Planning a count day without stopping production

A stock count usually suggests stopping the line, locking the door and putting everyone on counting. But not every corner of a factory moves at once. Part of the raw-material room stands untouched for hours, and the finished-goods store sees no movement outside dispatch hours. Plan around this and most zones can be counted within a shift without disrupting production. Here is how.

First separate what moves from what does not

Divide the warehouse into two groups:

• static zones: the main raw-material store, the trims room, finished-goods racks that are not moving, spare parts;
• moving zones: the supply area for the cutting room, work in progress at the line, the dispatch ramp, the new goods-receipt area.

Static zones can be counted while production runs, because the goods in them either do not move or every movement is tracked by a slip. Counting the moving zones is left to short, well-planned windows. Drawing up the zone list with the production manager and the dispatch lead a few days earlier turns the distinction from a guess into knowledge.

The cut-off time and the movement adjustment

The moment on which the count rests is the time at which the last receipts and issues were closed (the cut-off time). If you count a static zone at 11:00 and the cut-off was 08:00, you have to take the movement in between into account:

Balance at cut-off = counted + issued since then − received since then

An illustrative case: 520 m of one item were counted in the trims room at 11:00. Between 08:00 and 11:00 an issue slip for 80 m went to production, and nothing was received. The balance at the cut-off is 520 + 80 = 600 m, which agrees with the 600 m in the record. If the slip does not carry the time, this calculation cannot be made, so on count day ask for every slip used to be marked with the time.

A shift plan: worked example

In an illustrative warehouse the count list has 1,000 lines and the count crew is four two-person teams. Suppose each team counts 25 lines an hour: 4 × 25 = 100 lines an hour. Of the lines, 700 are in static zones and 300 in moving zones.

• Static zones: 700 ÷ 100 = 7 hours. Counted while production runs, within a single shift.
• Moving zones: 300 ÷ 100 = 3 hours. Counted in a few short blocks during windows when work stops anyway, such as a shift change, line maintenance or a meal break.

The total is 7 + 3 = 10 hours. It does not fit into one shift, but it can be finished over two days without stopping production for even an hour. Doubling the teams would halve the time, but they begin to get in each other's way, so clear zone allocation matters.

Preparing the moving zones

• Pick the dispatch orders the day before the count and move them to a separate "prepared dispatch" zone; the ramp stays almost empty that day.
• Issue the material for production to the cutting room the day before, on an issue slip, so that issues from the raw-material store drop to a minimum on count day.
• Tape off the zone being counted and hang a sign, so that everyone who comes in sees that the area is being counted.
• Count work in progress at the line by its bundle tags at the end of the shift, while the line slows down.
• If an urgent issue is needed during the count, the slip is marked with the time and put on a separate list.

When must the line really stop?

Not every business can count while keeping production going. In these cases a short stop of the zone concerned may be needed:

• if slip discipline is weak and material moves verbally, without records;
• if bulk material whose consumption cannot be measured (for example in a silo or in large sacks) flows continuously into production;
• if zones are physically interleaved and teams block each other.

Even then it is enough to close only the affected zone, for a short window announced in advance, not the whole plant.

In short

Counting without stopping production means separating zones by movement, fixing the cut-off time and having the time written on slips. StockSystem chooses the count day around your production and dispatch plan, divides the zones between teams and works nights or weekends when needed; a count without stopping the warehouse is also available as an option in the quote.