Inventory control stock status reports

Stock control, otherwise known as inventory control, is used to show how much stock you have at any one time, and how you keep track of it. It applies to every item you use to produce a product or service, from raw materials to finished goods.

OpenPro has many inventory control stock status reports this is the basic search screen for finding your inventory stock.

The results tells you how much inventory is in stock.

This report shows you the item number

Description of the item

Quantity on hand

Location of that item

if you have Serialized or Lot controlled items and any user defined field.

What Is Inventory Control?

Inventory control, also called stock control, is the process of ensuring the right amount of supply is available in an organization. With the appropriate internal and production controls, the practice ensures the company can meet customer demand and delivers financial elasticity.

Successful inventory control requires data from purchases, reorders, shipping, warehousing, storage, receiving, customer satisfaction, loss prevention and turnover. According to the 2019 “State of Small Business Report”, almost half of small businesses do not track their inventory, even manually.

Inventory control enables the maximum amount of profit from the least amount of investment in inventory without affecting customer satisfaction. Done right, it allows companies to assess their current state concerning assets, account balances and financial reports. Inventory control can help avoid problems, such as out-of-stock (stockout) events. For example, Walmart estimated it missed out on $3 billion worth of sales in 2018 because its inadequate inventory control procedures led to stockouts.

An integral part of inventory control is supply chain management (SCM), which manages the flow of raw materials, goods and services to the point where the company or customers consume the goods. Warehouse management also squarely falls into the arena of inventory control. This process includes integrating product coding, reorder points and reports, all product details, inventory lists and counts and methods for selling or storing. Warehouse management then synchronizes sales and purchases to the stock on hand.

Inventory management is a higher-level term that encompasses the complete process of procuring, storing, and making a profit from your merchandise or services. While inventory control and inventory management may seem interchangeable, they are not. Inventory control regulates what is already in the warehouse. Inventory management is broader and regulates everything from what is in the warehouse to how a business gets the inventory there and the item’s final destination.

Inventory control practices and policies should apply to more than just finished and raw goods. The following graphic shows all the things a business might manage using these practices.

**How Inventory Control Can Improve Your Business**

Implementing proper inventory control procedures can help ensure a business is running at optimal financial levels and that products meet customers’ needs and expectations. According to the 2015 “Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report”, 62% of customers have stopped doing business with a brand whose customer service was poor. Of those customer service complaints, frustration over out-of-stock or backordered items is high on the list. In fact, research about convenience stores shows that out-of-stocks could cause a store to lose one in every 100 customers completely. Additionally, 55% of shoppers in any store would not purchase an alternate item when their regular product is out-of-stock. Other areas where businesses incur expenses or lose sales that inventory control practices and methods could address include:

  Spoilage
  Dead stock
  Excess storage costs
  Cost-efficiency
  Decreased sales
  Losing loyal customers
  Excess stock
  Losing track of inventory
  Losing goods in the warehouse
  
  OpenPro advance inventory control system helps businesses improve business with proper inventory control processes.