Managing the procurement lifecycle is an important part of any manufacturing business. Many purchase management software are designed for different industries, making it hard to choose your ideal system. Finding the right purchase management solution for Indian SMEs becomes difficult as you need to go through each website link and review the vendor.
In this blog post, we have provided the list of the top 5 purchase order software to make it easier to evaluate these solutions based on your business's requirements.
Let’s learn the features and benefits of the best 5 purchase management software for small-to-medium-sized manufacturing businesses and find the best one for you.
What Is Purchase Management Software?
Purchase management software is an important tool for manufacturing companies to streamline procurement. It offers several benefits, like managing purchase requisition creation, supplier management, inventory management, bill creation, and many more.
The purchase management system allows you to perform a variety of functions, like inventory tracking in real-time and planning your procurement process. Implementing this software in your manufacturing process can help meet current and future business needs.
Key Features To Look For In Purchase Management Software
An effective purchasing and inventory management software offers a solution to optimize your supply chain process and reduce cost. Here are some must-have features to get real-time visibility. It will also allow you to make informed decisions when purchasing goods.
1. Purchase Requisition
Your purchase management software should offer the functionality to electronically create purchase requisitions. Choose the software that has a user-friendly dashboard so that you can create, edit, and manage your purchase order effectively.
This digital transformation can streamline your purchase order management and make sure the timely procurement of raw materials for your manufacturing needs.
2. Inventory Management
Inventory tracking and management are important for maintaining the stock level and avoiding overstocking and stockouts. Your purchasing management system must contain features like a barcode scanning system, stock alerts, and batch tracking to effectively manage your inventory.
It should support multi-warehouse management and provide all information about inventory quantities if your business operates in different locations.
3. Automation And Workflow
Modern purchasing and inventory software should help you automate repetitive tasks such as generating purchase orders, sending notifications to the suppliers, making documentation and approval easy, and updating inventory levels. It should automate workflow and streamline business operations to reduce manual errors with improved efficiency.
4. Budget and Approvals
Tracking and managing the available budget is an important aspect of procurement management. It is recommended that you choose purchase management software that has rule-based budget control and automates spending monitoring. It must allow the creation and easy approval of the purchase requisition and other documents to improve the purchasing process.
5. Supplier Management
Supplier management is an important function of every purchasing management. The purchasing system software should contain tools that allow you to monitor the suppliers across multiple departments and categorize them in the procurement life-cycle. It must have modules to maintain documentation with vendor information, purchase catalog, order history, payment details, and many more.
6. Integration Capabilities
The purchase and inventory management software should integrate with other ERP software and applications that are being used in your organization. The integration of accounting software helps to remove manual data entry and reduces errors. The centralized dashboard of automated purchasing management tools helps you track and maintain accurate information across different systems.
7. Reporting And Analytics
Look for a purchase management solution that provides a centralized dashboard with real-time reporting and analytics. The software should offer the customizable option to access valuable data in your purchasing activities. It will help you analyze sales trends, track supplier performance, and monitor inventory turnover ratio. Accurate reporting helps to identify cost-saving opportunities and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to help with data-driven decision-making.
8. Customization And Scalability
While choosing your purchasing and inventory systems, consider the scalability of your business based on the growth and changing needs. Choose the software that can handle increasing transaction volume, adapt to evolving inventory management requirements, and support multiple users. Choose a software that offers customizable options for unique procurement processes and is easy for your team to learn.
9. Security And Data Protection
The purchase management process contains sensitive business information that is needed to safeguard from data breaches. Your purchase management software must offer security measures such as encryption, user access control, and regular data backups to prioritize data protection. Make sure to choose software that meets all the data protection rules of the manufacturing industry.
10. Cloud-Based Integration
You must look for cloud-based integration when choosing your purchase management solution. It should offer a centralized database that allows you to access your purchase status and inventory tracking anytime and from anywhere you want. The cloud purchase solutions are scalable, cost-effective, and require fewer updates and installation infrastructure.
Top 5 Purchase Management Software
Choosing the right purchase management system for your business can be difficult as they vary depending on functionality. Here are the top 5 picks of purchase management software free that can help you easily maintain all your purchasing activities.
1. TallyPrime
Tally Prime is a business management and ERP software that is designed to manage mostly accounting processes. It is used by business owners, accountants, and teams in small to mid-sized businesses. TallyPrime’s sales module helps track purchase order, maintain records, and generate BOM (Bill of Materials) and invoices and other features.
- BOM Creation: The BOM creation allows manufacturers to define the raw materials, assembly parts, and components with the quantity of each inventory.
- Supplier and Consignee Details: It helps manage and maintain the different suppliers and consignee details, including its company name and address, and tracks supply status.
- Re-Order Level: The re-order level feature offers real-time inventory level tracking. This makes sure you never run out of stock.
- Multiple Stock Valuation: The flexible stock valuation method allows you to identify your closing stock based on your inventory requirement and make the decision for a purchase order.
2. TranZact
TranZact is a one-stop cloud-based solution for our purchase management needs. This inventory software is easy to use and specially designed for Indian manufacturers and SMEs. It helps to streamline the purchase order process and maintain sufficient inventory. Its automated inventory system helps to maintain purchase status, create QIR (Quality Inspection Report), and create purchase requisitions.
The TranZact purchase management software offers the following features to streamline your purchasing and inventory tracking.
- Purchase Planning: TranZact offers easy creation of MRP (Material Requirement Planning) reports with accurate measurement that improves lead conversion.
- Request For Quotation: To send enquiries to multiple suppliers, compare quotations or source new suppliers.
