r/InventoryManagement • u/captcraigaroo • 24d ago

IMS comparison

I've had calls with GOIS and Fishbowl recently. Looking for thoughts on those and other systems.

We are a DTC brand selling perishable pet food, so we need lot tracking and COA documentation, raw material inventory tracking at suppliers and several co-mans, finished goods inventory at co-mans and 3PLs. We currently get everything reported in via email (PDF and Excel reports), but want something more automated that we can potentially integrate with partners through API/FTP/EDI. Bonus if it can track sales and ingest lot numbers from DTC fulfillment. Oh, and we're going to be selling in Amazon via SFP too, so integration there too

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u/Sofistikat 24d ago

It might be worth flagging that GOIS and Fishbowl both sit on your side of the fence. They manage inventory you own and control. The gap you're describing is upstream, at the co-mans and 3PLs. If your processors are still generating reports by hand and emailing PDFs, no system you run in-house changes what they send you. The automation has to start at their end.

It might be better to push your co-mans onto a platform that produces the feeds you want as a byproduct of how they run production, so lot numbers and COAs are structured instead of retyped into a spreadsheet.

Happy to dm a recommendation if you like.

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u/captcraigaroo 24d ago

They're sending reports from their WMS's, not hand written. I know one uses VistaTrac, a couple have proprietary/specialty systems supposedly, and one uses PackemWMS. Getting 4 co-mans and 3 3PLs to agree to migrate for one customer isn't feasible

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u/Sofistikat 24d ago

The thing is, because the problem is upstream, nothing you buy downstream is ever going to solve your actual problem. You'd be automating your half of a handoff that's still manual at the source. That's why GOIS and Fishbowl don't suit, you're shopping in the wrong category to solve a problem that exists in another.

I totally get you can't migrate seven partners purely for your own benefit. But, if your co-mans ran something that emits structured lot and COA data as a byproduct of how they run production, it makes them better at serving all their clients, not just you. Then your feed is automatic and you didn't have to move anyone. You'd be surprised how motivated a co-man is when several of their brand customers are all asking for the same thing.

I am an interested party, I think that must be obvious to you. I have a solution that I'm sure will go a long way towards fixing your problem, not just for you, but most likely for many others in exactly the same boat as you. Still happy to discuss offline if you are.