How to Evaluate Inventory and Warehouse Software

Start from your stock, not the vendor’s screens

Inventory software looks impressive in a demo because every demo has clean stock. Your stock is different: several godowns, products with sizes and finishes, items with expiry dates, and goods that arrive in parts. Write down the ten stock situations that cause you trouble today, and use them as the test.

Core inventory checks

These apply to every trading business.

• A product master that can hold your brands, units, sizes, finishes, HSN codes and barcodes
• Stock by product and warehouse, changed only through documents such as receipts and deliveries
• A movement history that shows the document behind each change
• Reorder levels that flag what needs buying
• Bulk import of your catalogue, and export of your data
• Permissions so the right people can adjust stock, and a record of who did

Extra checks for a distributor

Distributors carry more stock in more places, so test depth as well as breadth.

• Multiple warehouses, with transfers recorded between them
• Batch tracking and an expiry view, if your products expire
• Serial numbers, if you must trace individual units
• Stock aging, to see what is sitting too long
• A clear costing method, and a clear answer on how it treats adjustments and returns
• Links to purchasing and sales, so receipts add stock and deliveries reduce it

Warehouse software: what to test

Warehouse features matter once a godown is big enough that people need to know where things are. Ask the vendor to walk through a receipt to a shelf and an order to a truck.

• Storage locations inside a warehouse, including nested locations
• Putaway, so received goods are directed to a location
• Pick lists that show where to pick from, and picked against ordered quantity
• Shipments with a carrier and tracking details
• Stock transfers with a status from start to completion
• Cycle counts that record system quantity, counted quantity and variance
• A damage register where damaged stock is reported, approved and written off

What TradeFlow provides

TradeFlow covers the areas above inside one system.

• A product master with categories, brands, units, sizes, finishes, HSN, SKU, barcode and MRP, with Excel import and export
• Stock by warehouse, typed movements with their source documents, and reorder alerts
• Batch tracking with an expiry register, and serial numbers with an in-stock, sold, returned or damaged status
• Multiple warehouses, nested storage locations, putaway tasks from goods receipts, pick lists, shipments, and stock transfers that move from draft to in transit to completed
• Cycle counts, and a damage register with approval before write-off
• Stock aging in bands, and weighted-average valuation with a valuation status for each product

Costing questions to ask

Ask how the system values stock, because two systems can show the same quantity and different values. In TradeFlow, weighted-average cost is kept per product across the company rather than per warehouse, stock received is valued at the purchase order rate, and a manual adjustment is recorded without a cost until one is entered. Whatever you choose, make sure the answer is written down and your CA agrees with it.

Scanning hardware and other needs

Check hardware needs explicitly. TradeFlow displays and prints product barcodes, but if handheld scanners or a mobile app are essential to how your warehouse works, ask any vendor to demonstrate exactly that flow rather than assuming it is included.

Run a real trial

A short trial tells you more than a long feature list. Receive a purchase in parts, put it away, take a sales order through picking and dispatch, transfer some stock to another godown, run a cycle count with a deliberate difference, and record one damaged item. Then check the stock levels, the movement history and the valuation, and confirm that every number can be traced to a document.

Red flags

Be cautious when stock can be changed without a record, when the movement history cannot show the source document, when costing cannot be explained, or when the vendor’s answers change as you add detail. A system that hides how stock is valued or adjusted will cause the kind of disagreement you are trying to leave behind.

Where TradeFlow fits

TradeFlow is an ERP for Indian traders, wholesalers, distributors and dealers, with inventory and warehouse management connected to purchasing, sales, finance and GST. To test it against your own stock, book a demo and bring your ten difficult situations.

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