University seeks inventory control software

We are looking for software for our university in southern Germany that will help us issue office supplies.

Service description of the materials management software:

At our company, office supplies are issued via materials management. This stores various items, which are financed by the materials management cost center until they are issued.

When required, the university's users fill out an office supplies request form and send it to the materials management department by email or internal mail. The relevant cost center is also noted on the form. Each user has been assigned their own cost center to finance their costs or, in the case of third-party funding or research projects, their own accounting section through which they settle their costs. Using the form, materials management staff put together a package containing the required items. The user is then informed by email that their items are ready for collection. To relieve the materials management cost center and charge the user cost centers, the budget receives a list once a month with the individual cost centers and the cumulative total amounts for settlement (the material management cost center is credited and the cost center of the requester is debited). Warehouse inventory, item ordering, and item issuance (collectively, the entire merchandise management system) were previously handled using an MS Access database. However, due to various circumstances, this is no longer functional and no longer corresponds to a modern workflow.

We are looking for software that maps a merchandise management system and can be adapted to the needs of materials management. Programming a system that can be tailored precisely to our needs is also an option.

Additional functions such as quotation creation, delivery notes, and invoices should be removed or modified to meet specific requirements.

The software should be able to manage current stock levels, office supplies issuance, and office supplies ordering, as well as generate monthly statements based on cost centers or accounting periods.

Three employees work in materials management and will be using the software simultaneously. MS Windows 10 is the operating system.

It is important that the software is easy to understand and intuitive to use, and that it is simple to administer. Support should also be available in case of problems.

Until now, items have been checked off manually on the form after they have been packed. In the future, it is desired to simplify the workflows by using barcode scanners. The software should be able to work with these and print barcode labels.

The future workflow to be covered by the software:

• The user fills out an office supply request form and sends it to materials management – an “online shop” where the request can be filled out online and then sent digitally would also be conceivable.
• After receiving the request, the employee goes from shelf to shelf with the barcode scanner and packs the required items.
• Once the package has been completed, the user is automatically informed of the pickup by email – it should also be possible to make changes to the email text
• A pickup receipt is printed out – this is signed by the user upon pickup – and serves as proof of pickup (possibly also digitally with tablets or similar devices)
• By scanning the individual items, the warehouse stock is automatically reduced, the current warehouse stock is displayed (e.g., traffic light system: green = OK, yellow = minimum stock reached, red = minimum stock not reached), and the issued items are automatically posted to the appropriate cost centers.
• When materials are returned, they are posted and the warehouse stock is increased, and the cost center is credited.
• Evaluation of actual, minimum, and target stock levels and creation of a suggested order list - possibly including suggestions as to which suppliers are most suitable for which items
• Recording of goods received using barcode scanners and comparison of delivery notes with the quantity of the respective items ordered. Automatic increase of stock levels. Notification of missing or undelivered items or resubmission for subsequent delivery
• Creation of a monthly statement to relieve the material management cost center. List for the budget with the cost centers to be charged and the corresponding total amounts, as well as creation of form letters for the individual posting sections with the total amounts or creation of individual invoices based on the posting sections. However, cost centers require a complete list
• Evaluation options such as inventory, order proposal list, suppliers, orders by item, orders by supplier, which items are popular, which items have been on the shelf for a long time (ABC ranking, “slow-moving item determination”), inventory list
• The data must remain in-house or on our own servers

Approximately four software workstations are required.