With all the technological advancements and kinds of inventions that all work to make our lives easier, living becomes even sweeter. And the business world is keen on ensuring it reaps all the benefits. All businesses must work to keep their inventory in check. And thanks to technological advancements, today, you’ll find effective Medical Inventory Management Software in the market that will be able to meet the needs of any medical institution. For instance, take the inventory management software used in hospitals, for example. These inventory tools have worked to ensure that medical inventory is managed properly and effectively.

Inventory works to reduce the time it normally takes to do simple, mundane tasks. All this is excellent news. Businesses that rely more on their inventory to make any kind of profits can benefit the most from these inventory management tools. If you have ever used one or more inventory management software, then you can appreciate just how they help make work easier. There is a lot more to inventory management and software than most people realize.

To that regard, we aim to take you through a brief history of what inventory management is no and where it has come from.

In the beginning

To some point, you could argue that Adam invented inventory management when he named all living things on earth. Or maybe it was Noah as he counted and recorded all the clean and unclean animals for the ark. Whatever the case, inventory management has come a long way. And to get to the point where it is now, it must have undergone a lot of transitions.

Even before the industrial revolution, merchants had to write down the products they sold each day. Afterward, the same merchants had to reorder more products from their suppliers based on the information from their hand-written notes. One fact is true. This was an incredibly inefficient and inaccurate inventory management approach. Only that it was the only one available at the time.

For one, there was no way merchants could account for their stolen goods. Not unless they counted all their goods each day which was a time-consuming process. Aside from this, merchants also had a lot of trouble getting an accurate number of products whenever their orders came. This was largely as a result of the sparse record keeping processes. The only downside with this is that it was the best process at the time.

Whatever the case, if you could compare the old inventory management software and other tools with what we have today, you’d be surprised at how much it has transformed.

Hole-y breakthrough

In 1889, Herman Hollerith had a breakthrough where he invented the first punch card that machines could read. Herman’s invention worked to feed sheets with little holes to machines that could record complex data. By this time, this record keeping method was used for purposes such as a census. Also, it could be used to clock in and out of work as well. If anything, you could say that this was the precursor to computers that could read data in tiny microchips. To put things into more perspective, it is Hollerith’s company that also went ahead to form IBM, the world’s first computer company.

In the late 1930s, Harvard University also created their own version of the punch card system for businesses. With this, companies could now tell which of their inventory products were being ordered. Businesses could also use this new inventory management information to record their inventory and sales data using the punch cards to their customers. The only downside to Harvard’s inventory management system was that it cost a little too much. Plus, it was also too slow when it came to keeping up with the rising business challenges. But whatever the case, this was the best inventory management system of the time as well.

The best, bar none

By the 1960s, some retailers came together and invented a more sophisticated inventory tracking method; the modern barcode. During his time, several competing barcodes popped up before they were eventually standardized using the Universal Product Code in 1974. To date, this is still the most commonly used barcode in the USA.

However, as computers started becoming cheaper and more efficient, UPCs grew more in popularity. Such that by the mid-1990s, many companies had already begun experimenting on many different inventory management software. This is the time business, industrial, and even Medical Inventory Management Software came to being. Inventory management software could also record data in real-time as all products that passed in and out of the warehouse were scanned.

By the early 2000s, inventory management solutions became even more efficient. To the point that today, you find that even the small and midsized businesses are in a position to find affordable inventory management software for their preferences. Businesses and other corporations don’t have to face the dilemma of missing or stolen inventory. Gone are the days when organizations would also order for inventory that they already had in their storage too.

Inventory management software has taken hundreds of years to evolve to what we have today. And with what we have now, coupled with technological advancements, inventory management software have become more sophisticated but efficient and effective. All kinds of businesses can now enjoy using these inventory management tools to and software to make control their stock.

Final thoughts

The transformations that inventory management processes have undergone are just tremendous. There is a lot of history to inventory management than most people know. And today, thanks to the tremendous advancements in technology, inventory management software have become more efficient and effective.

Businesses are definitely working to take advantage of what inventory software offer. This is the only sure way you can make sure that your business doesn’t also become history. Ensure you do your research and shop for, and install the latest and best inventory management software in your business. This is the only sure way that you will ensure you maintain and stay competitive in the business world.