Manufacturing inventory software for small businesses. A fast and easy way to set up a manufacturing inventory system. Set up a work order request, track products through production and monitor your inventories.
Track and manage your inventory, parts and suppliers. Make better decisions with an easy-to-use software solution from RS Software. A manufacturing inventory system for small business .
PartKeepr: Best for manufacturers
3.7
- Starting from $0.00/mo.
In-depth part tracking
Unlimited materials and products
Open-source software requiring coding knowledge
Data as of 11/12/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
PartKeepr is a free, open-source inventory software. That means other users can add functionality to the program as needed. The result? PartKeepr keeps getting better and adding more features over time—all while remaining completely free.
Currently, PartKeepr allows you to track inventory levels for both your finished goods and your components, and it doesn’t put a cap on the number of products or vendors you’re allowed to track in your system. So manufacturers that need to keep tabs on materials, components, and finished products have the flexibility to do it.
PartKeepr also offers multiple-warehouse management, and it allows you to group items from your production runs together in batches. That saves you time if you find a defect within a specific run of items.
The downsides: PartKeepr is a local software, meaning it lives on your computer instead of the cloud. That makes it difficult to use if you need multiple users in multiple locations to have access to your inventory numbers. PartKeepr also doesn’t offer any ecommerce integrations—though that shouldn’t be a huge deal for most manufacturers.
The final thing to remember is that PartKeepr is an open-source software. You can customize your inventory source system—and the software—so that it works best for your business, but you need coding experience for work. Although it’s free, it will require time (and possibly a paid developer on staff) to make it work.
Odoo: Best for growing companies
3.9
- Starting from $0.00/mo.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform
Project management, POS, and CRM features
Extra cost for additional features
Data as of 11/12/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
As the only enterprise resource planning (ERP) inventory software on our list, Odoo goes beyond simple inventory tracking and reorder point reminders.
Odoo includes tons of high-end functionality, including customer relationship management (CRM), point-of-sale, human resource, project management, and business management features. It even includes a customer portal where your clients can log in and view the status of their orders.
You can also manage multiple warehouses, complete material resource planning (MRP), and route products directly from your supplier to your customer for faster order fulfillment. And we love that Odoo lets you sell on multiple sales channels and integrate them all into your system.
That’s a lot of functionality packed into a single free platform—making it perfect for rapidly growing businesses that are anticipating a move to a full-blown ERP system.
The downsides: Oddly enough, Odoo offers virtually no integrations, even with major shipping and ecommerce providers. To get that, you’ll need to buy extra modules for your service—and the rates are steep. To make matters worse, businesses may outgrow the free version very quickly, at which point it may be more cost-efficient to consider a different ERP service.
Odoo 14 came out in October 2020 and is free to download for Windows. As long as you use a Community account and don’t subscribe to Enterprise—which includes more features but does have a monthly fee—then you can use Odoo for free.
ABC Inventory: Best Desktop Inventory Manager for Repair Shops & Manufacturing
Overall Score: 3.27 OUT OF 5
- Includes repairs, leasing, asset management
- Multiple languages, currencies
- Supports kitting
- Manufacturing functions like machine assembly orders, parts consumption, more
- PC only
- Forum support only
- Older interface
What’s Included for Free:
- Users: One
- Locations: Unlimited
- Items/products: Unlimited
- Transactions: 50 orders/month
- Paid Plans start at: $435 one-time fee
Although a locally installed system with an older interface, ABC Inventory by Almyta Systems offers a lot of features that make it an excellent choice for manufacturers or repair shops on a tight budget who have simple needs. It includes unlimited custom fields, 10 custom dropdown lists for extra properties, and up to 20 levels in its bill of materials.
It’s a more complex inventory system than Square, Zoho, or even our top-rated Odoo. Further, it offers dozens of functions specifically for manufacturing, like work orders, approvals, repair and maintenance orders, and special serials for manufacturing or engineering.
In our evaluation, ABC Inventory earned 3.27 out of 5. Though it earned points for being able to track unlimited products by location, the dated interface and slow speed make ABC Inventory hard to use. Plus, there’s no customer support available outside of a community forum and the software can only be installed on PCs and cannot connect to any other programs.
ABC Inventory Features
You can create custom invoices with your own logo. (Source: Almyta Systems)
One of the user views you will get with ABC Inventory. You can categorize your items, assign a unit ID, weight, price, and stock accordingly. (Source: Almyta Systems)
The free version contains all the same inventory features as the paid, but you cannot tie workstations together. (Source: Almyta Systems)
You can create custom invoices with your own logo. (Source: Almyta Systems)
One of the user views you will get with ABC Inventory. You can categorize your items, assign a unit ID, weight, price, and stock accordingly. (Source: Almyta Systems)
The free version contains all the same inventory features as the paid, but you cannot tie workstations together. (Source: Almyta Systems)
You can create custom invoices with your own logo. (Source: Almyta Systems)
- Unlimited companies, warehouses, locations, currencies, logos
- Multiple languages with translations (popup or in-field)
- Export data to Microsoft Excel, Word, HTML, and text
- Purchase orders
- Warehouse appointments, invoicing, shipping
- Positive/negative adjustments
- Barcode Scanning
- Inventory repairs
- Inventory leasing
- Forecasting
- Fast browse and advanced search
- Sales and shipping orders
- Work orders
- Tangible and intangible asset management
When to Upgrade
ABC’s free version comes with every tool, making it a great option for a small business with a single workplace. However, you need the paid version if you want to network the software across multiple workstations. You’ll also need to purchase one of its licenses if you want support of any kind. Purchased licenses also include free add-ons and lifetime updates.
