Receive incoming inventory well
Incoming inventory takes too much time.
Count what arrives, scan products on arrival and give them a location right away. That keeps your inventory in line with what's actually in your warehouse.
What helps
- Always count what you receive and don't blindly trust the packing slip.
- Scan every incoming product and link it to the purchase order.
- Give products a location right away during putaway, not afterwards.
- Record discrepancies at the moment of receipt, not from memory later.
Stock that's booked in wrong causes problems that only surface later: a product shows as available but isn't there, or you count more than you expected. Receiving well isn't a formality, but the foundation of accurate inventory.
Always count
Don't blindly trust the packing slip. Count the number of units actually present. Deliveries sometimes differ from what's on the packing slip or waybill. If you don't count now, you'll discover it later at the worst possible moment: when you've already promised the product to a customer.
Scan on arrival
Scan every incoming product and link it to the purchase order. That way you know right away which product came in, in what quantity and at which location it ends up. That's more reliable than tracking by hand.
Assign a location right away
Don't put products on a receiving spot to store them later. At receipt, already decide where the product goes. That prevents products from sitting in the wrong place and employees searching for something that's supposedly somewhere near the loading dock.
No free locations? That's the signal to update your location management before new stock comes in.
Record discrepancies right away
Less arrived than ordered, or damaged products? Record that at the moment of receipt, not from memory later. That way you can back up claims with suppliers and close your purchase order correctly.
Process purchase orders quickly
An open purchase order that's partly received but not yet processed gives you an unreliable picture of your free stock. Process receipts the same day, so stock on the shelf, reservations and expected deliveries stay accurate.
Common mistakes
Trusting the packing slip without counting. Packing slips aren't always right. Always count, even with regular suppliers.
Storing products without a location. Stored somewhere is not a location. The moment you don't know where something is, you lose time picking and counting.
Leaving purchase orders open. A partly received purchase order that's never closed stays a source of confusion in your inventory management.
