Inventory Control - Inventory control flow chart for reference?

[AllenLee]

Dear expert,

Sometimes, we face the material shortage problem. Could anybody give me an Inventory control flow chart for reference?

Thanks!

------------------
Allen Lee

 

[Marc]

I know this is an 'Oldie', but can anyone help out here?

 

[little__cee]

I'm interested too!

We recently had a salesperson initiate corrective action because he entered a customer order and when it was time to fill the order, the material was not in the rack. The computer showed it should be there but no. So the purchasing manager was asked to investigate.

Purchasing manager's response was that it could have been due to receiving error, shipping error, theft, or stored in the wrong location. I cringed because this did NOT answer the question or satisfy the request for corrective action.

I'm in the process of working this out but in the meantime I discovered this thread and would like to see someone provide a flowchart because I could really use the information.

 

[db]

It sounds like your purchasing manager has started the investigation, however the investigation did not clearly go far enough. The next question would by which one was it? Followed by why was it allowed? Followed by how can we stop each of the options from occuring in the future?

Each of the possiblities cited have their own root cause. Fixing one, say theft, would not stop the others. So steps need to be in place to identify all of the possible causes, and take steps based what you learn.

 

[little__cee]

Yes!

I agree 100%. And I want to apologize for not realizing that this was an automotive thread topic - I do not work for a shop in that industry and we're not QS 9000. I must have been asleep this morning when I posted!

But as to your reply, I was told "I could investigate all day and not know what happened to that material."

Which tells me there probably was NO investigation. Just guesses made.

So the Purchasing Manager's suggestion was to take this to the Vice President, my boss. Which I will. My gut tells me that the VP will want Preventive Actions for the 4 possible causes which will cause massive amounts of complaints about being buried with paperwork...I can hear it already!

I find in a lot of cases that these are good people I'm dealing with who feel they are too busy to 'drop everything' and deal with a quality issue.

 

[ralphsulser]

I find in a lot of cases that these are good people I'm dealing with who feel they are too busy to 'drop everything' and deal with a quality issue.

Sound like de ja vu all over again
Plod on, plod on, plod on

 

[Al Rosen]

We recently had a salesperson initiate corrective action because he entered a customer order and when it was time to fill the order, the material was not in the rack. The computer showed it should be there but no. So the purchasing manager was asked to investigate.

Purchasing manager's response was that it could have been due to receiving error, shipping error, theft, or stored in the wrong location. I cringed because this did NOT answer the question or satisfy the request for corrective action.

I'm in the process of working this out but in the meantime I discovered this thread and would like to see someone provide a flowchart because I could really use the information.

Little Cee:

Some things to consider:

As a start, you might look at the material transactions, in your system. There could be errors there. Did someone ship more product by mistake?

Is this the first occurrence? How many items were short? How big are they? Is it hardware, that might easily have been mis-counted? Very often the physical inventory does not match the records.

Does your company perform an annual inventory count? Cycle counting is a means to resolve inventory discrepancies and determine the extent of the problem.

 

[little__cee]

Thank you!

I wasn't ignoring your post but I only work part-time so I visit the Cove on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Good advice and I'll look into getting the answers mentioned in your post. I'm fairly new here so I'm not sure as to how often or if inventory is counted. I'd assume there's some system in place but you know the old saying about the spelling of assume...

Thanks again.

 

[little__cee]

Still no flowchart?

Trying to "bump" this one back up to the top - does anyone have a flowchart?

 

[Jim Howe]

A year ago our company started a Perpetual Inventory Control Initiative. Along the way we found this site to be helpful. I don't recall if it contained a flowchart or not but it should give you insight into the problems. It is an Executive Guide put together by the General Accounting Office. It examines 12 key factors of inventory control based on leading edge companies. Give it a shot.

https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02447g.pdf