INVENTORY CONTROL PROCEDURE

 

INVENTORY CONTROL PROCEDURE

 

KEY WORDS

INVENTORY is a list for different items, held available in stock by a department

INVENTORY CONTROL a management function for classifying, ordering, receiving, issuing and accounting different items used for daily housekeeping operation.

PAR STOCK minimum stock required to ensure daily smooth running of the department.

STOCK TAKING physical verification of inventory by counting up stock

**************

Inventory control is a technique of maintaining and checking the stock in a department. It involves purchasing, requisitions, receiving, storing, issuing to various sections of the department. The Inventory control system is maintained by every department to manage its inventories efficiently. Inventory control can be managed by maintaining par stock, stock taking, and accurate forecasting.

 TYPES OF INVENTORY

1.      Recycled inventory- for those items which can be used again and again in the house keeping operation

Ø  Linen: Since uniforms and linen are heavy investments, it is necessary to keep a close control on this very important asset. Effective control is possible through the following practices:

1.      Control on misuse, shortage and mix-ups

2.      Proper storage

3.      Regular stock taking

4.      Spot checks

5.      Proper supervision

To control inventory of the linen and uniform it is required to establish PAR number as this is the standard stock level needed to accommodate typical housekeeping operations on daily basis. Establishing a par number, EHK needs to consider:

1. The laundry cycle (in-house, off premises)

2. Replacement (worn, damaged, lost or stolen-based on property’s history); and

3. Emergency situations (laundry shut down, power failure, water supply)

And to maintain all the above said considerations, following points need to keep in mind by the housekeeper:  

1. Check for faulty linen chutes, carts, baskets, washers, etc. which might tear linen and uniforms.

2. Put restrictions on the misuse of linen by employees by inspecting employee locker rooms, frequent spot checks and/or fining them for misuse.

3. Laundry should be careful not to put excessive amount of bleach powder. The usual amount is 1% bleach per 100 lbs of linen.

4. Linen should be exchanged strictly on a one-to-one basis.

5. Damp white linen or uniforms should not lie on concrete or iron. Concrete stains are almost impossible to remove while iron rust cause holes after washing.

6. Employees must not wipe split food, medicines or chemicals with linen. They should use dusters especially provided for the purpose.

7. Hydro-extractors on high speed operations could tear fabrics.

8. Laundry tumblers should be checked regularly for pins, paper clips, etc. that could prick holes into the fabric.

9. Proper pressure and heat must be kept on all irons as it could cause burn stains

 Stock-Taking: It is the counting of on-hand inventory. This means identifying every item on hand, counting it and summarizing these quantities by item. There may also be a verification step, where the count results are compared to the inventory unit counts in departmental PMS system. Stock taking is a common requirement of a periodic inventory system, and may also be required as part of departmental annual audit.

Par level of LINEN	Par level of UNIFORM
1.      FIRST PAR on the bed 2.      SECOND PAR soiled linen in laundry/ chambermaids trolley 3.      THIRD PAR fresh linen in linen room/ pantry/ chambermaids trolley 4.      FOURTH PAR in case of off- premises laundry	1.      FIRST PAR  with the staff 2.      SECOND PAR soiled uniform in the locker/ laundry 3.      THIRD PAR fresh linen in uniform room/ locker 4.      FOURTH PAR in case of off- premises laundry

Discrepancies between Housekeeping manual stock count and electronic records (PMS) allow picking up on a range of issues and putting processes into place to ensure better stock control and management. This will lead to increased profits in the future.

Importance of Stock taking: It highlights stock control issues and areas where a department needs to improve on in order to be even more profitable. The importance of stock taking as follows:

·       Stock taking helps Housekeeping executive to find out any thefts in the department.

·       A regular stocktaking will also highlight problems with damaged stock, unprocessed or missing orders, and poor stock control practices.

·       Stocktaking will highlight any shortages department weren’t aware of and will prompt to order more next time.

·       Stocktaking acts to improve areas of weakness and loss.

Methods and Principle involved:

·       Physical counting is done after every three months and is also known as quarterly inventory.

·       All items are segregated and grouped including discards.

·       Counting of items in circulation and in store is separately done and added together.

·       Discards are stamped “condemned “and kept aside.

·       Counted total should tally with the last inventory figures plus issues received after that.

·       Inventory must be conducted in the presence of the housekeeper, Accounts clerk and the auditor.

