Excel or Ex HELL? Why Excel Is Not Suited for Inventory Management

Microsoft’s Excel does not have the proper capabilities to accurately track real-time perpetual inventory, yet tens of thousands of businesses still use Excel for inventory management.

As your company grows, inventory grows as well, and Excel’s dependability becomes even more unreliable. Unable to handle the strain of the warehouse, Excel can do more harm than good as it opens your workflow to costly errors and time-consuming operations.

As leaders in efficient warehousing, order and inventory management, Ascent Solutions strengthens your enterprise-ready technology with a management solution designed for maximum flexibility, accessibility, and visibility.

Four Reasons Excel Can’t Handle Your Growing Inventory

• Error-Prone Manual Data Entry – Because asset information must be entered manually, Excel can leave your inventory vulnerable to human error. Continuous errors can harm your company’s reputation while also distracting your workers from other more pressing tasks.
• Lack of Real-Time Visibility – Since data is entered manually, Excel does not provide real-time visibility across your large inventory. As a result, you run the risk of facing more inaccurate out-of-stocks and possibly missing sales or overstocking.
• Limited User Access – With more inventory comes more workers, yet Excel cannot accommodate multiple users at once, limiting inventory management to only a few individuals on a limited number of devices.
• Lack of Necessary Contextual Visibility – An efficient inventory management system provides asset information as well as additional intelligence, such as storage temperature, expiration dates, or lot numbers. However, too much additional information can stretch your Excel sheet, impacting its user-friendly interface. In other words, users must choose between readability or visibility.

Ascent Solutions eliminates these common problems caused by Excel through simplifying inventory management and tracking your assets in real-time. Your entire business will have instant visibility and actionable analytics around inventory velocity. 

Furthermore, Ascent’s platform is completely compatible with the industry’s most ergonomic devices, such as Zebra Technologies’ touch computers and scanners, ultimately providing you with:

• A durable solution fit for both warehousing and field service
• Expanded and mobile access to stock quantities
• Contextualized asset visibility

If you are currently using excel to manage your inventory and are experiencing a lack of efficiency, contact us to schedule your free inventory assessment and choose a software solution that grows with you.