Perfect Phitch
One-of-a-kind software takes the guesswork out of inventory management and reduces company costs in the process.
Inventor John Krech displays a multi-function CNC machine at Permac Industries.
For many manufacturers, inventory management is an ongoing challenge. It’s difficult to know when to place an order and how much you should order at a given time. Despite the challenges, many companies view investing in inventory management technology as an unnecessary expense. Inventor John Krech disagrees.
Krech is the inventor of Phitch OC 9.0, a new software suite sold through his company, ePhiphony Incorporated. Phitch is the first and only software to optimize inventory management. According to Krech, the product makes managing inventory—and increasing available capital—as simple as clicking a button.
Derived from the economic order quantity (EOQ), an accounting formula developed in 1913, Phitch uses an economic profit investment metric to determine when, what and how much of a specific material to order—thereby increasing a company’s available cash.
“Phitch is really about defining the rhythm of an organization,” Krech says. “An organization’s inventories go up and down depending upon orders and sales. Phitch determines that rhythm. Almost 30 percent of businesses order monthly, just because it’s easy to do. Phitch determines that right point to order from a financial perspective, and it does it automatically.”
To ensure users maintain the optimum amount of inventory, Phitch’s color-coded inventory alerts denote which items are in surplus, in good quantity or in need of reordering. It also specifies reorder quantities for each item. Because Phitch is compatible with QuickBooks accounting software and certified as a QuickBooks Silver Developer, users can request needed inventory on Phitch, which generates an order through QuickBooks automatically.
A first-year license costs $1,597, and there is a $377 renewal fee for each following year. “It easily pays for itself in the first year,” Krech says. “In these economic times, it’s the innovative people who will [survive the downturn] … so there’s no reason not to try it.” A pool cover manufacturer saved $46,000 by using the program, while a lighting fixture distributor saved $110,000 that had been unnecessarily tied up in inventory.
Phitch stays true to its “reveal your hidden wealth” mantra by freeing up some serious cash. In addition, companies know when—and exactly how much—to order.
- ANDREA LAHOUZE