Seasonal peaks and holidays: choosing a count date in Uzbekistan

The same count would end much more easily in another week of the year. If a building-materials warehouse is counted in the middle of the construction season, a textile warehouse in order-delivery week, or a store in the thick of holiday shopping, the count suffers and the business stalls. Choosing the count day takes as much planning as the count itself. This article explains how to make that choice using the peak calendar in Uzbekistan.

First build your own peak calendar

General calendars show a direction, but your own data takes the decision. Put the monthly dispatch and sales figures of the last two years side by side and mark the three lowest months; those are your candidates for the count. In busy weeks goods keep changing place, so a count becomes both harder and misleading.

An example: assume 40 pallets a day are dispatched in a busy month and 15 pallets a day in a quiet one. If dispatch stops for two days for the count, 2 × 40 = 80 pallets wait in the busy month and 2 × 15 = 30 pallets in the quiet one. The difference is a delay of 50 pallets. In practice dispatch may not have to stop completely, but a count in a busy period always costs more.

Peaks by sector

• Building materials: sales and dispatch rise when the construction season opens, and in the cold months work generally slows. The suitable period for a count is mostly these quiet months; just watch for a clash with the year-end close.
• Textiles and garments: collection deliveries and order periods set the peaks. Place the count between two waves of orders; the cutting plan shows the empty week.
• Furniture and retail: holiday shopping and sales before the new year rise. Put the count not inside these periods but in the quiet week right after them.

If you hold building materials in an open yard, take the weather into account too: on hot summer days or wet winter days counting slows down and errors rise. If needed, you can count the covered warehouse and the open yard on two separate dates. These are general tendencies; your own sales chart always decides.

The calendars of two countries

With head office in Turkey and the warehouse in Uzbekistan, there are two official holiday calendars. In Uzbekistan, besides public holidays such as Navruz, Independence Day and New Year, the dates of religious holidays change every year; the holidays in Turkey may also fall on different dates and last for different lengths of time. If count day falls in a week when nobody is at head office to read the report, the result simply waits. Confirm public holidays and any bridge days in writing with your local accountant and with head office.

Score the candidate dates

Score two or three candidate dates against the same criteria. An illustrative case: the criteria are dispatch intensity (1 low, 3 high), workload at head office or accounting (0 none, 1 present) and closing pressure (0 none, 1 present). The February candidate scores 1 + 0 + 1 = 2 and the May candidate 3 + 1 + 0 = 4. A lower score means fewer clashes, so February is chosen. Scoring does not have to be scientific, but it ties the decision to a written reason and shortens the argument.

A reserve date and approval time

Set the count date in writing at least two months ahead and add a reserve date as well. An urgent order, a delayed shipment or a team member falling ill can push the first date back; leave at least a week between the first date and the reserve date. A date near the month end makes comparison with the accounting balance easier, but month-end sales may also be the busiest; weigh the two effects. Allow also for the time head office and accounting take to approve results: between the count date and the close there must be enough days for the report.

In short

The right date makes a count cheaper and its result more reliable; for that you need your own data, the calendars of both countries and a reserve date. StockSystem sets count days and hours together with your production and dispatch calendar, and works nights or weekends when needed.