Does anybody know of any restaurant inventory applications that are available for smartphones? I have an android phone was searching for some type of app like this but couldn’t find one. I think an app like this would be great if it had the right features. I know there’s inventory software for computers but it would be really convenient to have it on my phone. There probably is already a few out there, but I’m probably not putting in the right search terms.
Hi Roger,
I have never seen anything like this but is an awesome idea. If someone could integrate an inventory feature along with the barcode scanner on your phone that you simply scan the upc on each item and then enter the qty on hand that would be awesome. Even more amazing would be if you could integrate a scale into the system and weigh items that would go directly into the phone. We used the software from a company called VIP for our bar where we scanned and weighed our liquor bottles every week. There was of course some work on the front end calibrating each bottle but after it was setup it was amazing. We then compared our actual inventory numbers to our theoretical sales from our POS system. The result was amazing and we were able to isolate where our waste was coming from. We attempted to implement this same system for our food, but our efforts were thwarted by the nonexistent internet connection we had in our kitchen.
Regards,
Josh
VP Sales Mail Shark
www.themailshark.com
josh@themailshark.com
I’ve seen inventory apps for the iPhone, and as a user of an iPad it might seem like a good idea…
but for life of me, I don’t see it as a practical option…
As a Marine Corps Auditor, it wouldn’t pass muster, as most folks do a poor inventory method, from what I’ve seen in 25+ years…
Its simple, for me at least, to export my inventory/item list from QuickBooks to an Excel spreadsheet…
My thought is that right now I use a printed inventory sheet. It consists of fields for: date, item name, supplier, description (case,can,bundle,weight,amount,size,etc.), starting inventory, ending inventory, par level, and amount to be ordered. I walk around with this sheet on a clipboard a do a physical inventory. Next, I take another sheet of paper and write out my order to be called in the next morning. My manager at my other shop does the same thing, calls me and I write that order list down as well. On delivery day, I then copy all of the invoice info and enter it into a spreadsheet. I believe an app on my phone that links up to a website could streamline this process.
For one, I would love to eliminate the paper. I would love to be able to walk around taking inventory with my phone in the palm of my hand. My ideal situation would be for the app to allow me to have my par levels and the above info entered. I would then be able to just enter the date, enter the inventory amounts and then click a button to generate my order based on my par levels. I would then hit another button to sync it to a server where I could view, print, edit, etc. I would have my manager at my other shop do my manager do the same process and at some point bring up both orders, review, and print them out or just read them to my supplier. This would be my ideal situation for an inventory app. It might not be how others would want to do their inventory. I would also want to be able to view different reports (order history, pricing history,etc.) with the app.
Hi,
Hope this isn’t too late, but I was looking at allbarcodesystems barcode software and I think they’d be a good place to contact. They have a few products that integrate with smart phones, so they may have, or know where to get, what you are looking for.
Good Luck…
I have not used it myself because I am stuck on using my excel spreadsheet for counting my inventory, but food supplier GFS has this. If you use their inventory manager, you can log into their mobile site and enter your counts for your different storage areas.