Inventory software for perishable goods

reitoei

Hi,
I was wondering, has anyone ever installed or know of a software package that does inventory tasks for perishable goods like flowers or foods? I'm looking for something can simply track goods received vs. goods sold and wastage. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Paul

Hagar

I know of one really good system but I don't know if it's available to buy.

Are the following questions relevent to your business?

Do you/buy sell goods on a consignment/commission basis?
How fast does your stock rotate?
Have you a mix of VAT and non-vat product?
Do you process/prepare any of the goods in any way?
Do you have an expected shelf life per product?
Do you have storage constraints? ie Product A may not be stored or transported with Product B

reitoei

It would basically be for a flower shop. Goods would be delivered from the supplier on say on a Sunday. The flowers would have varying shelf lives dependant on the variety. The storage constraints would be the same for all flowers, ie. they need to kept in a refridgerated environment. All the products are subject to VAT.

We need to track the flowers coming in, record the amounts, track the sales through the POS system (not sure how to go about doing this... ie. how do you barcode flowers?!) and some kind of back end system, then be able to deliver sales and stock/warehouse type reports.

Hagar

I known an awful lot about this believe me.
But I cannot disclose it until I know who you are in the real world.
If you are prepared to do so please PM me.

TempestSabre

Well obviously you could build a database and a few entry forms and reports easily enough. I suspect from Hagar reply that theres probably some application that has already does this, and has workflow and a rake of other other functionality like accounts and VAT calculations built in aswell. Or hes built one.

Consider the budget and support requirments too.

Hagar

Yes I've built one alright. I was IT Manager for one of Irelands major fresh fruit, veg and flowers companies for about 15 years. I designed and wrote a system which has been in continuous use since 1987 by one of Ireland's major companies. The system was also localised for use on the continent. I could give the OP a lot of pointers on setting up a system, there is virtually nothing affordable on the market for the industry. What is available is unwieldy to use and forces business change to match the software. Not very nice really.

I asked the OP for some details and all I got was Paul, see 1st post, and a job/location. I can't be more helpful if you can'r be more forthcoming.

TempestSabre

So that no ones time is wasted I think you'd need to establish a rough budget and timeline. Are we talking a job for a student or something you'd knock up in a couple of evenings? Or something bigger that needs to be supported and proper analysis and scoping carried out.

Since (I'm assuming) you don't currently use a computer based system to manage things. If it were me I'd suggest trying a small quick and dirty system (and cheap) as a trial (call it (v0.1 beta) to see if using a computer fits with your work practises. Some people find a paper based system works better for them. If the computer system proves to be useful and has loads of potential then I'd look at scoping and budgeting for a larger system down the line. (V1.0)

Personally unless someone has a budget, timeline, and person assigned to work on the project, even for a quick and dirty system, I'd walk away. You can't build a computer system of any size unless someones committed to it. It would just wreck your head.

reitoei

I'm not looking to build a system from scratch, what I'm asking really is is there an industry standard package that can handle these kind of tasks?

By industry standard I mean what Sage, for example, would be to accounting.

Hagar, I did reply to you, and no, I do not work for any of the companies you mentioned. I'm working on a contract for a small, 1 site flower business.

Hagar

In all my years in the industry I could never find an off the shelf package that would suit the fresh produce business that actually worked well. Most common systems are based on minimum re-order levels etc and take no account of short shelf life. This makes them more or less useless for you. The ones that do work are aimed at the major importers and cost megabucks. Even those will not work for a smaller company as the admin on those systems is huge. If you do decide to go down the road with something in Access or whatever give me a PM and I'll give you a few pointers and highlight some of the pitfalls.

TempestSabre

Have to say I find that where ever I've come across off the shelf products, you end up customising so much so that you end up with an expensive system, thats not standard, and still doesn't do quite what you want.