2024 Guide to Inventory Management Solutions
With the recent launch of SupplySight, we want to take a moment to highlight and compare inventory management solutions and offerings – from R.S. Hughes to our biggest competitors. The aim of this guide is to help you find the inventory management program that suits your business’ needs and enables you with the tools and support to optimize your inventory processes.
Short on time? Here is a handy comparison chart highlighting how we measure up to competitors’ inventory management solutions.
Let’s dive into a detailed breakdown of some of the top inventory management solutions offered today and how R.S. Hughes’ SupplySight program stacks up:
Coast-to-Coast Service
Most inventory management systems extend their services nationwide. Along with SupplySight, each of our competitors shown in the chart above offer their services coast-to-coast.
Our warehouse locations across the U.S. and Mexico are equipped with product specialists to service and guide you. Next-day and same-day shipping options also help eliminate lead times and save you storage space.
Personalized Inventory Plans
It’s one thing to have an inventory management plan. It’s another thing to have one customized to your business. Personalized inventory plans are offered by each of our competitors, with the exception of ORSY Connect by Wurth, and have become the standard for inventory management programs.
What sets SupplySight apart is that our specialists are true extensions of your company. We look holistically at your business, providing purchasing assistance and inventory monitoring to help you adjust your plan over time. Our partnership ensures that you are always in the know with data-backed insights and optimizations tailored to your business.
Personalized Quick Lists
Unique to SupplySight, Quick Lists is a specialized tool available on our website. It allows you to easily edit frequencies for each item in your personalized inventory plan. R.S. Hughes account managers also monitor your purchasing patterns over time to help make necessary adjustments.
KeepStock from Grainger offers similar inventory management tools but lacks depth and the level of personalization it takes to perfect frequencies and quantities.
Controlled Account Access and Purchasing Limits
Regulating purchasing decisions and account access with an advanced level of control is paramount to managing inventory efficiently. It comes down to being able to control each part of the process – from solidifying budget limits to seeing who is accessing your inventory management account.
This level of control is only offered by SupplySight and KeepStock, and allows you to approve, edit or reject purchases as well as set automated spend and approval levels.
Scan, Count and Reorder with Mobile App
Controlling your inventory via a mobile app (ours is available on Apple and Android) is becoming another mainstay for manufacturers. Only Hisco and Wurth are unable to offer app-level inventory control.
With SupplySight, you can use our app for quick reorders by leveraging printed QR codes on marked items. You can also find items more easily using our online Item Labels.
Track Missing Stock to Employee ID Numbers
Another inventory management program feature unique to SupplySight is the ability to access employee-level reporting and control with our reporting suite. This gives you a secure approach to your inventory management with our customizable vending options, and you don’t have to worry about missing stock with employee ID product tracking.
Multiple Consignment Vending Options
Products come in all shapes and sizes – which means you need vending options in all shapes and sizes. This level of customization is common amongst industrial suppliers with only FastSTOCK from Fastenal unable to offer a wide range of options.
While some industrial suppliers own their own vending consignment—like KeepStock for example—SupplySight partners with CribMaster. Through this partnership, you can choose from four vending options and take advantage of our next-level automation, reporting and security. Eliminate inventory hoarding, misuse and theft with safe and secure vending solutions.
Restock with Intelligent Automation
While many of our competitors offer advanced automation tools, they have yet to synchronize the technology with inventory management solutions.
SupplySight’s Vend2Supply solutions bring a secure, automated approach to your supply management with a high level of control, reporting, security and cost savings. With intelligent automation, you can maintain ideal stock levels and avoid over- or under-ordering.
In-Depth Reporting
The most effective inventory management programs should offer detailed reporting. You will only find this level of reporting with Wurth’s ORSY Connect, Fastenal’s FastSTOCK and our own SupplySight.
Our in-depth reports give you full purchasing visibility as well as full visibility into stock levels and employee-level reports. Plus, our experts interpret your business’ inventory data to provide valuable insights and optimizations to adjust your plan over time.
Warehouse Storage for Inventory
We’ll stamp this guide with one last unique offering from SupplySight – we save you valuable storage space by housing your stock in our warehouses. Next-day and same-day shipping options eliminate lead times and ensure you always have what you need when you need it.
We know you have options when it comes to choosing an inventory management program. That’s why we’ve integrated the latest and most innovative solutions into SupplySight. We’ll help you to keep your inventory in check and your supply chain moving seamlessly.
Interested in learning more about SupplySight for your business?