A Turkish manufacturer's first-year warehouse checklist in Uzbekistan

When a producer or retailer from Turkey starts operating in Uzbekistan, the warehouse is usually set up in a hurry. In the first months production, sales and customs matters take priority and the stock routine comes later. Yet item codes, units and the document routine settle in during those first months, and changing them afterwards is both expensive and hard. The checklist below divides the first year into four periods.

Month one: codes and units

• Give items a single coding system; keep a table matching the codes used at head office with the codes in the local 1C.
• Decide the main unit for each item (metres for fabric, m² for ceramics, sets for furniture) and write the conversion factors on the item card.
• Name the warehouse zones and keep the names fixed: A, B, C and so on; put location codes on the racks.
• Decide in advance where distinguishing details such as lot, colour and shade are written in the record.

Coding habits in Turkey and item names in the local 1C often do not match. A fabric opened with a Turkish name at head office and a Russian name locally ends up as two items for one product. So within the first month, prepare a shared code table for the 50 to 100 items that move most, and open new items only through that table.

The first three months: the document routine

• Set standard documents for receipt, issue, transfer and return; write down who prepares and who approves each.
• Talk early about how the difference between head office's management report and the local accountant's 1C will be resolved; the cut-off date should be fixed.
• Open a separate tracking table for material sent to subcontractors and for goods in transit.
• Confirm the document and retention requirements of local legislation with your local accountant.

Decide too at which stage shipments from Turkey count as stock: when they leave, when they cross the border, or when they enter the warehouse. If accounting and the warehouse part ways on this point, every shipment becomes a matter of dispute.

Between month three and month six: the first independent count

Many businesses leave the first count to the end of the year. Errors, however, accumulate; a count made between the third and sixth month shows where the system fails, and with smaller figures. What you can expect from the first count:

• duplicate and mixed records in the item list come to light;
• unit errors become visible;
• it becomes clear which documents are posted late;
• the warehouse team learns the count routine.

The aim of the first count is not a flawless figure but a test of the routine. Having a variance is normal as well; what matters is that its causes are written down and put right before the next count.

Team and language

Many warehouse employees speak Uzbek and Russian, while management speaks Turkish. Labels, item names and document templates need to be understood by everyone. Keeping item names in one language and adding the equivalents in the others in a side column reduces confusion. A short glossary (metre, roll, carton, pallet, lot) should be in everyone's hands in the warehouse. A term missing from the glossary is easily misunderstood on count day. Codes and numbers on labels do not depend on language, so they are the safest carriers of information; where text is needed, write it in two languages.

Towards year end: the count calendar

• one full count a year, preceded by a trial count;
• a monthly cycle count for fast-moving items;
• a short summary of causes after every count;
• the count calendar for next year planned around production and sales peaks.

Putting the calendar in writing at the start of the year keeps a count from being postponed in a busy period. After every count, make a short comparison with the previous one: are the same items showing differences again?

In short

Solid steps taken in the first year reduce the counting burden in later years. At the first meeting StockSystem walks the warehouse, notes which item is held in metres, kg, m² or pieces and which program holds the records, and then chooses the count day around your production and dispatch plan.