A new subsidiary's first count in Uzbekistan: realistic planning

The new subsidiary in Uzbekistan has almost completed its first financial year, and head office expects a stock count "as in Germany". On site the item master is still being built, some bins are unlabelled, and the document flow between warehouse, 1C and the group system has not yet settled. That is normal. It is no reason to postpone the count, but it is a reason to plan it realistically: not to promise too much and to learn as much as possible.

What is still being built in the first year

• Item master: duplicates, missing units, unclear descriptions.
• Bins: not yet labelled throughout, or not assigned under a system.
• Document flow: local documents and group formats run side by side.
• Staff: a new team without a common counting routine.
• Systems: 1C newly introduced or adapted, the link to the group system still open.

Setting realistic goals

For the first count three goals are enough, in this order:

1. Completeness: everything that stands in the warehouse is recorded, including goods without an item number.
2. Traceability: count sheets, count instructions and record are kept in such a way that a third party can follow the procedure.
3. Learning: every difference gets a cause group, from which the action list for the following year is built.

"Zero difference" is not one of the goals. Tell head office beforehand that in the first year more differences and more open clearing points are to be expected, and agree how they will be handled. That is more honest than an expectation that nobody can meet.

Also settle what will not be counted or recorded only roughly, such as small consumables not kept in the system, and note it in the record as a deliberate deviation.

Planning backwards

A schedule that runs backwards from the cut-off date can look like this:

1. 12 weeks before: choose the method and agree it with the auditor.
2. 8 weeks before: write the count instructions and clean up the item master.
3. 6 weeks before: label the bins.
4. 4 weeks before: trial count of one zone.
5. 2 weeks before: brief the teams, lay out the materials.
6. Afterwards: count, clearing and post-count review.

The timings are guide values. More important than the exact weeks is the sequence: agree the method with the auditor first, then write the instructions, then prepare the warehouse. Anyone who labels the bins before the method is settled may label for the wrong system. Allow two weeks of reserve: in the first year things often slip more than later, because responsibilities have not yet settled.

The trial count supplies the figures for the schedule (illustrative)

The greatest uncertainty in the first year is counting output. Instead of estimating it, measure it. Suppose the trial count of a zone with 180 positions takes 6 team hours. That is 30 positions per hour. The warehouse has 2,700 positions, so 2,700 ÷ 30 = 90 team hours per count and 180 with a second count.

Had one calculated with the usual planning value of 40 positions per hour, the result would only be 2,700 ÷ 40 = 67.5 team hours. 22.5 team hours per count would be missing, 45 with a second count. The trial count also uncovers problems that otherwise appear only on count day: missing labels, illegible descriptions, units that nobody knows.

Afterwards: catching up on master data and bins

The shortcomings that the first count reveals are put right straight away, while memories are fresh: duplicates in the item master, missing units, unlabelled bins. That makes the second count a very different task from the first. In the review, record which shortcomings stem from the build-up phase and which are lasting process weaknesses. Only the second group needs an action with a date; the first sorts itself out as the set-up progresses.

In short

The first count of a new subsidiary is a build-up step and not a final test. AuditMaster looks at the warehouse on site, proposes a suitable method and prepares the count instructions, which you check and approve before the job begins.