Blocked stock, returns, samples: store apart, count apart
Blocked, returned and defective goods easily vanish into normal stock on count day. How to mark, record and report them separately from the free stock.
On count day there are goods in the warehouse that do not fit the picture of a tidy shelf: pallets in the corner by the gate, cartons with a note saying "do not use", returned deliveries that nobody has checked yet. If these goods are counted as normal stock, the available stock in the report is too high. If they are not counted at all, they are missing from the difference list. Either way the clearing becomes harder. The answer is separation: store apart, label apart, count apart and report apart.
Which kinds of goods are kept separately
- Goods under a quality block until the inspection is complete.
- Customer returns that have not yet been checked or decided on.
- Complaint goods that are to go back to the supplier.
- Samples, demonstration goods and loans.
- Breakage and rejects until disposal or recycling.
- Third-party goods that do not belong to the warehouse, such as customer property.
Separating and labelling physically
Each of these groups gets its own clearly delimited area with a visible sign, for example "Blocked stock" or "Returns". Barrier tape and coloured labels help as long as they are used uniformly across the whole warehouse. Every pallet carries a note with the reason, the date and the person responsible. Access is restricted so that goods do not drift back into sale unnoticed. Samples and demonstration goods play a special role: they are easily forgotten because they lie in the office, the showroom or with employees. Decide where samples are kept, and record those that have left the premises too.
Showing it in the stock system
Blocked goods need a stock status or storage location of their own, in 1C just as in a simple spreadsheet. Only then does the free stock stay separate. Without this separation, goods are sold or promised that cannot actually be delivered. Also check who may lift a block. If every warehouse employee can change the status, even the best separation is of no help. Releases belong to a named function, such as quality assurance, and appear with date and name in the system or on the note.
A fictional example: in one corner stand 18 pallets of returns, each with 24 cartons of 10 pieces. In the system they run as normal stock. That is 18 × 24 × 10 = 4,320 pieces. After inspection, 1,100 pieces are saleable again and 3,220 pieces are not (4,320 − 1,100 = 3,220). Until the inspection, the available stock was therefore overstated by up to 3,220 pieces. Whether and to what amount a write-down is needed for the unsaleable goods is for accounting and the auditor to decide, not the count team.
On count day
Blocked stock is recorded on a separate count sheet with a reason code, so that it can be shown separately in the evaluation. The count team does not decide on recycling or disposal. It counts, describes the condition and notes who may release the goods. Photos of the area before and after the count secure the condition. Decisions such as sale, rework or destruction follow later, with a document and approval of their own.
Checklist for the separation
- Does every group of goods have an area of its own?
- Is every pallet labelled with reason, date and responsible person?
- Is the free stock in the system separate from the blocked stock?
- Is there a separate count sheet for blocked stock?
- Are third-party goods and property of others clearly marked?
In short
Blocked stock is not a marginal issue. It decides whether the reported stock is available or merely present. AuditMaster records blocked stock, returns and breakage separately from free goods, and in a warehouse audit we also examine how the warehouse handles them day to day.