1, 2, 3, count!

What are the requirements?

Whilst keeping track of stock items may seem obvious as a way of avoiding unnecessary orders and the bulk storage of stock, the inventory of our items primarily fulfils a legal obligation, enabling the company to value its stock and allowing statutory auditors to certify the accounts. Put simply, valuing stock involves assigning a value of X to a quantity of X.

What are the challenges for the AMPERE Group?

Beyond the legal requirements and the valuation of our assets, stocktaking is a process that highlights significant issues for the company, whether they be management-related or operational. It supports the company in managing its stock with ever-greater precision. It highlights the importance of establishing a consistent approach to labelling and warehouse layout. It is also an opportunity to bring teams together and work closely in order to foster team spirit. Logistics, finance and administration staff will all work together to implement effective management principles.

Preparing for the big day

It might be wrongly assumed that a successful stock-take simply requires the ability to count! However, to ensure everyone is in their right place on the big day and to guarantee the day’s success, thorough preparatory work is required in advance. In reality, preparing for a stock-take leaves nothing to chance. You need to ask the right questions and answer them precisely. The top priorities are equipment, timing and staff! Next comes identifying coherent counting zones, forming effective pairs, and selecting stock-take managers who will supervise each zone and be able to resolve any issues encountered by the teams.

In the days that follow…

A stock-take is considered successful when stock levels are spot on, everything has been tidied away, and each item is correctly identified, labelled and stored in a clearly defined location for quick picking. However, the stock-take does not end with the counting and quality control of what has been counted. We then need to reconcile discrepancies, check for duplicates, enter the counts into the system and update the tools, as well as manage obsolete stock with parts lists that are no longer active but still have a market value.

In short, painstaking work on top of painstaking work…

As you’ll have realised, stocktaking involves a huge amount of work, a great deal of organisation, teamwork and trust. So, for all the work accomplished, for the effort put in and for the team spirit, a big thank you to everyone – and see you next year!