Managing the Goods Receipt Process

Goods Receipt (Goods In) is the lynchpin of any warehouse but streamlining this process frequently presents a challenge to multichannel and ecommerce retailers. If problems occur here then it will likely cause trouble further down the line.

Problem 1

Not having a Goods Receipt process

Impact

By not having a Goods Receipt process you are required to do more regular stock takes to constantly ensure that the inventory figures listed online are correct. This is time-consuming, costly, and inefficient.

How to solve it

Put a process in place. Using a system to log, count and register your inventory as it enters the warehouse will provide benefits throughout the entire order fulfilment journey.

Problem 2

Relying on manual systems

Impact

Doing a manual count is vastly inefficient because it increases the cost of labour and lowers the return. It also increases the risk of mistakes being made, misplaced or lost orders and inaccurate stock figures appearing online.

How to solve it

Use a warehouse management system (WMS) that incorporates barcode scanning which eliminates the margin for human error and ensures that all delivered items are correctly recorded. The correct stock figures are listed online, meaning fewer oversells or missed sales opportunities.

Problem 3

Slow Goods Receipt process

Impact

This will be wasting time, money and resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

How to solve it

Work out where the kinks are in your current processes and focus on how to smooth them out. More times than not, the process is slow because of the humans working it so to really optimise your system, automation is key.

Problem 4

Delay between items being delivered and being available for sale online

Impact

The longer it takes for your inventory to register online, the larger the window for missed sales opportunities.

How to solve it

If your process currently involves uploading a CSV file or similar into your eCommerce software, then the best solution is to find a WMS that integrates with this platform and cuts out the file uploading. Inventory figures should be updated across all platforms as soon as they are scanned at Goods Receipt.

Problem 5

No tracking or visibility of the delivery performance

Impact

This problem makes it difficult to monitor KPIs, judge performance and replace the services if needed.

How to solve it

Option 1: put manual task recording in place

Option 2: put some manual time tracking software like Harvest in place. This can help with understanding where your team spend their time.

Option 3: Use advanced software for warehouse management and carrier management. Both these pieces of software will provide the visibility on delivery performance necessary. A good CRM like Cloud Conversion could also help with tracking any issues that do arise in a standard way you can report on.

Problem 6

Not checking against a purchase order

Impact

If you do not check your goods received against a PO then you will require regular stock takes to ensure correct inventory levels. You also open yourself up to more lost sales opportunities, dissatisfied customers, and potential overpayment for stock.

How to solve it

With a WMS, as good are scanned in they will be automatically reconciled against a PO to eliminate the need for doing it manually. It also speeds up the process and saves time and labour.

Problem 7

Items arriving in pallets with large quantities

Impact

It is difficult to unwrap and check each item which can lead to inaccurate stock figures. Inaccurate stock figures can then lead to missed sales opportunities, or overselling.

How to solve it

Barcode label the pallet and assign the products to the unique pallet label. This enables you to move the pallet around efficiently. You can also store inner, outer, and pallet quantities in a WMS and use your software to calculate quantities based on defaults.

The key thing to have available if you go down this route is the ability to overwrite the default quantity if you need to.

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