For most warehousing and distribution companies, effective inventory management is the key to running a successful business – but that’s not always easy.
With large product catalogues, different locations and warehouses to manage, quick moving stock and supplier/customer relationships to maintain, warehousing and distribution organisations can quickly begin to struggle.
Operative issues usually begin to arise when a company outgrows the ERP software they’re using. Tell-tale signs of this include experiencing problems with stock inaccuracies, facing scheduling issues and being left with unfulfilled orders.
A key way to grow your warehousing and distribution company, and improve business efficiency, is with a robust ERP solution such as
Sage 200.
Sage 200 for Warehousing & Distribution Businesses
Sage 200 is a business software solution that helps warehouse managers and distributors effectively manage their supply chain. The software allows users to optimise inventory levels, plan ahead and ensure their business targets are met.
Here’s an in-depth look at 6 ways in which Sage 200 can help alleviate the growing pains of any warehouse/distribution business:
- Effective Stock & Inventory Control
The Sage 200 Stock Control module features impressive inventory management capabilities that allow users to become more informed about their product lines and customers’ purchasing habits.
Through this module users can track stock levels, know where stock is at any given time, see what stock has been sold/purchased and, most importantly, see the profitability of each stock item. Stock can also easily be transferred between different warehouses to make distribution easier.
The Stock Control module fully integrates with other Sage 200 modules such as Invoicing, Sales Orders and Purchase Orders. This integration ensures stock levels are always accurate by updating product numbers at each stage of the sales and purchasing process.
- Increased Stock Traceability
As well as increased stock management, the Stock Control module also allows for improved product traceability.
Using the Stock Control module for Sage 200, users can track all stock movements at serial and batch number level. This means the Purchase Order for each stock item can be seen along with supplier details, as can the Sales Order for the customer who then bought the product.
This makes pinpointing any stock issues much easier as the entire stock journey can be easily viewed and analysed.
- Easily Meet Stock Demands
Sage 200 also makes predicting product demand easy due to customer trend insights gained from Sales Order history. Inventory requirements can then be altered accordingly to meet that demand. Rather than altering stock requirements manually, Sage 200 can be set up to automatically suggest new Purchase Orders.
Purchase Orders can also be set back quickly and easily if the demand for a particular product isn’t there.
- Improved Customer Relationships
With improved stock control it’s easier to keep customers happy as sales demands can be predicted. This ensures stock is always available and customers aren’t left disappointed with delayed arrival times.
Sage 200 also notifies users in advance if Sales Orders are in danger of becoming unfulfilled. This provides time to rectify the issue and order more stock, maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Through Sage 200, sales teams are provided with accurate and up to date inventory levels, which prevents overselling and ensures customer orders arrive on time.
- Increased Profitability
Sage 200 provides a central location for all cost information, allowing users to easily track costs and profit margins associated with each stock item.
From Purchase Order through to Sales Order and distribution, Sage 200 provides users with a powerful insight into the profitability of a stock item at each touchpoint. Using these insights, processes can be refined accordingly to increase profitability and slow-moving stock can quickly be identified and managed.
- Greater Connectivity
Sage 200 can be accessed from any mobile device while on the move, ensuring business data is available anywhere and at any time. The powerful reporting and analytics dashboards within Sage 200 allow warehousing and distribution managers to keep up to speed with operational processes and make real-time strategic business decisions in the event of any issues.
Contact Us
If you’d like to know more about how Sage 200 can help your warehousing and distribution business level-up, please call us on 01423 330335, or email us at
sales@onesys.co.uk.