DEAR Systems

Commentaires: As a consultant implementing DEAR Inventory for a wide range of SMEs, we have solved an innumerable amount of problems along the way. From Batch tracking, to serial number tracking, integrations with online stores, accounting, shipping, reporting and forecasting, etc, it is all there. The team at DEAR are generally very quick to respond and offer assistance, and the users are given the power to request and vote on new features to be implemented. The subscription pricing is also at a point where it represents huge value for money.

Avantages: As a cloud integration consultant working with SMEs in Adelaide and interstate to solve inventory management issues by implementing the right software, DEAR has proven again and again to be the leading choice for these businesses and is now our recommended choice as an implementation specialist. DEAR has the functionality to provide a central solution to any SME looking to sell online or instore across a number of channels, and manage all the inventory in one place.The integration with Xero is top notch and the most robust I've seen of almost any app that connects to Xero. The integrations to eCommerce channels are consistent in their setup and options and allow a great deal of flexibility. Complementing these integrations are shipping service integrations that allow for a full suite of inter-connected apps with DEAR as the hub.

Inconvénients: If I had a gripe, it would be around some minor inconsistencies within the UI across various parts of the software, as well as some minor inconsistencies with various reports that are available.

Avantages: The software can be used "out-of-the-box" after a minimal amount of setup, and can also be used in more complex installations where bespoke software development might be needed. The simplicity of the initial setup, the simplicity of the menu navigation, and the speed with which new users are able to grasp what they need to do to accomplish their tasks caused me to take a closer look at this software and I'm glad I took the time to do so. The multiple warehouse locations field, along with the multiple bin locations field, both available in DEAR but not available in some other offerings, is a basic requirement of a stock management system as far as I am concerned. Whilst the software might appear complex for first-time users, those with experience of stock systems and business processes should find it a breeze to set up and use for the purpose intended, especially if they are familiar with setting up other software. It's an advantage, but not a requirement, if the person(s) setting it up also have an understanding of business accounts and are able to find their way around creating/editing MS Word mail-merge templates. I am impressed that I have been able to use the software to accomplish pretty much every task that my clients' have asked of it so far. The ease of integration with other cloud-based applications puts another tick in the box for me.

Inconvénients: This is a comment and not a complaint; although the reporting functionality in the 'out-of-the-box' version is adequate there is room for improvement. The limitations can be overcome by exporting the files and adapting them as needed. Those with a more specific software development skill- set (or more time to learn) would be able to achieve a great deal more from the software than is possible using the 'out-of-the-box' version.

Commentaires: Our overall experience is positive. It was a little bit of a learning curve, but now that we have it down, I couldn't imagine going back. It helps us stay organized and helps us become more efficient and detailed with our operations.

Avantages: We transferred from Quickbooks to Dear Systems and it has been a great improvement. Our ability to manage inventory is far greater than before with QB. It's simple/easy to use, but also robust and has some very helpful features. We're in the wholesale industry. On the sales side - we love the pick, pack, and ship functions. This allows us to easily provide another level of detail for our customers that we couldn't before. We can enter what we packed on what pallet and then easily print pallet break downs and detailed packing lists. I also like the way you can mass pick, or mass print sales orders. The advance sale option is nice, so you can track back order shipments right on the same screen as the original order.
On the purchase order side, the advance receiving functions let you receive inventory against one PO more than once which is helpful.
We also just started keeping some inventory in another warehouse, so the ability to keep track of that through dear is nice. Also the B2B portal has been a nice addition to our company as well.

Inconvénients: I think the reporting tab is pretty clunky, that might be what I like least about Dear. They're on the right track, and some of those reports are very helpful. It's just that I have to export them to excel and modify them quite a bit for them to be what I want them to be.
Also I think the "credit purchase order" and "credit sale note" functions are pretty confusing/complicated.

Commentaires: Dear has created more problems than it has solved for our business. At a minimum Dear needs to fix the duplicate serial number issue and provide a way to do inventory level snapshots.

Avantages: The software is made for small businesses interested in keeping track of basic inventory, basic purchasing, and basic invoicing.
- Perfect for 1-5 employees, this is the base number of users and gives the most bang for your buck.
- Perfect for no more than 50 SKUs

Inconvénients: - Serial Numbers are NOT UNIQUE, duplicates can be entered easily with no warning
- Navigating a Bill of Materials for more than 1 level is impossibly complicated and needs a separate spreadsheet or software to track
- Transactions randomly duplicate without warning. Several times we have had stock transfers or purchases receive twice, creating inventory discrepancies and overall chaos in the warehouse.
- This random duplication allows inventory to be a negative number. Example: A serial numbered part was pulled twice by the system instead of removing it from inventory, it created a negative line item and showed the serial numbered part as -1 instead of 0. This in turn affected the overall inventory for that SKU.
- It is impossible to find a specific inventory level on a given day, this feature simply does not exist.
- Stocktakes cannot be backdated so if a count is taken on day 1 and entered in day 2 if any assemblies took place they will screw up counts.
- Sync between Xero accounting is a multi-step process. Invoices and payments do not sync back and forth on a consistent basis. Sometimes a voided invoice in Dear or in Xero will not transfer over and the entire Sale or Purchase needs to be voided and redone for the voided payment to sync OR alternatively you can enter the information manually which defeats the point of the sync.
- Customer service is atrocious except for the basic help which is already covered in depth by videos or other consultants.

Commentaires: We have a retail store that sells custom furniture with a multi-month lead time. Most of the software out there assumes immediate fulfillment of orders so we had to have something to sit between our POS and our accounting software to "park" orders while in process. Also we wanted a robust backup for our ecommerce product information in order to easily manipulate product data and images especially in case we decide to change ecomm platforms in the future.

Avantages: It is very adaptable and has a lot of features

Inconvénients: It often takes a lot of adaptation to get exactly what I need out of the software. For example, for inventory management software, the question "what is the total dollar amount of on-hand inventory?" should be top of mind. Instead it's totally buried in a report not exactly suited for that purpose. So I had to tweak the report and favorite the amended report to have that info handy.