Inventory System 1

[MrAndersson]

Hello,

I work for a company that has a huge discrepancy with Inventory.

We have rolls of material inside crates, it is expensive fabric rolled in a tube. Each crate has several tubes of fabric inside.

So 1 Crate has several rolls of material.

An excel spreadsheet is used to deduct the amount of usage of that specific item when it is being used or sold.

This simple procedure would give me the actual report of how much is used.

Well it seems that this system does not work effectively, however the concepts and theory are right.

Things that go wrong with this system in my opinion.

The person entering the data is someone who is not computer savvy and I do see he does not take it seriously.

The second problem is when more material is needed, it is not recorded in the system and this waste add up quick. They just grab more material and end of story.

I would like to see how other companies record this type of inventory.

 

[MikeHalloran]

They put the material in a cage. They lock the cage.

They give the only key to a gorilla who knows how to run the inventory control system, and takes it _very_ seriously.

To get material out of the cage, you ask the gorilla, usually in a formal way, recording how much you need, and he gives you exactly that much.

It would be nice if you could trust everyone in the company to be both competent and honest, but people don't work that way.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[PSE]

How do you measure the material, roll, foot, yard, meter? As Mike suggests you can work to physically secure the inventory. This can reduce some problems but may introduce others. You can also look at cycle counting the material on a periodic basis. We do this with our more senior line people and it is audited by both the line supervisor and stockroom personnel.

Regards,

 

[griffengm]

MrAnderson,
Does everyone know(been trained) to enter the usage in the correct units? I have seen roll goods measured in pounds so do not assume all know to enter feet when inches is required?
How often is "more" needed? Your bills of material may need adjustment or you have pilferage or training in correct application methods may be needed. Talk to the people who access the "more", you may find some interesting things about you system.
Do not accept "Its' always this way!" because it not need to remain this way. Besides, talking to your operators is still one of the best management tools invented.

Griffy

 

[MikeHalloran]

Any inventory control system can have unit problems. It may be desirable to have several units:
- unit of issue: e.g. one tube of silicone adhesive
- unit of use: e.g. one cc or oz of silicone adhesive
- unit of container: one tube contain 3.5 oz of...
- unit of purchase: one case contains 12 tubes...
... and you still go crazy when stuff from one source only comes in 3.5 oz tubes, but equivalent stuff from another source comes in 5 oz tubes, etc.

One time my tech requisitioned one box of 1000 Q-tips from stock. He erroneously put '1000' in the quantity box. My project was charged for 1000 boxes of 1000 Q-tips. We had never had 1000 boxes in stock, but we came close to ordering 1000 boxes for the next delivery, because of the sudden apparent surge in demand, which no one else questioned. It took months to get it all straightened out.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MrAndersson]

The problem was on two spots.

The first one was that the material manufactured was not counted

and the second problem was that when more material is used, it is not recorded in the books.

So, lets say I have 12 sqft quoted and I used 13 sqft.

1 sqft is nothing, so what, but it adds up quickly.