Store Management and Stock Control Training Course

Participants can establish roles, procedures and escalation arrangements for controlled store operations.

• Store organisation structures for central, satellite, project, and field stores
• Job roles, delegated authorities, and accountability matrices for stock transactions
• Standard operating procedures for routine, urgent, and exceptional material movements
• Shift handovers recording open transactions, restricted stock, and pending deliveries
• Escalation paths for damaged goods, shortages, expired items, and security incidents
• Document retention schedules supporting audit trails and operational traceability

Participants can improve item master data and establish coding rules that support reliable control.

• Item master fields: description, unit, lead time, location, and status
• Stock coding structures using commodity, category, sequence, and revision attributes
• Standardised descriptions distinguishing specifications, sizes, grades, and pack quantities
• Units of measure conversion controls for purchasing, storage, and issue
• Duplicate-item detection through description matching and attribute comparison
• Inactive, superseded, and substitute item records controlled through approval workflows

Participants can operate a controlled receiving process from delivery arrival to accepted stock.

• Delivery scheduling, dock preparation, and safe unloading responsibilities
• Three-way matching between purchase order, delivery note, and receipt record
• Quantity verification using count, weigh, measure, and pack-check methods
• Quality inspection criteria, sampling plans, and acceptance documentation
• Quarantine controls for rejected, damaged, suspect, and uninspected materials
• Goods-received notes recording discrepancies, condition, ownership, and location

Participants can design put-away and location practices that support safe, fast and accurate retrieval.

• Location addressing using zone, aisle, bay, level, and bin identifiers
• Put-away rules based on velocity, compatibility, weight, and handling requirements
• Slotting analysis for fast movers, bulky items, and restricted materials
• Travel-path reduction through ABC location planning and pick-face replenishment
• 5S workplace organisation applied to storage areas, staging zones, and workstations
• Visual management using labels, floor markings, signs, and location maps

Participants can select storage and handling controls appropriate to material characteristics and risks.

• Storage media selection: shelving, racking, pallets, bins, and cages
• Load limits, stacking rules, and inspection requirements for storage equipment
• Material handling equipment matched to load, travel, height, and frequency
• FIFO, FEFO, and batch control for dated and perishable inventory
• Preservation routines for corrosion, moisture, temperature, dust, and contamination
• Hazardous-material segregation using safety data sheets and compatibility tables

Participants can classify inventory and assign control intensity according to value, movement and criticality.

• ABC analysis using annual usage value and cumulative percentage thresholds
• FSN analysis separating fast, slow, and non-moving stock
• VED criticality classification for vital, essential, and desirable items
• Multi-criteria inventory segmentation combining value, movement, and operational risk
• Control policies differentiated by classification, review frequency, and approval level
• Service-level targets matched to item criticality and demand consequences

Participants can interpret demand history and select suitable inventory planning assumptions.

• Demand history cleansing for returns, errors, exceptional issues, and duplicates
• Trend, seasonality, intermittency, and volatility in stock consumption patterns
• Moving averages for stable demand and short planning horizons
• Exponential smoothing concepts for recurring consumption and forecast updates
• Intermittent-demand considerations for maintenance spares and project materials
• Forecast error measures using mean absolute deviation and percentage error

Participants can calculate and maintain replenishment settings for controlled stock availability.

• Reorder point calculation from lead-time demand and safety stock
• Safety stock decisions using demand variability, lead time, and service targets
• Economic order quantity balancing ordering costs and holding costs
• Min-max planning rules for routine consumables and predictable demand
• Periodic review systems using review intervals and order-up-to levels
• Supplier lead-time monitoring and parameter changes after delivery performance shifts

Participants can control stock issue, picking, returns and transfer transactions accurately.

