Any inventory/storeroom experts around here?

02/17/2015 11:01:49 AM · #1

I'm trying to find any kind of reading material on store room organization, specifically as it relates to the IT industry. I am about to do a major overhaul of our store room at work and I am interested in seeing if there is anything about a logical storage of materials- i.e.should all cables be stored together or is it more efficient to store certain cables near the peripherals they go with- things of that nature. I am usually the first one to tell people to just Google it but I'm not sure where to begin on this.

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

02/17/2015 11:23:51 AM · #2

Who are your shoppers? People who will tell you they need a micro USB to HDMI cord? Or people who will tell you they need a cord for their monitor. Start there maybe...

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

02/17/2015 11:33:28 AM · #3

alphabetical order.

02/17/2015 11:50:35 AM · #4

Originally posted by bvy:

Who are your shoppers? People who will tell you they need a micro USB to HDMI cord? Or people who will tell you they need a cord for their monitor. Start there maybe...

I work for a large healthcare org. So this is hardware that gets deployed to end users, and stock for the technicians that do break/fix calls

02/17/2015 11:58:10 AM · #5

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by bvy:
Who are your shoppers? People who will tell you they need a micro USB to HDMI cord? Or people who will tell you they need a cord for their monitor. Start there maybe...

I work for a large healthcare org. So this is hardware that gets deployed to end users, and stock for the technicians that do break/fix calls

Fair enough. Interview whoever will be pulling the stock. Research is great, but the solution has to work for the people that will be subject to it.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/17/2015 12:00:21 PM · #6

By the way, I'm no "expert." But I did have oatmeal for breakfast.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/17/2015 12:16:23 PM · #7

I'm pretty sure Jason's point is that there is probably a wealth of information out there and he wants to scan it to be sure he's not trying to reinvent the wheel before he goes polling his end-users to set up a customized system...

02/17/2015 12:19:15 PM · #8

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Good call Robert, I am mostly just wondering if there is some good recognized systems for stocking. I'm not so much worried about whats good for the techs when they pull hardware as much as whats best to keep me organized. I live in the store room when I'm at work.

02/17/2015 12:31:50 PM · #9

Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/17/2015 12:33:25 PM · #10

Originally posted by bvy:

Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Dunno but I'll Google that

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/17/2015 01:30:33 PM · #11

Originally posted by bvy:

Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job, but if they don't know the principles of warehouse space planning the won't be of any use...

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

02/17/2015 01:35:21 PM · #12

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:
Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job...

Yes. That's what I meant.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

02/17/2015 01:37:16 PM · #13

I would also search "logistics" ... maybe talk to one of those companies which design custom closets/inserts.

My basic plan would be that heavy stuff should go on the bottom, least-used stuff above, most-used stuff at eye-level ...

I always have intended (but not gotten around to) hanging all the cables on some pegboard on a wall ...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/17/2015 01:58:02 PM · #14

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:
Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job...

Yes. That's what I meant.

lol, i never knew you were an internet grammar nazi robert ;)

Giles

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

02/17/2015 02:07:37 PM · #15

when i moved out to munich to work for sun microsystem i spent a week logicalising their store room and labelling stuff

unfortunately its based on how your guys work and how tidy etc they are, things like cables normally go in bins by length and type then most used stuff at the front and avoid any space to dump stuff for other people to sort out

have controlled access so you know who's made a mess and print policy on wall

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/17/2015 03:06:11 PM · #16

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:
Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job...

Yes. That's what I meant.

lol, i never knew you were an internet grammar nazi robert ;)

Cripes. Right over my head. Okay, that's not what I meant.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/17/2015 03:24:32 PM · #17

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:
Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job...

Yes. That's what I meant.

lol, i never knew you were an internet grammar nazi robert ;)

Cripes. Right over my head. Okay, that's not what I meant.

jejeje... all in good fun...

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

02/17/2015 04:18:21 PM · #18

I do logistics in the Navy - can't say that some of the storerooms I worked in have been the epitome of organization, but some of the established ones on the ships are much better than what I've been assigned to deal with.

Everything we deal with has some kind of stock number, usually an NSN which eases requisitioning, like items are grouped together in a single location, and locations have a hierarchy, usually alphanumerical.

