Inventory Management and Forecasting for a Growing Business

dockXtender Shipment

CableJive has been looking for an inventory management and forecasting solution for a few years now.

Back in 2006 when we first started selling cables we could easily keep track of things using a spreadsheet. By 2008 we had added enough new products from a variety of suppliers and manufacturers that it was time for something more.

I looked around and couldn’t find what we needed; a simple, powerful inventory tracking and forecasting solution that would easily integrate into an existing business. We didn’t need a full ERP system, our other systems were working well and sufficient for us. We just needed a system that would track our inventory and give us basic reports so we could keep inventory in stock. With no good fit to be found, CableJive developed a homegrown piece of software that integrated very nicely as an add-on to our order management system.

Fast forward to 2011, CableJive has continued to grow (yea!) which means more products and suppliers, all handled well by our CableJive inventory add-on. What isn’t handled so well is that we now have multiple warehouses and multiple fulfillment centers shipping orders. We need to know a lot more than just how much inventory is in stock and when to order more. We need to know the overall picture of our inventory, but also how much is at each warehouse and how to allocate new inventory to the various locations in such a way that each one has the right amount to get through until more arrives. We’re in a painful spot trying to manage all of this manually.

So we’re in the hunt again for a small business inventory management solution. More details to come on what we’ve found as we’re digging into the options.