In the last post we saw how companies that used separate accounting and stock control software wasted valuable management time because they had to reconcile their accounting figures with their operational stock figures. This is time that could better be spent on profit-making activities.
Our solution was to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV in place of the separate systems, ensuring that data is not only unified, but that it gives you the power to make more strategic and effective purchasing decisions.
We’re now going to look more closely at Microsoft Dynamics NAV from a purchasing perspective – and find out how using it for inventory management makes buying much easier.
Stock control software and purchasing decisions
Users of effective stock control software need to ensure that they have the correct amount of stock at any given time. Ideally you need enough stock to satisfy demand, but not so much excess stock that your cash flow suffers.
If you have significant excess stock, then you have capital tied up in items that may take weeks, months or even years to sell. That’s money that could have been used on faster-moving and more profitable products.
On the other hand, if you don’t have enough stock, you won’t meet demand and you’ll lose out on current profits as well as possibly losing those customers. And if you don’t spot in time that you need to increase your stock of a particular item, you may not have time to get it to market before demand slumps.
In terms of inventory management, the correct stock levels rely on effective purchasing decisions. Microsoft Dynamics NAV gives you extra tools to make these decisions effectively.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV for informed purchasing decisions
Traditionally, buying decisions could be weakened by purchasing managers who put too much faith in outdated stock, sales and forecast figures.
With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you can track up-to-date stock levels, quickly identify when demand for an item increases or decreases by an unexpected amount – and take action accordingly. You can also incorporate sales forecasts on demand, and identify patterns that you may have missed using a less effective system.
For example, traditional sales forecasts may show that sales of a particular item increase by 20% in the second half of July. Therefore, relying on that information, you would normally increase your stock levels just before that period.
However, if sales picked up by 25% in the first half of July, it would take some time for traditional stock control systems to pick up on the fact – this could leave you without sufficient stock by the end of the month. Microsoft Dynamics NAV, on the other hand, is capable of detecting the increased sales instantly, allowing you to make faster purchasing decisions that give you an edge over competitors.
Dynamics NAV provides you with four choices of standardised reordering policies, which meet the needs of most companies:
- Fixed Reorder
- Maximum Quantity
- Order
- Lot-for-Lot
Companies can simply choose the settings that fit their company buying policies. Evo-soft also has an adapted version that is tailored for the idiosyncrasies of the seasonal markets.
NAV and purchase orders
Microsoft Dynamics NAV streamlines the purchase order productions process. Purchasing managers can quickly review and approve requests straight away. With the push of a button the Purchase Order can be raised directly from the Requisition Worksheet, the buying planning tool in Dynamics NAV, creating greater efficiency and less administrative tedium.
An additional time saving feature provided by Evo-soft is that new items can be created through uploaded spreadsheets from Microsoft Excel into NAV. As many suppliers now generate Excel quotes this eliminated a lot of duplicated effort.
Stock control software that makes purchasing much easier
Getting the purchasing right is of paramount importance to a company’s survival in a competitive marketplace. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is ideal if you need to make effective purchasing decisions for good inventory management. You can interrogate your data to spot unusual sales patterns as they happen, allowing you to make faster buying decisions. And if you have to manage lots of purchasing transactions, NAV completes them much more quickly and helps you keep ahead of your rivals – it’s stock control software that makes purchasing much easier.
In our next post, we’ll be looking at how Microsoft Dynamics NAV is invaluable for supply chain tracking. Make sure you don’t miss out – subscribe to our RSS feed today.
Filed under: NAV
