5 common inventory management mistakes
Efficient inventory management is the backbone of every business that trades, produces or distributes physical products. Yet we see the same mistakes recurring at many companies — mistakes that lead to inventory discrepancies, missed sales and unnecessary costs. In this article, we discuss the five most common mistakes and provide concrete solutions to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Manual counting instead of scanning
The most fundamental mistake companies make is manually entering quantities. Whether it is goods receipt, order picking or stock counting — manual entry is the biggest source of errors in the inventory management process.
Why is this a problem?
With manual entry, many things can go wrong. An employee counts 12 products but enters 21. An item number is mistyped. A receipt is forgotten to be registered. Research shows that manual data entry has an error rate of 1 in 300 keystrokes. With thousands of transactions per month, those errors add up quickly.
The solution:
Replace manual entry with barcode scanning. With the Barcode Scan App, you scan the barcode of each product. The item number is recognized without errors and quantities are tracked accurately. No typos, no mix-ups, no discussions afterwards.
Mistake 2: Not using real-time data
Many companies work with outdated inventory data. They update their system at the end of the day, or even just once a week. In the meantime, they make decisions based on data that is no longer current.
Why is this a problem?
Without real-time data, you sell products that are no longer available, order products that are already sufficiently in stock, or promise delivery times you cannot meet. This leads to dissatisfied customers, rush orders at higher prices and unnecessarily high inventory levels.
The solution:
Use a system that is updated in real time. The Barcode Scan App processes every scan directly in Exact Online. The moment a product is scanned at receipt or delivery, the inventory level is immediately updated. This way, everyone always works with the most current data.
Mistake 3: Poor location management
A surprising number of companies store products without a structured location system. Products are placed wherever there is space, without recording this in the system. The result: employees spend more time searching than picking.
Why is this a problem?
Without structured location management, picking takes longer, products are not found (even though they are there), and performing stock counts is virtually impossible. New employees are completely dependent on the knowledge of experienced colleagues, which is vulnerable.
The solution:
Set up storage locations within Exact Online and label each location with a barcode. With the Barcode Scan App, you automatically register the new location with every transfer. Set preferred locations per product so the putaway process runs smoothly. This way, everyone always knows where every product is.
Mistake 4: Not registering batch numbers
Many companies skip registering batch numbers because it seems like "too much work". They know which product they have, but not which batch. This seems harmless until a problem occurs.
Why is this a problem?
Without batch registration, you have no traceability. In case of a quality issue or recall, you cannot determine which customers received the affected product. In many sectors (food, pharma, medical devices), batch registration is also legally required. Additionally, the absence of batch numbers makes it impossible to apply FIFO or FEFO.
The solution:
Make batch registration part of your standard process. The Barcode Scan App reads batch numbers automatically from GS1 barcodes. With a single scan, you register the item number, batch number and optionally the expiry date. It costs no extra time and delivers complete traceability.
Mistake 5: No scan verification at receipt and delivery
The last common mistake is not verifying goods at receipt and delivery. Deliveries are accepted without checking whether the contents match the order. Sales orders are picked based on a paper list without scan verification.
Why is this a problem?
Without verification at receipt, you may book more or fewer products than were actually delivered. At delivery, you may send the wrong product or the wrong quantity to the customer. This leads to inventory discrepancies, returns and extra shipping costs.
The solution:
Scan every product at receipt and compare it with the purchase order. The Barcode Scan App immediately shows whether the received quantities match the order. When picking sales orders, you scan each product and the app warns when a deviation is detected. This way, you prevent errors before they reach the customer.
Conclusion
The five mistakes we have discussed — manual counting, no real-time data, poor location management, no batch registration and missing scan verification — are ones we encounter daily. The good news is that they can all be easily solved by implementing barcode scanning in your warehouse processes.
The Barcode Scan App for Exact Online offers an accessible and effective solution. You can get started immediately, without expensive hardware or complex implementation processes. Try it free for a month and experience for yourself how much more accurate your inventory management becomes.