What does a count do? | Overwrites the quantity | Posts a visible adjustment |
| Is there a history? | Latest value only | Every change, with a date |
Getting data in and out
- Can I import my current item list, and what does the file look like?
- Are there limits on rows or file size?
- Can I export everything I put in, in a normal format?
- How long is history kept, and can I download it?
What it does not do
Ask each vendor to list what their product does not do, and what other customers use for that. Good vendors answer quickly. If a vendor says it does everything, ask for the part that sounds hardest, such as production planning, and watch the answer.
- Does it connect to my accounting software, or do I enter invoices twice?
- Does it send purchase orders by email, or only produce a document?
- Does it sync with an online store?
Cost and exit
- What is the price at my size, and what changes it? Items, users or locations?
- What is the contract length and the cancellation process?
- What happens to my data if I leave?
- 1The subscriptionThe number on the price page
- 2Cleaning your dataDuplicates, units, codes
- 3Training peopleA few screens and a few habits
- 4Running two systems for a whileThe part everyone forgets