Each 'P' would be a separate physical location, group of shelves/drawers/etc, each 'A' or 'B' would be a shelf, the number after each could be also another shelf or another side of the shelf but labeled...

example:

class P01 - Networking
location P01A1 - Connectors
location P01A2 - Network cables
location P01B1 - Routers
location P01B2 - WAP's

class P02 - Peripherals
location P02A1 - Monitors
location P02A1 - Keyboards
location P02A2 - Mice

And so on.

Physical organization will probably be dictated by size/weight of the items, heavy at the bottom definitely makes sense and usually lower numerical locations at the top is easy to understand.

Periodic inventory will be based off location to verify which items are in that location and quantity, etc. The class/location system might be worth the effort up front to make things more clear later.

Not sure if you will be dealing with shelf life and such? Another can of worms.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

02/17/2015 04:19:37 PM · #19

All depends on just how much stuff you have to stock and manage. If the number of items is large, then assigning part numbers to them and tracking inventory in a database is the way to go. In the physical storeroom, every shelf has a location code, and the part numbers and quantities present at that location are reflected in the database. Access to the stockroom is controlled, and bar-coding is used to check parts out and in.
That's how we manage inventory for electronic assembly, and we track boatloads of information. Given any one of thousands of active part numbers, I can tell you how many we have, in which specific locations, when we bought them, how much we paid, who we bought them from, when their shelf life expires, etc.; I'm sure you don't need that level of complexity, but the basic theory applies.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

02/17/2015 04:57:25 PM · #20

Ok, this is something I do so I guess I'll weigh in, although I'm not specifically an inventory guy, inventory in healthcare is something I am more familiar with that I would like to be.

First, I would seriously look into MRO storeroom practices - I don't suspect reliability is a HUGE deal for you, but you might as well get familiar with the standards.

Next, I would look into the ISO 9000 requirements, and see if there is anything applicable to you. It's more general than you're looking for, but it's likely you'll find some use - and if nothing else, being able to spout off about ISO 9000 isn't a bad thing when you work in healthcare.

Additionally, another potential issue is calibration - not sure what your client/company does, but many parts of regulated industries have strict regulations for calibration - so take a look at the inventory and figure out if anything is a rotating item which requires calibration, those should be treated differently than standard inventory items. (Hint: These are almost always classified as tools)

As for MadMan2k's suggestion about naming - it's good - don't be tempted to name locations for their current purpose. Dumb numbers are superior because the location's purpose may change, but it's physical location will not. Always a good idea to be generic about that stuff.

A big 'bonus' is the opportunity to address the future, to anticipate and be flexible enough to deal with change - I think that's the biggest mistake I've seen in storeroom planning - over-planning for the now, with little or no thought for tomorrow.

Storerooms are often huge opportunities for improvements and cost reduction/ROI improvements - look for loss prevention opportunities (check history, look for manual adjustments and reorder points that are out of whack), and for general process improvements. No idea if this is out of scope for you, but if not, this could be a good thing to look into.

Finally, I would seriously consider the technology end of this - is it feasible to set up a cheap RFID tagging system that could increase tracking visibility and decrease errors? Do you currently have a barcode system in place? What does your software look like? Consider the way your software works, because that may have some influence on layout or process. Essentially, when we do a site survey we look at all of these things (although it's always Maximo software, so that reduces the complexity some), and then evaluate what realistic ROI is on any potential process improvements which COULD be implemented, then decide what is appropriate and will have a good balance of ROI and UX improvement.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

02/17/2015 05:00:43 PM · #21

I guess I should have mentioned that I am implementing a inventory software. I will created a bar code for each item for purposes of knowing what we have in the storeroom as far as item counts, once a piece of hardware leaves the storeroom it is tracked in another program

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

02/17/2015 05:01:04 PM · #22

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by bvy:
Could the principals of warehouse space planning apply?

Maybe the principals could apply for Jason's job...

Yes. That's what I meant.

lol, i never knew you were an internet grammar nazi robert ;)

Cripes. Right over my head. Okay, that's not what I meant.

jejeje... all in good fun...

|

Heck, we don't even want his job, we'd just like to be his trusted advisor. :)

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

02/17/2015 05:01:42 PM · #23

Originally posted by smardaz:

INTEGRATE!!! This would be the time to make that happen. Huge ROI opportunity.