Getting a warehouse ready for a stock count: 10 steps

A stock count takes a day or two, but its accuracy is decided beforehand. Mixed pallets, unclosed documents, goods without labels, boxes in unknown places: an unprepared warehouse produces dozens of "differences" on count day, and most are not losses but plain disorder. Explaining them takes the following days and confidence in the result falls. In a well-prepared warehouse the count goes quickly, and the differences that remain really do deserve attention.

Why preparation decides the result

A count only records the present state of the warehouse. If goods stand in the wrong place, the count either misses them or counts them twice. If a document is late, the system shows one balance and the shelf another. Preparation removes both causes before the count. It also cuts the workload: a tidy warehouse is quick to count and seldom needs recounting. Every doubtful case on count day eats time while counters wait.

Ten steps

1. Appoint an owner and a date. One person is responsible for preparation, and the date falls in the period with the fewest sales and shipments.
2. Draw a map of the warehouse: zones and rows named, a counter assigned to each zone.
3. Export balances from the accounting system in advance and split them by zone as of the date.
4. Close the documents: all receipts, issues and transfers up to the date must be in the system.
5. Set returns and damaged goods apart, and make sure they carry labels.
6. Put goods that are received but not yet put away in a separately marked area.
7. Sort out mixed pallets: one item per pallet, standing in its place.
8. Mark goods with no label or an unreadable one and prepare new labels.
9. Close open boxes, or mark them separately and agree a counting rule.
10. Check the equipment: scanners charged, enough light, spare sheets and pens ready.

A conditional timetable: steps 1 to 3 two weeks before the count, steps 4 to 6 one week before, steps 7 to 9 three days before, step 10 and the team briefing the day before. That leaves no last-minute rush.

Stopping movement

Agree in advance what goods movement will look like during the count. The simplest way is to set the moment the count starts (the cut-off point): documents before it go into the count, later ones are entered afterwards. For example, if the count starts on the morning of the 20th, movements recorded up to 18:00 on the 19th are included, and trucks arriving later wait in an "awaiting" area and are not counted. Warn customers and suppliers in advance so that they choose another day. Ship an urgent order before the count starts or put it on a separate list.

The team and the roles

Work out the number of counters from the volume and assign them to zones. Each zone needs two roles, a counter and a checker, and they must be different people. A conditional example: six zones with two people in each, twelve in all; if zones differ in size, the larger one gets more people. Give the team a short briefing: how goods are counted, whom to ask in unclear cases, where the result is written. Talk to your own staff beforehand too: explain that the count is not a punishment but a check of the work process.

Count day and afterwards

Work zone by zone: when a zone is finished, close it and put up a mark. After the first count the result is compared with the records, and items with differences are counted a second time by another person. Only after that is a difference considered real. If the second count does not match the first, a third is made and the responsible manager supervises it. After the count, analyse the causes, correct the system only when an explanation has been written and signed, and record the lessons: next time preparation will go even faster.

Common mistakes

• Documents are still not closed on the morning of the count.
• Goods keep moving during the count, with no cut-off point.
• The counter and the checker are the same person.
• Differences are entered into the system without a recount.

Conclusion

Good preparation speeds up the count and raises confidence in the result. Before a stock count, SkladKontrol surveys the site and works out the zones and team size, then carries out the count with scanners, at night or at weekends if needed.