·       Stock taking is conducted on three separate days, each for: Uniforms, Room linen and Restaurant linen.

Ø  Guest loan item- these items are not maintained in the guest room but are available if requested by the guest on request basis. Guest loan items are usually stored in the house keeping store room (departments’ centre of operation) and when requested, delivered to the guest, at no charge criteria. The housekeeping department is typically responsible for maintaining the inventory of the guests’ loan items, responding to the loan requests, and tracking the items in order to make sure that either they are returned back to the department or yet to collect before guest will depart from the property. Examples of guest loan item are iron and iron board, hair dryer, alarm clock, hard board voltage adaptor, hot   water bottle, roll away beds, etc.

Par level depends on   

•         Size and type of the hotel
•         Clientele of the hotel
•         Anticipated volume of guest’s request

Inventory control can be done by

                    i.            Proper storing and stock taking

                  ii.            Regular updating of bin cards/ inventory records.

                iii.            Standardized issuing/on-going procedure.

Ø  Machines and equipment- The executive housekeeper is responsible for seeing that members of the house-keeping department have the proper tools to carry out their assigned tasks. The executive house keeper needs to develop systems and procedures for controlling the hotels inventory of machine and equipment. Examples for housekeeping machines and equipment are vacuum, electric brooms, carpet shampoo equipment, floor scrubbing machine, etc.

PAR Number of machine/ equipment = MINIMUM / MAXIMUM QUANTITY

·       Minimum inventory level- which can be determine by adding lead time quantity and safety stock level. Lead-time quantity refers to the number of purchase units that are used up between the time that supply order is placed and the time that the order is actually received. The safety stock level for a given cleaning supply item refers to the number of purchase units that must always be on hand for the house keeping department to operate smoothly in the event of emergencies, spoilage ,unexpected delays in delivery, or other situations.

Minimum quantity = the lead time quantity  + safety stock level

·       Maximum inventory level depend on the requirement, storing capacity, self-life of the material and budget sanctioned for the particulars. It is established for each cleaning supply items refers to the greatest number of purchase units that should be in stock at any given time.

The maximum quantity = greatest no. of purchase units at a given time

Minimum/ maximum count varies with

        i.            1. Size of the hotel

      ii.            2. Number of rooms

    iii.           3.  Cleaning frequency

Inventory control process

•      1.  Proper storing and stock taking.

•       2. Standardized issuing procedure.

•      3.  Regular updation of bin cards/ equipment logs/ inventory records

2.      Non recycled inventory- those items which are consumed by the guest or used during housekeeping operations

Ø  Cleaning supplies- Cleaning supplies and small cleaning equipment are part of the non recycled inventory in the house keeping department. These items are consumed or used up in the course of routine housekeeping operations, but, controlling inventories of all cleaning supplies and ensuring their effective use is an important responsibility of the executive house keeper. Examples are brooms, dust mops, wet mops, gloves, spray bottles, cleaning rag, etc. An executive housekeeper needs to consider several important factors when determining maximum inventory quantities for cleaning supplies.

1.    First he or she must consider the amount of available storage space in the housekeeping department or the willingness of suppliers to store items at their own warehouse facilities for regular shipments in the hotel.

2. The self-life of certain items needs to be taken into account. The quality or effectiveness of some products deteriorates if they are stored too long before being used.
3. Maximum quantities should not to be set so high that large amounts of the hotel’s cash resources are unnecessarily tied up in an overstocked inventory.

Inventory control can be done by

        i.           i.  Consideration of forecasted number of occupied rooms

      ii.            ii. Maintain proper consumption record/ equipment logs and inventory card system

    iii.  Proper storage and issuing standards

    iv.  Regular stock taking

     v. Control on misuse, shortage and mix-ups/ Spot checks

                        

Ø  Guest supplies- Hotels provide a variety of guest’s room supplies and amenities for the guests’ needs and convenience. The executive housekeeper is typically responsible for storing, distributing, controlling, and maintaining adequate inventory levels of guests supply items and amenities. Examples are bathing soap, facial tissue, hangers, water glasses, mini-bar trays, match box, ashtrays, etc.

 Par level depends on

        i.            1. Usage rate (for supplies)

      ii.            2. Forecasted number of occupied rooms

Inventory control can be done by

        i.            1. Frequent monitoring

      ii.            2. Tracking pilferage ratio and consumption ratio

Video (reference vidya-mitra)

youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKxlF4LT46I