Inventory of stocks
Have you ever tried to count e.g. 10 000 M6 lock washers? If so, you know how time consuming it is, even if you have a counting scale.
Learn how you can find out the current stock of C-parts at the click of a mouse.
Do you spend too much time counting inventory?
In manufacturing company A, three warehouse employees have everything they need for a regular inventory of C-parts: pens, printed lists prepared in Excel and counting scales. The employees usually do the counting manually by emptying the parts from the boxes onto the counting scale and then recording the result on a paper spreadsheet. When everything is going well, this activity takes two days in an average-sized production. The hand-recorded lists (and some written notes in the margins) are passed on to the warehouse manager who now manually enters the information into the ERP system, albeit with some difficulty as not all the numbers are written clearly.
In total, about 40 hours were spent on the inventory. The next day, one of the warehouse workers replenishes a larger stock of parts that had been forgotten on the premises, onto the shelves - so some parts have to be recounted.
In many manufacturing companies, the inventory of C-parts is still done manually, and if it is done twice a year, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on this activity that could be spent on something that creates more value for the company.
Working hours and internal costs for each worker are increasing every year, so the time of employees in production and in the warehouse should be used as efficiently as possible. If inventory is only counted twice a year, but regular production has to be interrupted to do so, there is a huge potential to save employee hours so that they can get on with the business of making a profit for the company.
Counting inventory? It only takes us 15 minutes.
Manufacturing company B also has a scheduled inventory count. All their C-parts are controlled by stock boxes with integrated weight sensors. The warehouse worker can find out the current inventory count from the inventory management system with a few mouse clicks. Inventory counts can be immediately uploaded directly into the ERP system and used for checking. This digital indicative inventory takes a fraction of the time compared to manual counting, and any change in the warehouse is updated in the system almost instantly.
When planning your next C-parts inventory count, try to think about how much time is spent and what events may occur during the count:
- Do you need to update ERP systems during inventory counts?
- Do you need to take inventory multiple times a year?
- How many man-hours are needed to check inventory levels?
Inventory counting can easily be done in a fraction of the time if you have access to logistics systems and solutions that communicate with each other so you have up-to-date data readily available.
Can other product groups be inventoried in the same way?
The only limit to what can be automated is your imagination. If you have digital logistics systems in place, you can essentially integrate all your suppliers into the same logistics setup. There are different sizes of storage bins with digital scales, storage cabinets with weighing systems integrated into the shelves, and even digital pallet weighing systems. So whether it's a critical turning part, work gloves, or long threaded rods, you can quickly take an indicative inventory because you can access up-to-date inventory data from your computer screen.
Logistics systems are smart because they save time in production and in the warehouse. Employees get a better overview of the daily flow of materials and have the opportunity to streamline their working hours and use the time to perform tasks that are more valuable to them and the company.
Stay tuned to read about other ways to prevent time loss in purchasing, production and C-parts warehouse such as internal ordering, external ordering, replenishment process and how to automatically track missing items.