Store management
Storekeeping is that aspect of material control concerned with the
physical storage of goods.”
In other words, storekeeping relates to art of preserving raw materials,
work-in-progress and finished goods in the stores.
Cont.
Objectives of Store management
Following are the main objectives of an efficient system of storekeeping:
1. To ensure uninterrupted supply of materials and stores without delay to various
production and service departments of the organization.
2. To prevent overstocking and under stocking of materials,
3. To protect materials from pilferage, theft fire and other risks.
4. To minimize the storage costs.
5. To ensure proper and continuous control over materials.
6. To ensure most effective utilization of available storage space and workers engaged in
the process of storekeeping.
Functions of Storekeeping
1. Issuing purchase requisitions to Purchasing Department as and when
necessity for materials in stores arises.
2. Receiving purchased materials with the purchasing order quality.
3. Storing and preserving materials at proper and convenient places
4. Storing the materials to prevent losses due to defective storage handling.
5. Issuing materials to various departments against material requisition slips
duly authorized by the respective departmental heads.
6. Undertaking a proper system of inventory control, taking up physical
inventory of all stores at periodical intervals and also to maintain proper
records of inventory.
7. Providing full information about the availability of materials and goods etc.,
with the help of bin cards and stores ledger etc.
Working of the stores
There are four sections in the process of storekeeping .
(a) Receiving section,
(b) Storage section,
(c) Accounting section, and
(d) Issue section.
Working of the stores
(a) Receiving Section:
There are four kinds of inventories received by stores viz., (i) raw materials, (ii) stores and supplies, (iii)
tools and equipments, (iv) work-in- progress or semi-finished goods.
Following procedure is followed in receiving these inventories:
(i) Receiving these incoming materials in stores.
(ii) Checking and inspection of these incoming materials and stores etc.
(iii) Recording the incoming materials in goods received book.
(iv) Preparing and forwarding goods inwards note to purchasing section.
(v) Informing the purchase department about damaged and defective goods and surplus or deficit supplies
etc. along with rejection forms and notes.
(vi) Returning damaged or defective goods to the suppliers in accordance with the instructions of the
purchase department.
(vii) Forwarding the materials to respective stores and locations where these are to be stored or preserved.
Working of the stores
(b) Storage Section:
The store room should be located at a convenient and appropriate place. It should have ample
facilities to store the materials properly viz. bins, racks and shelves etc. There can be a single
store room in case of a small organization, but a large scale concern can have different or
multiple stock rooms in addition to general or main store.
The separate stockrooms may be used for different classes of inventories. The material should
be stored in such a manner as to protect it against the risks of damage, destruction and any
kind of loss. Each article should have identifying marks viz., stamping, embossing, colour,
coding and painting etc. These risks are very useful in locating or identifying an article in the
stores.
Working of the stores
(c) Accounting Section:
This section is concerned with keeping proper records with regard to receipt and issue
of materials. The primary task of this section is to undertake the process of inventory
control.
(d) Issue Section:
The materials should be issued to respective departments on receiving duly authorised
requisition slips. An entry should be made immediately on the bin card attached with
the bin from where the material has been issued.
Bin cards contain valuable information with regard to receipt and issue of materials,
which is greatly helpful in exercising a system of inventory control. These cards are
further helpful in determining various levels of materials viz., maximum, minimum,
and re-ordering level.
Working of the stores
What is a stores ledger?
A stores ledger is a manual or computer record of the raw materials and production
supplies stored in a production facility. It is maintained by the person responsible for
these assets, such as the warehouse manager. A stores ledger is particularly useful for
maintaining a perpetual inventory system, since it tracks the current quantity of items
on hand.
A stores ledger can be used for the following purposes:
• By auditors, to see how well the company's inventory records compare to its on-hand
quantities.
• By the purchasing staff, to determine when and in what quantities to purchase
additional inventory items.
• By the accounting staff, to use as the basis for calculating the ending cost of
inventory on hand.
What is a stores ledger?
Store design
The store room is commonly described as a place for everything and everything at
its place.
The size and the type of the storage space is dependent on varied factors such as
number of items to be stored, quantity, characteristics of the materials to be stored,
space, due consideration should also be given to the space required for the
movement of material handling equipment inside the store area.
The ways inside the store room are divided between the main tracks and side
streets. The main track must provide for two way movement and the side streets
for one way.
Store design
The following eight types of equipment are commonly used in storing materials:
1) Pallets and skids
2) Open and closed shelving
3) Cabinets (with or without counters)
4) Bins
5) Tacking boxes
6) Special storage racks
7) Gravity feed racks
Factors to Consider in Manufacturing Layouts
• Type of product
• Type of production process
• Ergonomic considerations
• Economic considerations
• Space availability within the facility
