Inventory Management Systems are useful for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries. It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a job order, bill of materials and other production-related documents.

Companies use inventory management software to avoid product overstock and outages. It is a tool for organizing inventory data that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in spreadsheets. It is often associated with and is similar to distribution software, as distributors that can compete with less cash tied up in inventories have a distinct advantage over their competitors.