Cycle Counting Beats Physical Inventory Count, Hands Down

For those of you who still shut down your facility once or twice a year to review inventory, I have to ask why. With cycle counting, there is no need for such disruption.

The best way to ensure inventory accuracy is to continually count your products part of your inventory every day and each item several times per year.

It's no big secret that cycle counting programs are critical for any company that seeks greater efficiency in the supply chain. And even though it may not deliver perfect accuracy, cycle counting does offer a long list of benefits such as reduced operating costs, higher service levels, improved shipping accuracy, and lower inventory levels.

Some other interesting findings from a recent survey-based report on this topic include:

Top-performing companies are capable of inventory accuracy greater than 99%, while the average company can achieve 98%.

Nearly half of companies still use a combination of cycle counting and physical inventory.

Cycle count frequency rises as the priority of parts increases.

Scheduling cycle counts is generally the job of an inventory control specialist or inventory control manager.

So what cycle counting initiatives has your company undertaken, if any? Do you need better ways to help you move to cycle counting?

Jim
Tompkins Inc.