Roles in a count team: counter, checker, recorder, supervisor

In a poorly organised count one person does everything: finds the item, counts it, types the number and decides whether it is right. When the result turns out wrong, nobody can say at which step. A count team in which tasks are divided, pairs change and the supervisor does not count makes both errors and arguments rarer. The roles below work for a team of six as well as for a team of sixty.

The four roles

• Counter: handles the goods. Finds the location, counts or reads the item and scans it. Counts what is physically there.
• Checker: the second pair of eyes. Confirms that the item matches its label, that the location label is right and that the quantity is plausible. On sample lines or flagged lines, the checker recounts independently.
• Recorder: writes quantities on the count sheet or monitors uploads from the devices. Keeps the progress sheet and exports the data when each zone ends. Does not touch the goods.
• Supervisor: assigns zones, answers questions with the instruction and approves the closing of zones. Does not count.

Add one local contact, someone who knows the warehouse and answers questions about the items.

Give each role a half-page card that says what the person does, what they do not do and whom they call when something goes wrong. The "does not do" line prevents most overlaps. The counter does not key in someone else's scanned quantity, the recorder does not change a number without asking the counter, and the supervisor does not count.

Pairs that rotate

• Two people form a pair, one counting and one checking. After each zone or half-day they swap roles, so that the person who has just counted checks next.
• Change the pairs at least once a day. No pair should see one area from one point of view only, and recounts are always done by a different pair.
• Storekeepers do not count their own zones; they count each other's. They answer questions about their zones but do not hold the scanner there. This removes the temptation to make their own area look right.
• If a keeper must count their own zone for the sake of special knowledge, a different person takes the checker's role and a recount follows.

A supervisor who does not count

The supervisor's hands must be free for other work.

• Watch the progress sheet to see which zones are not started, in progress or closed.
• Answer questions with the instruction, not with the book quantity.
• Settle disagreements with a third count.
• Every hour, pick five locations at random in one zone and check them personally.
• Sign when a zone is closed.

If the supervisor starts counting, nobody is managing the team, and a person who rechecks their own work is not independent.

Closing a zone

A zone is closed only when all of these hold. Every location has been scanned and the progress sheet shows no gaps. Unknown and unreadable items are on a list. The exceptions are photographed. The recorder has exported the data. The supervisor has signed and hung a "closed" sign at the entrance. After that, nobody puts goods into the zone or takes them out without the supervisor's permission.

Sizing the team

For illustration, assume that a pair processes 25 locations an hour on average, breaks included. To finish 1,200 locations in 12 hours, you need 100 locations an hour, which means 4 pairs, or 8 people. Add one recorder, one supervisor and one local contact, and the team is 11. Measure the real speed during the first hour and adjust.

Summary

When counting, checking, recording and supervising are different people's jobs, it becomes easy to explain where a number came from. The Smart Inventory team works in pairs with separate counting, checking and recording roles, keeps a supervisor who does not count, and cooperates with one local contact from your side who knows the warehouse.