Forum Moderators: buckworks
i have reached the stage were the number of lines & overall stock levels make manual stock control impracticable.
i need a 'simple' barcode/sku controlled inventory system, i don't need POS processing just an idea of my overall stock levels on a daily basis.
i would use a portable barcode/sku data collector/scanner for 'batch upload' of goods in/out at the end of the day.
is anyone using a basic system as described?
cheers.
Most of these require a whole new system, most of them with POS in mind. You can probably muddle through and configure it yourself, but for ease of install most of them require buying the computer through the vendor. The B.C. scanner is a USB/firewire or serial port device, most of the challenges are in the software.
The one we looked at longest was configured to work with Quickbooks Retail. We have the full '07 retail edition. The bigest problem we had with this is QB has **HORRIBLE** web site integration support, and it's at a level fundamental to the functioning of the program.
All of your inventory goes into an "item list." This item list is a generic list used for other items in Q.B. There is no "inventory list." Although you can assign categories, you can't really sort them. So you get this one loooong . . . huge list to scroll through. It's totally idiotic, why this is considered the best accounting software for a retailer we'll never know.
The deciding factor for us was that all these items must be manually entered and accounted (unless you have the POS modules/hardware.) You can export and import Quickbooks data files (.IIS extension, as I recall) but here is the problem.
When you update an inventory item in QuickBooks, it performs functions against other lists in QuickBooks to maintain it's internal checks and balances. If these functions don't take place, the inventory doesn't update. I spent a month or two downloading data from our site in IIS format, importing into test companies, banging my head against the Q.B. forums and support sites, and the inventory just won't update. We could see the inventory items in Q.B., but had to manually update each entry to get the inventory to even register. And then it would do something stupid like increase sales for that day.
It is an Achilles heel in the entire system, rendering it worthless to us.
Good inventory control is a big part of a successful enterprise.
All I can say is this
1) DON'T use quickbooks (on the other hand, please do if you are our competitor)
2) inventory depends VERY MUCH on types of items you sell. do they have bar codes or would you have to create your own? are they too small for bar codes? do you sell wholesale/box sizes? how are you going to handle returns? more than one person with a scanner? more than one location? pallete sales (you are unable to scan individual items)? etc.
3) check your current ecommerce software. does it provide any inventory whatsoever? see first post by teebo, it may be already subtracting from total quantity every time an order is placed.
4) do you want an integration with current eCommerce, or will you be fine with a stand-alone inventory software?
> my overall stock levels on a daily basis.
Off lease Symbol barcode scanners with embedded PalmOS can be had for less than $100 on eBay. You use the Palm software to record your SKU & quantity. Scan barcode and update quantity. Sync the scanner with your desktop which generates a CSV file or directly syncs with your database.
For the actual inventory, I like performing inventory in batches. I count one section per month. It is quicker than counting the entire warehouse. Next month is next section.
With a bit of imaginative javascript you should be able to catch those keystrokes and then auto-submit after a half-second of no entry to do your update or similar.
- there are free bacrode generating classes for PHP (you give them 13-digit EAN13 code, and they generate a barcode image for it). You can print it using a self-adhesive labels sets
- there are (or were) cheap barcode readers "CoolCat" (or "SmartCat") on eBay -- about $10, some company produced millions of them before it got broke
These "CoolCats" were able to read barcodes and were connectable as keyboard (i.e. these CollCats had drivers that made computer think it's a keyboard), and barcode read by CoolCat was converted into digits sequence and "entered" from "keyboard" -- as vincevincevince described.
So you basically need to write an app that generates a memo-like field and waits till EAN codes are fed in by CoolCat.
Hope it helps.
I believe bar codes are bar codes. The bars simply generate some alpha-numeric sequence when scanned. The reason the use the bars instead of numbers is because of the scanning technology - it's easier to scan long bars than it is small numbers.
I think you are referring to the CueCat? They work okay, but they are a wand barcode reader and not a gun which makes them inefficient except for the lightest of use.
>> How do you determine which scanner can read it?
There are basically only limited number of wide-used barcodes -- like UPC and EANs. EANs are more widespread in EU, UPCs are for the USA.
Most barcode readers should know these standards and should be able to recognize them.
[en.wikipedia.org...]
[en.wikipedia.org...]
i sell from ebay, amazon & a couple of w/sites so i can't really utilise the inventory control from each into a single one.
i have recently found an excellent "excel inventory macro" that allows single sku scans for in/outs & also search, using a "wedge scanner" - this is ok for small in/outs but impractical for larger due to time.
if the macro allowed batch in/outs then it would be perfect for my purpose.
most of the inventory software i've researched have too many "bells & whistles" - for me any way.
cheers
[edited by: lorax at 9:30 pm (utc) on July 20, 2008]
[edit reason] No Links Please [/edit]
