The Weekly Stock Routine

An ordered procedure from receiving to dead-stock clearing, with the typical failure at each step.

Step 1, receive: check every delivery against the purchase order before it goes on the shelf. Typical failure: accepting a short or wrong shipment without noting it, which corrupts the record the reorder point depends on.

Step 2, label: put the item, cost and location on each unit or shelf position. Typical failure: unlabelled stock that cannot be counted or valued, which breaks the annual usage value behind the ABC ranking.

Step 3, count the A items: run the weekly count of class A items on the rolling schedule. Typical failure: skipping the count during a busy week, which lets drift accumulate exactly where the money is. Class B items are counted monthly and class C quarterly as part of the same rolling schedule.

Step 4, reorder what crossed its point: compare on-hand stock against the reorder point for every item and place an order of the EOQ quantity for those below it. Typical failure: ordering from memory instead of the computed point, which either empties the shelf or fills the back room.

Step 5, clear dead stock: flag items with no movement over the 6 to 12 month window, decide a disposition and record the decision. Typical failure: leaving dead stock on the shelf for another quarter, which keeps cash and shelf space locked away from class A replenishment.

Run the five steps in this order each week. The sequence matters: a count before labelling is meaningless, and a reorder before the count uses a stale number.

• Receive and check against the purchase order.
• Label item, cost and location.
• Count class A items (B monthly, C quarterly).
• Reorder items that crossed their reorder point, at EOQ quantity.
• Flag and clear dead stock at the 6-12 month window.

Further reading

• Sort Stock with ABC
• Reorder Point and EOQ by Hand