• Issue authorisation linked to work orders, requisitions, budgets, and project codes
• Picking methods: discrete, batch, zone, and wave picking
• Pick confirmation controls using scan, count-back, and signed issue vouchers
• Partial issue, substitution, backorder, and emergency issue procedures
• Returns inspection separating reusable, damaged, excess, and scrap materials
• Inter-store transfers documented through dispatch, receipt, and reconciliation records

Participants can maintain accurate perpetual inventory records and prevent common transaction errors.

• Perpetual inventory records updated at each approved stock movement
• Transaction timestamps, user identification, and audit trails within inventory systems
• Negative inventory prevention through validation rules and exception reporting
• Backdated transaction controls and period-close cut-off procedures
• Adjustment codes distinguishing count errors, damage, loss, and data corrections
• Root-cause categories for recurring record inaccuracies and corrective actions

Participants can plan and conduct cycle counts and full stocktakes with sound reconciliation controls.

• Cycle-count frequency determined by ABC class, risk, and transaction volume
• Count plans defining scope, blind counts, tolerances, and independent checks
• Freeze procedures controlling movements during physical stocktake activities
• First-count and recount methods for investigating material variances
• Inventory reconciliation between physical quantities, records, and financial balances
• Count accuracy reporting by item class, location, counter, and variance reason

Participants can investigate inventory discrepancies and strengthen loss-prevention controls.

• Variance investigation using transaction history, documents, interviews, and physical checks
• Five Whys and fishbone diagrams for discrepancy root-cause analysis
• Shrinkage categories: theft, damage, process failure, and recording error
• Access controls for restricted areas, high-value stock, and sensitive materials
• CCTV, seals, visitor logs, and key registers as deterrent controls
• Corrective-action registers assigning owners, deadlines, verification, and closure evidence

Participants can identify, value and dispose of excess, obsolete and non-moving inventory responsibly.

• Ageing reports segmented by last movement, value, condition, and ownership
• Obsolescence causes: specification change, project closure, expiry, and technology replacement
• Excess-stock reviews against forecast demand, open orders, and minimum levels
• Disposition options: redeployment, return, sale, donation, recycling, and disposal
• Approval controls for write-downs, write-offs, and disposal decisions
• Disposal records preserving authorisation, valuation, buyer, and environmental evidence

Participants can manage store safety, security and continuity risks through practical control measures.

• Risk assessments covering manual handling, vehicle movements, fire, and storage hazards
• Incident reporting processes for injuries, near misses, damage, and security events
• Emergency access, evacuation routes, fire equipment, and muster arrangements
• Business continuity plans for system outage, disaster, theft, and supplier disruption
• Contingency issue procedures maintaining traceability during inventory system downtime
• Periodic control testing for access, alarms, stock custody, and emergency readiness

Participants can build management reports that show store performance, control status and action needs.

• Inventory accuracy rate calculated from verified records and physical counts
• Stock availability and fill-rate measures for service performance
• Inventory turnover and days-on-hand for working-capital monitoring
• Order-picking accuracy, receiving turnaround, and put-away time metrics
• Dashboard design using targets, trends, exceptions, and action owners
• Management review packs linking performance gaps to corrective actions

Participants can convert store-control findings into a prioritised and measurable improvement programme.

• Gap assessment against documented procedures, observed practice, and control requirements
• Prioritisation matrix using risk, cost, service impact, and implementation effort
• Improvement charters defining scope, objectives, milestones, owners, and measures
• RACI matrices for procedure changes, approvals, training, and monitoring
• Standard work documents translated into briefings, checklists, and supervisor audits
• Implementation reviews tracking adoption, exceptions, benefits, and unresolved risks

Participants can build, review and present a complete store management and stock control improvement plan.

• Store profile defining materials, customers, risks, systems, and service commitments
• Process map showing receiving, storage, issue, returns, counts, and adjustments
• Inventory segmentation with ABC, FSN, criticality, and proposed control rules
• Replenishment model specifying reorder points, safety stock, and review cycles
• Cycle-count programme with tolerances, investigation steps, and management reporting
• Improvement roadmap sequencing controls, owners, resources, milestones, and benefits