Restoring Stock Integrity.
Eliminating Variance & Preventing Operational Disruption
The Challenge:
High stock variance and production disruption
This manufacturer operated with a £2 million inventory but consistently struggled with inaccurate stock records.
Monthly stock variances reached up to £30,000, resulting in production delays, emergency purchases, and unaccounted losses.
Poor documentation, manual handling, and a lack of controls left the stores function exposed to shrinkage and inefficiency.
The Approach:
Introducing barcoding, rolling stocktakes, and bin logic
I led a stock integrity initiative focused on control, visibility, and accountability.
The project began with a deep-dive into the stores process, identifying gaps in traceability, weak security practices, and manual bottlenecks.
I introduced a rolling stock take schedule by category, reducing the burden of annual counts and allowing discrepancies to be identified and corrected continuously.
A barcode system was implemented to scan inbound and outbound materials, linking usage to specific jobs and departments.
Additional measures included:
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Introducing bin locations to map and control where stock was held.
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Creating access protocols and issuing restrictions to limit staff interference during unstaffed hours.
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Coordinating between stores and finance to reconcile stock movements with Sage 200 in real time.
The Result:
Variance reduced by 97%; improved stock access and accuracy
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Monthly stock variance reduced from £30,000 to under £1,000 within 6 months.
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Production stoppages caused by missing stock were virtually eliminated.
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More accurate data enabled tighter forecasting and reduced overstocking.
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Audit confidence in stock reporting improved significantly.
