You have no doubt heard of all the awful things that can happen if 99% accuracy was acceptable in all activities. There would be 2 short or long landings daily at airports in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta with a 99% accuracy level. There would 15,000 babies dropped in hospitals per year with a 99% accuracy level.
Obviously inventory accuracy–or inaccuracy— does not have these dire consequences but why settle for less than you can get? To accept anything less than 99% accuracy from any 3PL is a big mistake.
SSMG Warehousing just finished a physical inventory for one of our customers with a large inventory and a huge SKU count. Results? We had a 99.9996% accuracy level. I thought we were pretty good but that result even surprised me. Reconciliation of initial variances during physical inventory is often neglected or not done at all. That, too, is a big mistake.
Whenever I am charged with leading a physical inventory I am always reminded of the old cartoon about two warehousemen discussing inventory. One says to the other, “I counted that inventory three times and here are all three results.”. Technology has made that scenario pretty unlikely these days, there are still plenty of opportunities for error in a physical inventory. Why not trust the team that knows how to do it right all year long?
SSMG Warehousing knows inventory control and is proud of it. Join us and see how we get it done.
