The pre-count site visit: what the contractor finds out

When you order a stock count, the first question is usually the same: "How much will it cost and how many days will it take?" Without seeing the warehouse, nobody can answer it properly. Two warehouses with the same 5,000 items can mean one day of work or three. The difference comes from rack height, lighting, how goods are laid out and the access conditions. That is why the contractor visits the site before work begins. Here is what the visit establishes and how to prepare for it.

Why a visit is needed

A stock report on paper shows the size of the count only in part. It gives the number of items but says nothing about where and how the goods are stored. A visit lets the contractor quote price and timing by calculation rather than guesswork, and choose team size and equipment in advance. Owners often think of their own warehouse as "ordinary"; a visitor spots the narrow aisle or the product stored in three places at once. The client gains too: what must be prepared is known before the count, so nothing unexpected turns up on the day.

What is assessed during the visit

The contractor usually looks at the following:

• number and type of items: how many lines, and whether goods are counted by piece, box or weight;
• layout: rack height, whether ladders or a lift are needed, how many tiers the pallets stand in;
• lighting and temperature: dark corners, cold rooms, open yards;
• labels and barcodes: whether they exist, whether they scan, whether they sit on the pack or the shelf;
• order: whether the warehouse is divided into zones with marked bins, or goods are mixed together;
• stock movement: whether receipts and dispatches stop during the count;
• access: passes, working hours, goods lift, parking;
• the records system: 1C or Excel, and whether balances can be exported to a table.

Each point affects the time. Goods without labels must be identified by hand every time, mixed storage sends the team back to the same spot again and again, and in a dark corner counting slows down and errors become likelier.

What the client prepares

Nothing complicated is needed, but the following makes the visit far more useful:

1. The current stock report: name, quantity, location.
2. A warehouse plan, or at least a list of zones.
3. A responsible person who will show the site and answer questions.
4. Results of earlier counts: where the differences were largest.
5. Convenient count dates and any restrictions on working hours.

The visit can go ahead without this list, but the contractor will ask about much of it on the spot and lose time.

A hypothetical example

The warehouse holds about 8,000 items, racks reach 6 metres, the upper tiers are poorly lit and some barcodes have worn off. After the visit the contractor works it out: the upper tiers need ladders and lamps, the worn codes will be keyed in by hand, so the count takes two days rather than one and the team is larger. These figures are invented for illustration; real timing depends on the particular warehouse.

Questions you ask the contractor

A visit runs both ways. While the contractor inspects the site, put your own questions:

• how many people are in the team and who leads the work;
• how the count is checked: whether there is a recount or a spot check;
• what the report will contain and in what form it is delivered;
• whether work at night or at the weekend is possible;
• how price and timing change if the volume turns out larger than expected.

Write the answers down; they will go into the contract.

What you receive afterwards

Ask for a written proposal, not a spoken "about two days": it should state the scope of work, team size, timing, price, a list of what your side must do before the count, and the form of the report. The point is that this document should hold figures based on what was seen, not assumptions. It is also worth stating what the price covers: the count itself, the report, a recheck of discrepancies. That avoids disputes later.

Conclusion

The visit is not a formality but the first step of the count. At Inventory, too, a specialist inspects the site after the request and a short conversation, sets the number of items, scope and timing, and the exact price is quoted after the free warehouse assessment. Only then is a contract drawn up.