05-19-2014 - Managing Inventories and Cycle Counts - Salt Lake City, UT

Your Inventory Record System:

• Assess your inventory management system to find the holes
• The basic elements of a rock-solid inventory recordkeeping system
• Avoid "paper" and use reliable electronic systems
• The most important information that should be on every inventory tag
• Easy formulas to help you decide how often to schedule counts
• JIT: Will this system work for you?
• Improve your forecasting and get what you want when you want it

Preparing for the Count:

• Getting your area in shape for the big count: tips for keeping a clean facility
• Decide on how much staff you"ll really need
• Must-have checklists to keep on hand before you start the count
• When a multiple count approach is best
• Expert tips for preventing theft
• Training staff (even those that have been there for years)
• Create locator maps that keep on working all year long
• Test counts and blind counts … Are they a good use of staff time?
• Inventory models and applying them to your situation

Cycle Counts:  Are They Right for You?

• ABC Analysis or the Geographic method: Classification methods that tell you what to count and how often
• How cycle counts can boost your inventory efficiency
• What should be counted in a cycle count?
• 4 ways to decide whether your cycle counts should replace the annual inventory
• Ranking your inventory and the 80/20 rule
• Surefire strategies to make cycle counts go quick and easy

Conduct Your Physical Inventory Efficiently and Error-Free:

• Which products need to be counted most often
• How to track in-transit items or shipments that arrive during the count
• Motivate staff and keep the stress level on low
• When should you be counting WIP inventory and when to leave it alone
• The 4-Corner method and other counting strategies
• Pallet tagging for bulk merchandising
• 5 important questions to ask when you are considering hiring an outside vendor
• Keeping staff organized and on-task during the event

Getting It Right - Managing the Problems:

• Best ways to handle small (but numerous) units
• Keeping your teams working together
• The most common causes of errors and how to handle them
• Dealing with "The Lost Product" and making records adjustments
• How much error is acceptable and find out how to track variances
• Improving recordkeeping methods and getting cooperation from other departments
• When do you know it"s time for a recount and who should do it
• What the auditors are looking for
• The final inventory report: Send accounting a report that"s easy to understand