Inventory is the beating heart of your business and needs to be managed with care. A good inventory system can help, but many webshops still lack the proper technology. Thanks to an inventory management system like Webship Online, you can quickly and easily pick & pack your orders, print shipping labels, send packages, check inventory, inspect incoming goods, view reports, etc. In short, the efficiency of your business can be boosted with a smart system.
Are you convinced but don’t know how to get started with an inventory management system? Then this blog is for you, as we explain how to quickly get started with Webship Online, an affordable and user-friendly cloud application with all the possible features.
Settings
To use Webship Online properly, you first need to check and adjust the settings according to your preferences. You can, among other things, select the desired language, change your password, etc. For security reasons, we recommend that you change the password you received after your first login. Choose a strong password that meets our requirements to ensure hackers don’t easily gain access.
Warehouse
Before you can store goods, you need a warehouse or other storage space. Through the ‘Warehouses’ menu, you can quickly add one or more warehouses. Of course, you will organize your products in the warehouse based on certain locations. In Webship Online, you can create an unlimited number of locations, completely according to the structure you use. If you prefer not to use locations, that’s possible, but we recommend thinking carefully about your storage space from the start. Locations are helpful for quickly finding products and reducing the margin of error. When picking orders, you will find that warehouse locations speed up the picking process, saving you valuable time.
Location Layout
Have you chosen to use locations in your warehouse? Then make sure to have a logical layout. Think about the structure of your warehouse, the most efficient walking routes, and future scalability to avoid surprises. If necessary, draw a floor plan of your warehouse and sketch your layout on paper; this makes it easy to visualize. You can start by dividing your warehouse into different zones, according to the type of storage. For example:
- ‘P’ zone for pallet locations
- ‘L’ zone for shelving
- ‘S’ zone for stacking bins
It’s that simple. Then, each spot in a specific zone will need a unique number. This unique number will later be used to quickly and efficiently locate products within your warehouse during the picking process. This allows you to work more efficiently. This must be clear for both experienced pickers and new employees.
Now that you have defined the zones, you can go a step further. The unique location number is logically and chronologically structured, for example: P.01.110.A.01. Let’s break it down:
- P: pallet location zone
- 01: aisle number ‘01’
- 110: shelf number ‘110’
- A: level (or shelf) in the shelf (you can also use numbers here)
- 01: slot or position on the shelf
You don’t need to use such an elaborate structure, just ensure that it’s easy to expand later while keeping the location numbers simple. A simplified version could be:
- P.110.A: Pallet location with shelf number 110 on shelf (or floor) A. Keep it simple!
Make sure to maintain a uniform distribution across all zones so you can apply the same structure everywhere. Once the structure is known, you can enter it into our application. For example:
In the above example, all locations will automatically be generated from P.001.A to P.100.E (and everything in between = 500 locations). If necessary, you can also specify the maximum dimensions and inventory type. Eventually, you will see the following:
For each location, you can now update the properties and see which products are stored there.
In your warehouse, you should also label each location with its location number using a sticker or other signage. If you plan to use a barcode scanner soon, you can also add a barcode to the location.
Pro Tip: make sure to separate even and odd numbers on the left and right sides of the aisle, just like house numbers on a street. This creates an intuitive picking route. Be sure to use leading zeros to keep the structure of the location numbers consistent everywhere (e.g., P.001.A instead of P.1.A).
Sales Channels
After setting up your account and warehouse, the last step is to add sales channels so you can get started. Through the ‘Stores’ menu, you can add one or more brands to your business. Let’s say you have different types of webshops:
- drone-kopen.be
- regenton-kopen.be
- mijn4x4.be
We will create three ‘brands’ with their own sales channels. Here’s a visual representation:
Pegatex NV
- Drone-Kopen.be
- www.drone-kopen.be (webshop)
- Bol.com (online marketplace)
- Store in Vichte (physical store)
- Regenton-kopen.be
- www.regenton-kopen.be (webshop)
- Bol.com (online marketplace)
- Amazon (online marketplace)
- Mijn4x4.be
- www.mijn4x4.be (webshop)
In the above example, we have one company with three brands and a total of seven sales channels. You can then add them all via the ‘Stores’ menu.
Request Your Free Live Demo
Once you’ve configured the above, you can start importing your products, creating delivery notes, picking orders, packing orders, shipping orders, etc. Want to see how this works? Request your free live demo now. We’ll take you on a tour of the cloud application, and you can test the application for free for 30 days! Have questions? Contact Webship for more information! We’re happy to assist you.