Anybody take inventory at your job?

[2barmcattle]

I am a GM for a lumberyard and.......WOW.....taking our physical inventory stresses me out. :devil2: :devil2: I mean really bad. I eat very little for the few days leading up to it which means I always loose 3 or 4 lbs. I pay NO attention to my family and very short(not rude..just really don't fully pay attention) with my customers. The only part of my job that I don't mind saying that I truly HATE!! My guts are truly in a knot for at least a week.

I have always believed that if you do things right (no short cuts) then you won't create any problems and I still believe that. There are so many other things that can happen.....and so many people that you have to rely on doing their jobs right for the year. And then....the pressure from corporate depts are huge before and after.

I finished yesterday and it was a good result by the way. After 23 yrs I have really only had a couple bad ones......you remember those for sure.

Anybody else???

 

[Jogeephus]

I know exactly what you are talking about. That used to be my livelihood and for some reason I was pretty good at it. I had a knack for figuring out what happened to the missing units and could solve some very strange problems. Working for the largest company in the country in this field problems were a plenty. I hated the job. Stress was unbelievable. Everyone tugging at you from every direction since inventory will really hit the bottom line. Like you say, you have to depend on others to a large degree and after awhile you will wonder how some people find their cars in the morning. Unfortunately my knack for it just made things worse because I was punished by becoming the inventory hitman who was flown across the US to do spot audits to find out what was wrong with other inventories within the company. For my sake I bailed out of the job after 3 years and even refused to return after they offered to triple my salary.

 

[Lammie]

My husband works at a mobile home plant and they take inventory every quarter. It is very stressful for him. They have to do it on a Saturday and he hates it.

 

[grannysoo]

I've done it in the past. Hope I never have to do it again. Some of those 18 hour weekend days, and some of the other teams couldn't count....

 

[farmwriter]

My husband has to do inventory every year the Fri and Sat after Thanksgiving. He'll work 18 hours on Fri and sometimes that long on Sat, but many of the guys want to leave for ball games on Sat, so they have to come back in on Sunday. Hubby stays Sat to be at church Sun. I hate that weekend. He's ill and so am I. Sure puts a damper on the holiday.

 

[brandonm_13]

I never really minded inventory, although I don't do it at my current job. At one place, we closed down for the day, which really just gave me a break from customers. At another, we stayed open, but we kept very little stock on hand so inventory wasn't very bad at all.

 

[Brute 23]

My brother audits companies for a private firm and its always the same deal, you can definatly tell when he is doing inventory. I always share some stories about the deer I saw in the morning, the hogs I killed last night, my plans to cut the day short and go fishing or to shoot. He really appreciates that... :lol2:

 

[MO_cows]

My first "real job" was with a wholesale liquor company. The annual inventory was audited by the state liquor control board, and even breakage had to be accounted for by saving the bottle necks to show the unbroken seals. And your liquor license was on the line. It was very stressful and a lot of work for the whole crew. Even the sales force was obligated to put some jeans on and help count, since we couldn't fill orders from start to finish anyway. And this was before the computer could be of much help, there were days of adding machine work to extrapolate everything into gallons and dollars.

The fire department was very particular in their inspections, too.

A huge warehouse full of spirits by the pallet load is something to see.....

 

[2barmcattle]

They are harder every year. This year was one of the hardest with the economy the way it is. And of course the first and easiest place to cut is your wages. Running the place on very few people and that just leads to more stress about what we might have missed throughout the year from just not having enough bodies. Had a fraud case this year too from an employee that I trusted very highly.....she just couldn't make ends meet and was steeling from us. Not that she has an excuse.....I told the authorities that I wanted to prosecute to the full extent of the law.........It's just getting worse all of the time when you have a hard time knowing who you can trust. Oh well.....the rest of my job is pretty cool and I make a better living than most of my freinds so I am really quite blessed overall. :tiphat:

 

[spinandslide]

We do twice yearly inventory here. Ive found that preparation and "getting a system down" are the two most important things. We start to make sure everything is labeled about a week prior..straighten up shelves,ect,ect. Everyone had a "job"..counting,entering,ect.

Our last inventory went the best yet. no LONG overtime hours or having to come in on Sauturday.

 

[2barmcattle]

Feels good to have it over huh?

Good job on the good results too!!!

We do twice yearly inventory here. Ive found that preparation and "getting a system down" are the two most important things. We start to make sure everything is labeled about a week prior..straighten up shelves,ect,ect. Everyone had a "job"..counting,entering,ect.

Our last inventory went the best yet. no LONG overtime hours or having to come in on Sauturday.

 

[cypressfarms]

I've done way too many inventories. At my previous job, as operations manager, if the inventory was off over a certain %, it would affect your pay. That can be stressful to say the least...