As a logistics service provider, you are the expert when it comes to the popularity of your customers’ products. Namely, you often see them coming along during the goods-in and -out processes in your warehouse. That is, more often than the less popular ones. Therefore, for these fast moving goods, it is more important to match your administrative stock with your actual stock. Because if you – in this category – unsuspectedly deal with a shortage, both your customers as theirs will not be happy. For this reason, we added multiple possibilities to our Cycle Counting module. This way you are able to adjust your stock counts to your customers even better.

Remind me, what is Cycle Counting again?

With the Cycle Counting module, you automatically create count assignments in your system. Your employees get to see these orders on their scanner, on a moment you determined beforehand. This way they do not have to count your entire stock at once, but you continuously keep your administrative stock real-time in line with the actual stock in your warehouse. No surprises and more workforce efficiency.

New kind of stock counts in your WMS

With the new options in our Cycle Count module your possibilities fit even better to your customer’s work activities. For example, you can indicate how many times you should count per category (from slow moving to fast moving goods). Or you can choose to let the system randomly design count assignments. More about the new flavors and how you design it in your WMS, is what you can find below.

Stock counts where you randomly select an article

Firstly, you have the possibility to let the system create count assignments on a number of random articles. You can view this as a sample. The number of articles is something you decide yourself. By regularly giving a random count order, you have an accessible way of keeping your administrative stock up to date. Did your colleague work hard an does he have some spare time? A small random counting order makes sure he does not get bored and you get a return on the wage you pay him.

Stock counts based on your ABC classification

Moreover, you can determine how many times you want to count articles from a specific ABC category. This is a perfect way to prevent your fast moving goods to run out or your racks with slow moving goods to become overfull. After you have successfully done an ABC analysis, you can indicate how many times you would like to give count orders on article level. You can do this, for example, each day, every other day or weekly. Just what seems right to you in a particular situation.

How you can do an ABC analysis yourself?

In a previous blog, I explained to you how you could do an ABC Analysis yourself in Microsoft Dynamics. Hereby, you have your fast- and slow moving goods in picture at once. Based on these insights you can optimize your warehouse design. Besides, now you can even have more insight than before. As you can see below, you can see per pick location how many times it is restocked and how many units get picked per average picking order.

Design parameters based on an order queue

Until now, you could already filter Cycle Counting assigments on zones and customer level. However, this demands that you manually prepare these tasks. Would you like to apply these filters by default? From now on, you have the possibility to set these up with an order queue. You set these up based on the method you attached to a customer, article or location. Did you attach multiple methods? Then, the system gives the highest priority to the customer level. By doing so, you always meet your customers’ demands.

Would you like to optimize your stock counts?

It is known that with Cycle Counting you keep your own administrative stock up to date. This sounds as a thing that only benefits you, but it boosts your service level towards your customers enormously. Do you want to integrate Cycle Counting with your daily activities or would you like to make use of the new possibilities in this blog? Do not hesitate to contact us. Because you can count on us.