Food Inventory Control Software
Food inventory management designed to handle multiple unit of measure and catch weight items
Gaining Control over your Food Inventory Items
Two of the biggest challenges in automating inventory management for food distributors and processors are accurately handling Variable weight items, sometimes called catch weighted items, and working with multiple units of measure. To make matters worse, food businesses must often manage items that are both variable weight and multiple unit of measure. Whether it is a rack of ribs, a filet of fish, or a package of mushrooms, all of these items and thousands of others could be ordered individually (give me one rack of ribs), by the case (send me a case of the salmon filet), or by the pound (I’ll take 40 pounds of mushrooms.) Thankfully VictualNet’s food inventory control software was designed from inception to handle multiple unit of measure and catch weight items accurately and easily.
It all starts by choosing whether an item is catch weight or not. Based on your choice, VictualNet knows whether to always use the standard weight, or if the standard weight should be used as a guide to warn you if you exceed your acceptable weight deviation. Remember - VictualNet is designed to provide you with food inventory management tools, so we’re going to check at several critical points to make sure the weights you record are reasonable, preventing you from accidentally billing customers for 2 pounds of mushrooms when you shipped 200.
Next comes our flexible unit of measure system where you’ll tell the VictualNet how your products are packaged. Your salmon filets are roughly 2 pounds, you sell them 10 to the case. Your customer calls and orders a half-case of salmon. No problem, Victualnet knows that will be 5 filets or about 10 pounds.
Now it’s time to fill that order. If you plan on using VictualNet’s Scan Weigh and Measure Instantly (SWAMI) module, catch weights will be automatically recorded into the system for you from a bar code, or by utilizing a fully integrated scale. If you’re not using SWAMI you can record the weights on a pick ticket, or enter them directly into the system by hand. No matter how you do it, VictualNet’s smart food inventory management system will check the weights against the standard weight. Anything outside the allowable deviation percentage you set will trigger an immediate alert. And when it’s time for the warehouse manager to review shipments, a variance report will provide a full summary of the shipments.