How to Accurately Receive Inventory and Reduce Errors in Automotive Inventory
Receiving Automotive Inventory. Receiving automotive parts may seem straightforward, but it can be complex when done incorrectly.
Inventory errors can arise due to miscounts, incorrect entry of information or untrained staff receiving shipments. As with any business activity, proper inventory procedures and training are essential for success.
These three steps will help guarantee that your inventory is accurately received and recorded.
Organise Your Receiving Area
Arrange the receiving area according to what items you typically use in it.
Before receiving parts, make sure your space is clear and clutter-free. Next, designate areas for unreceived and received shipments as well as creating a convenient opening area so it’s easy to count the items inside.
Calculate Your Inventory
After you’ve cleaned and organized your workspace, it’s time to count your inventory. In most cases, you will need the packing slip that was included with your order; alternatively, if there isn’t one included, you may request one from the vendor or refer back to the invoice for guidance.
Compare the parts you’ve received to the quantities on your packing slip. To guarantee there are no mistakes in packing, pay close attention to their descriptions and part numbers.
Make note of any missing or extra parts not listed on the packing slip, and also any damaged items for you and your team members to follow up with.
Make sure that the items ordered arrive intact.
Once everything has been received and checked off the packing slip, it is now time to verify that everything matches up with your purchase order. You may do this for several reasons, such as:
- Packing slips do not indicate what can be picked up and placed in the box; any item not available at shipment time (i.e. backorders) will not be listed.
- In certain cases, large orders may be broken down into multiple deliveries, so that not all items may arrive with the current shipment.
- Vendors can make mistakes too. Parts may be left out or added by mistake to a packing slip, and transposition errors could occur as well – leading to incorrect parts being picked up and delivered.
- If part of an order has been fulfilled but some remaining parts remain, mark them off on your purchase order. Doing this can help keep track of what needs to be completed.
- If there are any discrepancies between what was purchased and what was received, contact the vendor immediately for clarification.
- Once all items in your Automotive Inventory purchase order match the packing list, you are ready to begin moving forward. Simply add inventory into your software program for tracking purposes.
Once you have resolved any discrepancies and calculated how much inventory has been received, it’s time to add it to your computer software. You may ask your employee to create an electronic receipt or manually enter in the invoice with confirmed quantities.
Your inventory should be clearly labeled and organized for storage.
Once all is organized, it’s time to properly label and store your parts. Your inventory should at least include the price and part number; if using an internal system, add a brief description as well as its barcode for easy reference.
If the products are too small to label, place them in a container that can be kept separate from other parts and label the container accordingly.
Once products have been labeled, it’s time to store them away. Be sure that parts shelves and bins have the correct labels in order to avoid mistakes. To help ensure parts are located quickly, consider tracking locations with an inventory management program.
Audit all processes prior to implementation.
It is wise for the parts manager to spot check the receiving process at various intervals throughout the month in order to guarantee all steps are taken correctly. To guarantee inventory is accurately counted before it arrives or recount received items before they’re put away, this could be done. Random inventory checks also take place to guarantee parts are labeled correctly and in their designated spot.
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