Examples of inventory management systems

The key facts

• Type 1, perpetual: every movement recorded as it happens — the foundation the other types build on.
• Type 2, periodic: count-and-adjust on a schedule — simple, and always a snapshot behind reality.
• Type 3, barcode-driven; 4, batch-controlled: speed and identity, respectively — accuracy at volume and traceability where it matters.
• Type 5, warehouse-scale (WMS); 6, JIT: location-level orchestration and demand-timed replenishment — where BSimple carries the first four types on one record.

Types 1 and 2 — perpetual and periodic

The perpetual system records every movement as it happens: a sale deducts, a receipt adds, an adjustment trails its evidence. The record is current enough to act on — which makes every other control possible. The periodic system is the count-and-adjust approach: quantities updated on a schedule, from weekly to annual. It is simpler and always wrong between counts — acceptable for low-value stock, ruinous for anything customers are promised against. The two are the first fork in every evaluation: perpetual tracking is what makes the rest of this list meaningful, because a system that only knows last month's position cannot protect today's sale.

Types 3 to 6 — barcode, batch, warehouse, just-in-time

Barcode-driven systems attach scanning to the perpetual record: receive, pick and count by scan — speed and accuracy at volume, and the reason typing errors stop being a cost. Batch-controlled systems add identity: lots and expiry dates on every receipt, traceability in both directions, use-by discipline on production — the non-negotiable layer for food, beverage, pharma and certified goods. Warehouse management systems (WMS) orchestrate space and labour: bin-level locations, pick waves, directed put-away — powerful at scale, and usually more system than a growing business needs before it has locations worth orchestrating. Just-in-time is a replenishment philosophy rather than a product: stock arrives demand-timed, and it works only on top of a record trustworthy enough to time it against.

We build BSimple, so weigh that: it carries the first four types on one record — perpetual by design, barcode input via any standard scanner, batch and expiry control with traceability search, and multi-location warehouse functionality — while JIT becomes the reorder-automation layer working against real demand. From $180/month AUD, everything in the core plans. Tracking system examples by industry, control-system examples by rule and the system types in context cover the neighbouring views; the inventory management pillar holds the map, and the trial runs your products through every type at once.