Cycle Count

Introduction

Cycle Count is the process of continuous counting in the warehouse, such that a large inventory run once or twice a year is unnecessary. When using cycle counting, the order pickers will do some counting every day, when order pressure is low. When used correctly, the stock is kept always up-to-date.

How it works

Cycle Count in StockControl is implemented in the Control Center and needs explicit actions from the warehouse manager to run. Cycle counting is done on locations. The system will keep a “last counted” timestamp per location to see if the location needs counting, based on the length of the cycle.

Open

The cycle count uses the following parameters:

• Days between counts, this is the number of days between two consecutive total counts. If you for example want to have counted all stock at least once per year, this number should be 365.

• Order lines per order, this is the size of the count order to use when creating the count orders. These should be not too large if you want to count in the “dead” hours, but fairly large if you have dedicated counting hours.

Then there are the following actions:

• Reset cycle, this will reset all “last counted” times on the locations.

• Refresh, this will refresh the number of locations set to be counted.

• Start, this will generate the counting orders needed to get up to speed with the cycle. (See below)

• Stop, this will remove all existing count orders, but keeps the cycle intact.

Usage

1. The warehouse manager sets the cycle and clicks “Reset Cycle”. This needs to be done only once.

2. Each time there is no active work available, or on a designated time slot (whatever the warehouse policy is), the warehouse manager clicks “Start”

3. The system will generate the necessary count orders to fulfil the needs of the cycle. Let’s say we have a 100-day cycle:

   1. When pressing “Start” on day one, you will get 1/100 of locations to be counted.

   2. When pressing “Start” on day two, you will get 2/100 of locations to be counted, because the counting of day one needs to be done as well.

   3. Press “Start” on day one, but you only process 50% of the count orders generated. When pressing “Start” on day two will give you 1.5/100 of the locations to be counted.

   4. When pressing “Start” each week, you will get 7/100 of the locations each week.

Setting a zone to be counted DEVELOPER

Only locations in a zone configured for counting will be eligible for counting. Besides locations we have an option to also count carriers to accommodate counting inside a mini-load storage system. The count method of the zone determines what count method is used and needs to be configured in the wms_zone table. The available options are: