Completing stocktake before the end of the financial year is an important step for many businesses. If your warehouse is not prepared it can make stocktake a hard process to complete. There are a few important steps that you should not miss when getting your warehouse ready for stocktake. Below you will find 4 steps that you should consider before starting your stocktake.
Is your stock in the correct place?
Preparing your warehouse for stocktake may involve moving stock around to its correct place in the warehouse. This means that you must have a solution that makes the transport of your stock easy.
If you’re needing to move pallets around your warehouse but don’t have the capabilities for a forklift, the use of a pallet truck can make it simple for you to move your pallets from point A to point B. Using a pallet truck can allow you to ensure that all your pallets are in the correct place before you start your stocktake.
You also may have smaller items that you need to move around your warehouse. While these items can be moved by hand, it can cost you time to move each item individually. This is where you can benefit from the use of a trolley. Using a trolley can allow you to move multiple smaller items around your warehouse into their correct position. Utilising trolleys can allow you to speed up your stocktake preparation and allow you to complete your stocktake on time.
Ensure your stock is accessible
During stocktake ensuring ease of accessibility is a vital step that should not be missed. If your stock isn’t accessible, this could mean that stock is getting missed during stocktake.
You also need to ensure that your staff have safe access to your stock to prevent unwanted injuries. The use of ladders and safety steps can help you avoid unwanted injuries and provide your staff with the accessibility that is needed.
Using ladders can help you get to those hard to reach places and ensure that no stock, even those on the highest shelves don’t get missed.
For stock just above shoulder level, using safety steps is a great way to provide safe and easy accessibility. Ladders and safety steps help to give the user a solid base to work on, reducing the chance of injury during the stocktake process.
Both ladders and safety steps are easily transportable, so they can be used anywhere in your warehouse when needed.
Use the right storage solution
Preparing for stocktake should not be something you think about right before you start your stocktake. It’s something you should consider when you are selecting the storage solution for your warehouse.
The storage solution you use in your warehouse can impact how well prepared you are for stocktake. If the solution that you use does not meet your needs, you may end up spending more time than you should be reorganising your stock.
You also want a storage solution that will provide you with easy access to your stock, as this will make your stocktake a lot easier. Having easy access to your stock can allow for more accuracy in your stocktake, as it will be easier to see and locate stock with fewer miscalculations.
With a wide range of different storage solutions out there a few great solutions are:
- Longspan shelving – Longspan shelving is a versatile shelving option that can be used anywhere in your warehouse. Longspan shelving is great for the storage of your larger stock providing you with easy access to each item.
- Activity Racks – Activity racks are a great storage option for loose items that aren’t in large boxes or on pallets. They provide you with easy access to your stock making it easier when it’s time for stocktake.
- Rolled edge shelving – Rolled edge shelving is great for light to medium duty storage. The shelving is available with parts trays or storpak bins making it the perfect storage solution for all your smaller parts. Using the trays and bins in the shelving allows you to keep all your similar stock together.
Organise and tidy your warehouse
Your warehouse must be organised and tidy before you start your stocktake. If you have products and equipment in the wrong places and your warehouse is a mess, you may end up miss counting items and you will not have an accurate count of how much stock you have.
An easy way to ensure that your warehouse remains organised and tidy is by labelling your shelves. By doing this you’re providing every product with its own space and making it easy to locate the items when needed. This also ensures that your staff know and can see exactly where something is supposed to be stored, keeping your warehouse organised and tidy. A simple and easy way to label your shelving or racking is with magnetic labels. These labels attach to any steel surface and are easy to move around if you decide to reorganise your warehouse.
If you are storing multiple products in multiple categories in your warehouse it’s important to create well-defined sections within your warehouse. For example, if your warehouse stocks clothing and shoes, rather than mixing the 2 categories, you should have separate sections for both in your warehouse. This will make it easier to keep track of and locate items preventing them from getting mixed up, making it easier when it comes to stocktake time.
These are a few solutions that can help you prepare your warehouse for stocktake and ensure accuracy in your stocktake. All Storage Systems stock a wide range of storage solutions that can help you with your stocktake. For more information on our range of warehouse storage solutions check them out today. Alternatively, you can speak with our expert team who can assist with any queries.
