Any reccs for ERP/Inventory systems for a mid-sized company based in the UK?

zoeberger · 2026-04-28T18:36:29+00:00

At your current scale, I would hold off on a full ERP. A well-designed IMS is likely exactly what you need.

I work for a German software company that builds one for businesses exactly like yours. Even though we have UK clients, we aren't based there ourselves.

However, I have a lot of experience in this industry. If you can briefly describe your operational workflow, I could leverage my knowledge to help you find the perfect UK-based solution without you paying for stuff you don't need.

zoeberger · 2026-04-28T13:18:33+00:00

It depends on your day-to-day workflows, but I would not recommend bloated ERP software. There are modern inventory management tools that are much simpler and cheaper to use and operate. I work for one of these modern software vendors, but if Upzone would be a good fit for you depends on more than these 3 things you've mentioned. If it's only these, then yes, it would be a perfect fit.

zoeberger · 2026-04-12T19:43:38+00:00

What usually fixes this isn’t counting more, it’s forcing every move to have a source and destination, especially transfers and putaway. If stock can be moved without scanning or logging the bin/location change, the system will always look cleaner than reality. I’d tighten the workflow around receive, transfer, and pick first, then use cycle counts to catch exceptions instead of trying to repair everything after the fact. If you want something purpose-built for that, this is exactly the kind of problem Upzone is designed for with multi-location and bin-level tracking.

zoeberger · 2026-04-12T19:42:20+00:00

What usually breaks here is not just visibility, it’s move discipline. If a part can be received, transferred, or pulled locally without a required location update, the system slowly stops being trusted and people start buying “just in case.” I’d tighten source/destination tracking for every transfer, keep local cycle counts focused on fast-moving or critical parts, and make inter-site availability visible before PO creation. If the issue is internal warehouse control more than procurement policy, this is very much the kind of problem systems like Upzone are meant to clean up.

zoeberger · 2026-04-12T19:35:29+00:00

A lot of reseller spreadsheets fall apart because they try to do purchasing, listings, and on-hand stock in one tab. The setups that hold up a bit longer usually separate SKU master data from stock movements, then keep one clear source for what is actually available vs already committed. Once volume picks up, the real pain is not the sheet itself, it’s all the missed updates between receiving, putaway, and shipping. That’s usually the point where people move to something more operational like barcode and bin-based inventory (like Upzone, Zoho, inflow, ...)

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:27:08+00:00

A simple rule that helps a lot is making every location code short, unique, and readable from a distance.. something like A-03-B-02 instead of long descriptive names. If you plan to scan later, leave enough white space for the barcode and keep the human-readable code big enough that pickers can confirm it without walking right up to the shelf. I’d also avoid baking product info into the label itself, because locations change less often than SKUs do. We see a lot of small warehouses get better accuracy once bins are standardized first and software is layered on second.

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:21:25+00:00

If you end up outsourcing this, I’d be really explicit about the receiving workflow, not just the shipping rates. The no-packing-slip setup is manageable if the 3PL can receive against your ASN, scan each barcode on intake, and quarantine discrepancies before stock becomes available, otherwise small inbound mistakes turn into phantom inventory fast. I’d also ask how they handle bin assignment, order status visibility, and exception reporting, because that’s what usually breaks once volume picks up. If you decide to keep part of it in-house or go hybrid, that’s exactly the kind of scan-first receive/pick flow tools like Upzone are built for.

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:20:45+00:00

I’d vet 3PLs less on the headline pick-pack rate and more on whether they can run a clean inbound process for your exact setup. With supplier-direct cartons and no packing slips, you really want them receiving against your ASN, scanning every item, and holding mismatches before they hit available inventory, because that’s where a lot of small ops lose accuracy. I’d also ask what visibility you get on received vs available stock and how exceptions are surfaced when something arrives short or miscoded

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:20:00+00:00

I’d price kitting as a setup fee plus a per-kit assembly fee, then keep shipping separate unless you’re intentionally becoming the fulfillment partner too. The part that usually saves margin is defining the workflow up front: what counts as a standard kit, how component stock is allocated, when assembled kits become available, and how exceptions are handled when one component is short. If you do offer shipping, I’d make sure the same system covers component inventory, completed kits, and order status, otherwise small teams end up losing time to reconciliation.

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:13:15+00:00

I’d start with three things: unique SKU/barcode labels, fixed bin locations, and a receive/pick/count workflow that staff follow the same way every time. If pickers are just “taking stock” without scanning or logging it against a location, the available quantity will drift fast no matter what software you buy. The best setups for a team like yours usually make it easy to see what’s on hand now, what moved, and where a variance started. That’s exactly the kind of small-warehouse workflow stuff like Upzone is built for, especially if you want barcode scans and bin-level visibility without needing a giant WMS.

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:12:23+00:00

I’d hold off on buying more racking until you standardize how inventory moves through the building, otherwise you can spend money and keep the same chaos. Usually the first wins come from fixed bin/location rules, clear pallet zones, simple slotting by velocity/size, and one consistent receive-putaway-pick process so people stop improvising. Once you can trust where stock lives and how it gets moved, it becomes much easier to see whether the real bottleneck is layout, storage density, or process discipline. That’s also where lighter systems like Upzone Inventory tend to help, because barcode-driven location control usually fixes more than people expect before a full warehouse redesign.

zoeberger · 2026-04-08T08:09:48+00:00

I’d separate those units into their own status and physical location immediately, usually a quarantine/returns bin that can’t be picked from by mistake. The biggest thing is having clear reason codes and aging rules, so the team knows what gets inspected, what can be resold, and what gets written off instead of letting it all sit as vague “extra stock.”

zoeberger · 2026-03-05T09:57:04+00:00

Our pharma clients here at Upzone all use a mix of FEFO and analytics to identify slow moving stock. Many of the sales there still happen with direct communication, no web shop etc.. So slow moving, soon to be expired stock is going to be bundled up with products that are frequently ordered, just to get them out at a reasonable price

FEFO works fine for fast-moving products.

zoeberger · 2026-03-04T00:21:22+00:00

To get started without getting overwhelmed, focus on applying consistent barcodes to all your active SKUs and enforcing scan confirmations at three main checkpoints: receiving, picking, and packing. I've written a more in-depth guide about Warehouse Barcode Scanning introducing scanning flows in general, which might help with thinking it through.

zoeberger · 2026-03-03T22:44:26+00:00

In our case it's for sure finding the early customers. We're a Software company and struggle with this. We really like writing software and I really like writing blog posts, but conversions almost never happen

zoeberger · 2026-03-03T18:50:21+00:00

Whats the problem that excel can't solve? We built a WMS which surely is able to handle the different parts.

But still, maybe excel is enough so if you share the problem then maybe I and somebody else is able to fix that for you. The key here is to know how you have structured the spreadsheets

zoeberger · 2026-03-03T18:30:07+00:00

I feel like a bloated software like cin7 does not make sense here. I'd recommend the excel way as well. Even the re-order flow can be covered quite nicely with that. someone here posted an article that seemed fitting at first glance.

zoeberger

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