Requesting help with Physical Inventory Procedures

[Joel Pemberton <jpenguin -at- SPICEHUNTER -dot- COM>]

Hi all,

I work for a manufacturing company that started out in a garage and then
grew by leaps and bounds.  What this means is their procedures, policies,
and process instructions are scribbled on scratch paper at best or in
someone's head at worst (it's not quite _that_ bad but it's really, really
close!).  They hired me to fix it.  (It's a GREAT job!)

My problem.  I just found out they want to do a physical inventory and they
want to make sure they do it right.  The way my manager worded it to me
went something like this:  "For this inventory we need a procedure that
says who is responsible for what, job descriptions for each person, process
instructions for how the material is counted, how the counts are audited,
how the numbers are entered into the computer, and where all the paperwork
will be filed, and anything else you can think of that'll help.  And by the
way, we're planning on doing this inventory in two weeks."

Yikes!!  Now I've done my share of physical inventories over the years, so
I'm not completely new to the process, but I could sure use some help in
making these documents complete and accurate.

Anybody have any resources, thoughts, ideas on the subject?   I would sure
appreciate it.  And so that we don't tie up the list with this, please
email me directly.

Thanks for your help.

Penguin
Tech Writer
The Spice Hunter, Inc.
jpenguin -at- spicehunter -dot- com

If you can remain calm, you obviously don't have all the facts.

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=