Boxstorm: Best Inventory Manager for QuickBooks & Ecommerce Integration
Overall Score: 3.19 OUT OF 5
- Vendor management
- Multiple integrations, API
- Mobile app
- Tracks expiration dates
- Limited items and transactions
- No variants
What’s Included for Free:
- Users: One
- Locations: One
- Items/products: 25 Items
- Transactions: 100/month
- Paid Plans start at: $79/month
Created by Fishbowl Inventory, Boxstorm delivers a fully featured and user-friendly interface that integrates with ecommerce and QuickBooks. The limits on item numbers and transactions make it useful for smaller businesses, but if you grow beyond the free version, it offers an affordable paid plan. It also has a mobile app, though it’s not as highly rated as those from Zoho or Square. One standout feature, however, is the ability to track items by expiration date and by lot or serial—a great tool for items with a shelf life.
Boxstorm earned an overall score of 3.19 out of 5 on our inventory management ranking system. It earned solid scores for its inventory features—such as barcoding, cycle counting, and automated reordering—but its limits on transaction and inventory items prevented it from scoring higher. It doesn’t have as in-depth a CRM manager as Zoho, although it has stronger vendor management features than Square’s free version.
Boxstorm Features
Reports include item histories. (Source: Boxstorm)
Boxstorm’s Sales module lets you assign per-customer elements such as tax rates and discounts.
(Source: Fishbowlinventory.com)
It’s easy to access the inventory information from the list of items in the Items module. (Source: Boxstorm)
You can set tracking for existing inventory. (Source: Boxstorm)
Reports include item histories. (Source: Boxstorm)
Boxstorm’s Sales module lets you assign per-customer elements such as tax rates and discounts.
(Source: Fishbowlinventory.com)
It’s easy to access the inventory information from the list of items in the Items module. (Source: Boxstorm)
You can set tracking for existing inventory. (Source: Boxstorm)
Reports include item histories. (Source: Boxstorm)
- Barcoding, including with mobile app
- Up to five photos per item
- Scan items and apply action to an entire list (ex: location change)
- Sales and purchase orders
- Set min/max stock levels; email and text stock alerts
- Cycle counting
- Returns processing
- Track items by lot, expiry, or serial (up to five rules)
- Automated reorder for low-inventory
- Works for service orders as well as sales
- Native integrations with QuickBooks Online, Shopify, BigCommerce, Stripe, and Shippo
- API available for custom integrations
- Mobile app: 3.4 out of 5 on Android; 3.2 out of 5 on iOS
When to Upgrade
Boxstorm’s free plan contains all the features of the paid plan, so you only need to upgrade when you need to handle more transactions or items. The paid option offers unlimited locations, items, and transactions for $79 per month for one user. If you need more users, you can add them for $9 per month.
Cin7: Best ERP solution
4.4
Starting from $299.00/mo.
- Enterprise solutions at midsized costs
- One-stop shop for all your business needs
Data as of 11/12/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Most enterprise resource planning (or ERP) platforms feature modules for every aspect of your business (like accounting, point of sale, inventory, and shipping)—and they charge you for each module you add to your plan. Those costs add up, making ERP systems outlandishly expensive for all but the largest companies.
Cin7 breaks the mold by offering built-in modules that come standard with your plan. In addition to a fully integrated POS system, Cin7 comes fully loaded with B2B ecommerce features, manufacturing features, and even a payment portal. And that’s all in addition to the barcode scanning, inventory tracking, and order fulfillment features you’d expect from your inventory solution.
Cin7 also offers advanced demand forecasting and multichannel support, including cross-channel syncing every five minutes. This ensures you have a dynamic inventory system that stays up to date, helping you achieve proper inventory management with minimal effort.
The downside? While Cin7 isn’t as expensive as most ERP solutions, it is among the more expensive platforms on our list (starting at $299.00 per month).
Conclusion
If you’re using Excel to track your parts inventory and production, why not get rid of that spreadsheet headache, so as to be more profitable? The Inventory is here to help small business owners just like you do that all without breaking the bank. Manage your plant floor inventory like a pro, with barcode scanning and full accounting integration. Our manufacturing software helps bring small businesses together with their local suppliers and vendors. Get a customized quote today!