- Purchase Requisition: You can create and track purchase requisitions by monitoring status such as pending, completed, and canceled reports to maintain the stock level.
- Automated status on Purchase Transactions and Sales Transactions.
- Inward and QIR: You can maintain the inward and QIR documents by automating the data entry of purchase description, quality inspection, delivery time, and balance status.
- Transaction Timeline: It allows you to manage the entire transaction of your purchase order by tracking proforma, invoices, and other necessary documents.
- Activity timeline: To view amendments, previous Sales Quotations, comments, etc.
- Complete Repository: A database of all documents generated; Purchase order, Service order, Order confirmation, Service confirmation, Sales invoice, Purchase invoice.
- Team Collaboration: Instant chat support, enquiry to dispatch, and real-time reports help you collaborate with your suppliers and internal team in your manufacturing business at one place.
3. Oracle NetSuite ERP
Oracle NetSuite is a cloud-based ERP software that has AI-powered modules to improve your business capabilities. It helps to automate business operations by facilitating the sourcing of supplies and improving supplier relationship management. Oracle streamlines the buying and spending process by automating the process-to-pay and lowering the cost of procurement with some amazing features.
- Automate Process-To-Pay: It allows the creation of purchase orders automatically and streamlines routine tasks to increase productivity.
- Regulatory Compliance: The software automatically implements negotiated terms and approval policies in your purchase requisition.
- Modern Procurement: The great purchasing software examples is modernizing the procurement life cycle offered by NetSuite. It provides valuable insights into required materials and alerts for purchasing.
4. Odoo
You can keep an eye on your purchase management process with Odoo and automate your RFQ (Request For Quotation) and purchase order. The software allows you to create custom rules in your procurement software. It helps you secure the best price while comparing the product lines of different suppliers and streamlining your orders with the features mentioned below.
- Manage Orders: The software allows the monitoring of RFQs, manages purchased items, and automates the ordering process.
- Automate Invoicing: Businesses can easily create drafts of invoices, control future orders, and handle internal moves efficiently.
- Analyze And Forecasting: The centralized dashboard of Oddo with advanced reporting features and inventory forecasting helps you make on-time decisions for purchase orders.
5. SAP SRM
The SAP SRM is a supplier relationship management software that helps businesses manage their purchase orders. It helps automate all purchasing processes while ensuring transactions and compliance with purchasing policies and contracts. SAP SRM offers powerful tools for supplier management with the following features.
- Streamlined Procurement Cycle: It allows you to track your suppliers in real time and evaluate your purchasing orders.
- Easy Payment: It supports multiple payment options and currencies to provide an easy payment method.
- Coordination With Suppliers: SAP offers a centralized system where you can effectively collaborate with your suppliers and streamline your procurement process.
Benefits Of Using Purchase Management Software
Purchase management is the process of monitoring and managing purchase materials while reducing costs. Implementing the purchase management system in your organization offers many benefits, as mentioned below.
- Purchasing software for small businesses automates all of the purchase related activities.
- It helps small manufacturing companies manage their inventory while making sure of the right amount of stock in hand.
- The purchase management software offers easy integration capabilities with major ERP software.
- The purchase order system helps you streamline the procurement life cycle and scales to meet the changing needs.
- Businesses can track and manage their suppliers to build good relationships.
- The software provides accurate reporting and analytics with improved risk management.
How To Choose The Right Purchase Management Software For Small Business?
Small manufacturing businesses usually have limited budgets, which makes it difficult to select the right purchase management system. Here are some tips for choosing the right purchase management solution that matches your manufacturing needs and is within your budget.
- Define your purchasing needs.
- Look for customizable solutions.
- Consider a user-friendly interface.
- Look for integration capabilities.
- Check the approval flow.
- Check access to real-time data.
- Have mobile accessibility.
- Consider supplier management.
- Consider your budget.
Streamline Your Purchase Management With TranZact
Purchase management software is a great tool to improve your inventory management and optimize the procurement life cycle. TranZact purchase management software offers customizable solutions to small businesses based on their manufacturing needs.
It also contains predefined templates for purchase requisition, invoice creation, BOM, and other documentation. Choose TranZact now to simplify your purchase management and build supplier relationships.
FAQs
1. Can purchase management software help with inventory management?
Yes. Purchase management systems can help you with inventory management to track and maintain real-time inventory levels along with forecasting tools.
2. Which purchase management software is best for small businesses?
TranZact is the best purchase management software for small businesses running in India. It provides easy tools for purchase planning, purchase requisition, and monitoring transaction timelines.
3. What key features should I look for in purchase management software?
Key features you should look for in your purchase management software are:
- Purchase Requisition
- Inventory Management
- Budget Management
- Supplier Management
- Reporting and Analytics
- Automation and Workflow
- Customization and Scalability
- Security and Data Protection
4. How does purchase management software integrate with existing systems?
There are several methods to integrate purchase management software with the existing system:
- API Integration
- EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
- Database Integration
- Plug-Ins and Connectors
- Webhooks
- Custom Integration
5. What are the key differences between purchase management tools and purchasing management systems?
The difference between purchase management tools and purchasing management systems is that tools target specific purchasing tasks, whereas purchasing management systems handle the entire procurement lifecycle.
6. How can businesses benefit from using purchase management software?
Businesses can benefit from using purchase management software in the following ways:
- Manage the inventory level.
- Scale with the changing business needs.
- Building supplier relationships.
- Get accurate reporting.
- Access analytical data.
- Integration with existing ERP.
- Automates complete procurement process.
