10 steps to performing an effective stocktake

In the second of three articles, George Armstrong, CEO at Scanmatix, advises The Hardware Journal readers on how to carry out an effective stocktake.

In my first article, I outlined the steps you need to take to prepare for carrying out a stocktake. If you’ve done a thorough preparation, it will make the task quicker and easier. At this stage, it’s all about an accurate count and having good quality scanning technology is essential.

1. Areas/Bays – Use them if you have technology that allows area labels. Break your store/yard down into small defined areas. Any stock not in these areas (baskets, loose displays, window displays, etc.) should also be labelled.

2. Follow a set pattern – If you are scanning in a random order, you will inevitably miss things. Stick to a pattern such as left to right, top to bottom.

3. Row by row – Our research shows that the fastest method for scanning items stacked on shelves in rows, such as paint tins, is to scan the barcode on the front tin on each row and enter the row quantity. Preparation is vital for this to work! There’s also less chance of human error using this approach.

4. Line of sight – This means ‘as the stocktaker sees’. Suppose there is something visibly different, for example, a tin of paint stripper behind a tin of paint. These items should be counted separately as the stocktaker can clearly see the difference without taking products off the shelf. If something is not visibly different, it will be counted with the other items.

5. Multiple product facings – If similar items are stored in different locations across the store or bay, your software should amalgamate all entries to give a total. A new entry of a product should not overwrite the previous one.

6. Clip strips – Commonly found hanging at the side of shelves and are often missed during stocktakes. If a clip strip exists on a bay, count it as part of that bay. If the clip strip is separate from other stock, give it its own area label to ensure it isn’t missed.

7. Non-barcoded stock – You may encounter items that do not have a barcode. Scanners such as those used at Scanmatix enable you to search products by name or department on the scanner. You will have to find the products or PLU codes and manually type this into your scanner.

8. Non-scans – These items are not on a store’s product file and will not scan for you. Highlight these items to management. Some retailers ignore the products, and others set them up after the stocktake. Put these items into an agreed area (usually called a sin bin). You may be able to enter the non-scan under a different code or to scan something else of the same value from the same department. Some software may allow you to search files from other retailers to find a match and add the product to the stocktake, or you may have to enter a new product by typing a description and allocating a price and department.

9. Weighing items – For speed, rather than counting every screw in a box, you can weigh ten and divide the total by ten to get the weight of one. Then weigh all the screws and divide the total by the weight of one screw to find the quantity you need to enter.

10. Count completion – When all stock has been counted, you are finished. Your technology should verify this for you. If not, carefully check that all areas can be accounted for.

George Armstrong, CEO at Scanmatix

If you have any queries regarding the counting process or would like to discuss your stocktake requirements, please get in touch at 01-554 7359, [email protected]. Scanmatix is one of Ireland’s leading multidisciplinary inventory management companies. You can count on us.