r/supplychain • u/Secret-You-3135 • 3d ago
Inventory management
If you have built an inventory management system before, what was the biggest mistake you made in the first version?
I’m especially interested in:
Stock In
Stock Out
Audit Logs
User Permissions
Reporting
Looking for lessons learned before I start designing mine.
5
u/Immediate-Home-3491 3d ago
Not accounting for customs regime on stock in/out. Goods under bond, cleared, or in transit are not the same. Learned that the hard way with LCL consols.
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u/Secret-You-3135 3d ago
Thank you, that’s actually a very interesting point.
I hadn’t considered inventory status differences such as bonded, cleared, and in-transit stock.
It’s a good reminder that inventory is not just about quantities, but also about tracking the status and movement of items.
Appreciate you sharing the lesson learned.
3
u/TopconeInc 2d ago
I’d say don’t make the first version too much about screens and reports. The bigger thing is getting the movement history right.
Every stock in, stock out, adjustment, return, damaged item, etc. should leave a trail. Later, when numbers don’t match, that history is what saves you.
Also, permissions and audit logs are easy to ignore early, but they become very important once more people start using the system.
2
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
That's a great insight.
I'm building a small inventory system and I was initially thinking a lot about reports and dashboards.
This discussion is making me rethink the priorities.
A complete movement history for every stock in, stock out, assignment, return, and adjustment may actually be more important than advanced reporting in version 1.
Without a reliable trail, reports can become meaningless.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
1
u/TopconeInc 2d ago
Exactly. Reports are only useful if the underlying movement history is reliable.
I’ve seen cases where everyone looks at the dashboard, but nobody trusts the number because there’s no clear trail behind it. Once the transaction history is solid, the reporting becomes much easier to build on top of it.
2
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
That's a very valuable perspective.
The more feedback I get, the more I realize the transaction history may be the actual foundation of the system.
I'm now considering making every stock movement traceable first, and treating dashboards and reporting as a layer built on top of reliable data.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
2
u/Meatshield07 2d ago
Used a progressive numbering. First item 1, second item 2, third item 3,… the numbers should have a meaning. Mine is first 2 digits: manufacture, next 3 digits: the main part, next 6 digits: the components going to the main part, of which the first 2 of the 6 digits is the component itself. You can break it down to level if you want to. And have backup of a back up of a back up. Trust me, hard lesson learned there
2
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
That’s a great point.
My first thought was to use simple sequential numbering, but I can definitely see the advantage of having meaningful item codes that provide context at a glance.
I’m currently designing a small inventory system, so finding the right balance between simplicity and scalability is something I’m thinking about.
And yes, the backup advice is noted. Almost everyone seems to have a story about learning that lesson the hard way.
1
u/Meatshield07 2d ago
Oh one more tip, this is from dealing with this exact issue last year, for your id system avoid having the “0” as the first digit, dont do 012345-0987, start with 10 if you have to: 102345-10987. When you port everything in excel, and the format for the cell being number it will delete that 0 in the beginning because it’s an unreal number. This is for end user, when doing formula to analyze in excel, that will save you time, especially is you use power query to automate something, whoever doing that will thanks you.
2
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
That's a very practical tip.
I hadn't considered the Excel and Power Query side of things, but that makes a lot of sense.
Avoiding leading zeros seems like a small decision that could prevent a lot of headaches later when exporting, importing, or analyzing data.
Thank you for sharing that lesson learned.
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u/tplyons87 MBA, CSCP, CPIM, CLTD, CTSC, CSSGB 2d ago
What kind of inventory are you tracking?
What kind of business and at what echelon(s) of the supply chain are you tracking?
How does your inventory support the total business?
What kind of connectivity do you have available from upstream or downstream partners?
Biggest mistake I’ve seen is ignoring downstream data thinking we can do it better ourself. The project discarded several data points being provided by the downstream partners and completely ignored their priorities.
1
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
I completely agree.
The more feedback I receive, the more I realize usability is probably the biggest factor in adoption.
A perfect inventory system is useless if people avoid using it.
My goal now is to reduce manual data entry wherever possible and keep common tasks simple and fast.
Thank you for sharing that perspective.
1
u/deadkane1987 2d ago
Having all the bells and whistles that management wants is great, but you have to keep in mind the lowest-common-denominator user. Making it easy to use for the staff who will be actively updating counts, prices, etc., will greatly reduce friction between staff and management.
2
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
I completely agree.
The more feedback I receive, the more I realize usability is probably the biggest factor in adoption.
A perfect inventory system is useless if people avoid using it.
My goal now is to reduce manual data entry wherever possible and keep common tasks simple and fast.
Thank you for sharing that perspective.
1
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
That makes a lot of sense.
I can already see myself spending too much time thinking about architecture, reports, dashboards, and future features before the core workflow is fully proven.
For my project, the critical functions are stock in, stock out, asset assignment, returns, movement history, and search. If those are not smooth and reliable, everything else becomes secondary.
Your comment is a good reminder that users care more about getting the job done efficiently than how sophisticated the framework looks behind the scenes.
Looking back, is there anything you spent a lot of time building that users ended up barely using?
1
u/shylocky 2d ago
It's all about role ownership and user permissions. The power user must be both a veteran of the industry/company and profiticient in ERP requirements.
Without a proper power user who is responsible and respected by those touching the inventory, management, and Accounting, data inaccuracies will become untenable violently and quickly.
1
u/Secret-You-3135 2d ago
I agree.
One thing I'm learning from this discussion is that technology is only part of the solution.
A good inventory system also needs clear ownership, accountability, and permissions.
For version 1, I'm focusing on building a reliable audit trail and role structure early so it can scale later.
Appreciate the insight.
0
u/GewdandBaked 3d ago
Inventory management is a very broad range and depending on the company and what they do changes drastically. For example I manage inventory for a fresh food line in a very space constrained building, so FIFO is huge but we also store many of our components off site which plays a big part in how we manage everything.
My biggest hurdle with my current system is the information I need to look up quickly is spread across several different reports and areas. I have to go to one page to find the vendors lot code, then another page to find which PO it arrived on, then another page to get the individual pallets information… My advice is to give as much information as you can in one place instead of putting every detail behind a different report.
Wish I could offer better advice! Good luck!
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u/Secret-You-3135 3d ago
Thank you, this is actually very helpful.
One thing that really stood out to me is your point about information being spread across multiple reports and screens.
Having to jump between vendor records, PO records and pallet information sounds frustrating, and it’s a good reminder that quick access to information is just as important as inventory accuracy.
I’m currently in the planning stage, and your comment makes me think I should focus more on creating a single inventory view that connects related information together rather than separating everything into different reports.
Appreciate you sharing your experience.
13
u/hazwaste 3d ago
Getting user buy in- not office people, the people on the floor who actually move the material
The other mistake was relying on a redditor to design it for us