In this guide 6 sections
Store counts disagree because stock moves between stores faster than the paperwork follows it. The usual causes are issue slips written late, returns from the floor that are never booked back, and scrap or regrind that leaves no entry at all. Fix the movements first, then count again.
See where the three counts split
Pick one item. Follow it through the plant. Take polypropylene granules from the raw store to the moulding machine, then into a tray, through the packing store and out as a boxed product.
At every step the count in one store should fall by exactly the amount that the next store records as received on its own slip. Counts split at the handover points.
A mismatch of a few cartons rarely means a miscount, since the stock has simply left the raw store and not yet reached the packing store on paper. Draw the flow on one sheet, with each store as a box and each issue slip, return slip or dispatch note as an arrow.
- Raw store to moulding or printing floor
- Floor to packing store
- Packing store to finished goods
- Finished goods to dispatch bay
- Any return arrow running backward
Close the gap on issue slips
The commonest cause is a late issue slip. A machine operator collects two bags of masterbatch from the raw store and signs for them the next morning.
For one night the raw count is high. The moulding floor holds stock that nobody has recorded against the job or the machine.
Insist that nothing leaves a store without a slip carrying the item code, quantity, unit and machine or job number. Mixed units cause quiet damage, because granules issued in kilograms and costed in bags will never match. Late slips need a cut-off time, and they are tolerable only when rare and dated truthfully.
Book returns and rejects back in
Returns from the floor travel the wrong way, so they are forgotten. Unused paper reels, half bags of resin and surplus pens or lids come back without a slip. The shelf then holds stock that nobody can see in the register.
Rejects behave the same way. A tray of cracked lunch box lids or misprinted notebook covers sits near the machine, and one person counts it as finished goods while another counts it as scrap. Pick one rule and paint it on the wall.
A return slip names the issue slip it reverses. Always.
- Return slip linked to the issue slip
- Reject tag with reason and quantity
- Separate bin for held items awaiting a decision
- Weekly count of the reject area
Handle scrap, regrind and conversions
Plastics plants lose count in the gap between sprues, runners and regrind. A kilogram of runner is neither a kilogram of granules nor a piece of finished product. When regrind is blended back into the next lot, record it as an issue from a regrind bin with its own item code.
Stationery plants meet a different problem in conversion, because paper is bought by the reel, issued by the sheet and sold by the ream or the dozen. Each unit change needs a stated factor, or one store will always disagree with the next.
Write the factors on the item master once, such as sheets per ream or kilograms per bag, rather than leaving them to whoever sits at the desk that day. Then forget them.
Set a weekly reconciliation habit
Count a small group of items every week. Choose fast movers and anything with a recurring variance. Compare each physical count with the register, then trace the difference through issue slips, return slips and scrap tags until the cause has a name.
Record that cause in a short list, such as late slip, unbooked return, wrong unit or unrecorded scrap. After a month the list shows which handover needs repair, and which clerk or shift keeps skipping the slip.
Start this week. Choose five items and count all three stores on the same morning.
Three store reconciliation sheet
A page with one line per item. Columns show item code, unit, raw store count, packing store count, finished goods count, floor stock and the register total. Beside them sit the variance and a cause code for late slip, unbooked return, wrong unit, unrecorded scrap or miscount. A footer lists the counter, the checker and the fix owner.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Should all three stores be counted on the same day?
Yes, for the items you are testing, because counting stores on different days lets stock drift between them and creates a variance that was never real. Freeze movements. Count. Then release the stores.
How do we deal with partly used bags or reels?
Weigh or measure each one and book the remainder back to the store with a return slip. A half used reel left beside the press hides from the register and makes the next count look wrong.
Is a variance of a few pieces worth chasing?
Chase it when the same item shows up twice. Repeat variances point at a broken handover, a unit conversion or a habit, and fixing one helps every item that passes through that step.
Can software stop the counts drifting?
It helps when it forces a slip for every movement and stores unit factors once. It cannot replace the discipline of booking returns and scrap, so settle the paper routine before buying anything.