A receiving checklist for every delivery

Think of the receiving door as the border control of your stockroom. Anything that gets past it becomes your problem: a short count, a damaged box, the wrong item with a very convincing label. After it is on the shelf, finding out where an error came from takes ten times as long.

So the cheapest hour of stock control is the one at the dock. A routine, even a short one, pays for itself quickly.

Before the driver leaves

• Match the delivery note to an open purchase order. If there is no order, ask why before you sign.
• Look at the outside of every box. Crushed corners, wet patches and broken seals are easier to note while the driver is standing there.
• Count the cartons against the paperwork. A short count noted at the door is a claim. Noticed next week, it is an argument.

Then the detail

Once the driver is gone, open the boxes. Check that the item is the one you ordered, not just something with a similar label. Count the units inside, since the number on a carton can be wrong. If the item has a lot number or expiry date, read it and record it now. Next week it will be buried under other boxes.

Record what came

Enter the quantity you counted, not the one on the paperwork. If it differs, the receipt should say so and the order should keep the balance. Do this the same day. Stock that is physically in the building but not in the system is invisible to everyone who is trying to sell it.

Stock that is in the building but not in the system is invisible.

Put it away the same day

A delivery that sits by the door is stock the system knows about and nobody can find. Take it to its home location, and make sure the location on the record is the same as the shelf. It sounds like housekeeping. It is the step that keeps the next count short.

When something is wrong

• Short: record what arrived, leave the balance open and tell the supplier.
• Damaged: refuse it or note it on the delivery note, photograph it, and keep it apart from good stock.
• Wrong item: do not receive it against the order. Set it aside and ask for a return.
• Extra: contact the supplier before putting it away.

Make the checklist yours

The list above is a starting point. The version that works is the one that matches your door. A shop receiving ten big pallets a week needs a forklift routine. A shop receiving thirty small parcels a day needs a trolley, a table and a good pair of scissors.

Keep the checklist to one page and keep it where the work happens. Ask the person who actually does the receiving to edit it. After a few weeks, add the three mistakes you actually made and delete the steps nobody follows.

It is worth reviewing after anything goes wrong. A short delivery that slipped through is a gift: it shows you exactly which step was missing.