Managing inventory for a craft business isn't just about counting boxes; it's about tracking thousands of tiny variants. Marie from Living Felt faced a common challenge: a growing business with 4 warehouse locations, over 2,000 SKUs, and a need to move fast.
Below, Marie shares how they transitioned from manual tracking to a streamlined mobile system.
The Challenge: Complexity at Scale
Our business is both a retailer and manufacturer in a niche market of the craft space. We manufacture and purchase items in bulk, converting them into packs and kits for resale. We have 4 warehouse locations. Our primary method of sale is eCommerce, and we also have a physical store.
Marie, Living Felt
With a mix of bulk manufacturing and retail kits, Living Felt needed a system that could handle:
- Multi-location tracking: Moving stock between 4 warehouses.
- Production adjustments: Converting bulk stock into individual kits.
- Historical data: Seeing exactly when and why an item was adjusted.
The Solution: Scanning, Not Writing
Living Felt deployed Mobile Inventory and wireless barcode scanners to digitize their flow. The impact was immediate.
1. Receiving and Transfers
We use a handheld scanner to receive inventory, move inventory between locations, and adjust bulk stock for production. We appreciate historical entry details in the scanner that helps us see recent inventory adjustments to a particular SKU.
2. Data-Driven Picking
Instead of manual entry for every order, Living Felt uses a bulk import workflow.
Rather than requiring our staff to scan every item that is picked, we upload a spreadsheet representing all items shipped out each day... The spreadsheet is imported to the scanner, and the Entries function is used to record the adjustments.
Why Mobile Inventory?
For Living Felt, the decision came down to flexibility. They didn't want a rigid ERP that forced them to change their business model.
We knew we did not want a rigid inventory system that required specialized training. Instead, we wanted a system that could adapt to our needs... giving us complete control of our inventory database.
The Outcome
The biggest win? No more paper.
We love that we no longer need to write down cycle counts on paper, followed by tedious data entry. Now all receiving, deductions, and counts are entered into the scanner directly... I sincerely wish we had this in place when we had only 5 SKUs.
Conclusion
Living Felt proves that you don't need a six-figure software budget to master complex inventory. With the right mobile tools, you can manage thousands of SKUs, multiple locations, and manufacturing workflows—all from the palm of your hand.