Stores management

Stores management is part of the overall function of materials management. In order, therefore, to understand the function of the former it is desirable to have a clear understanding of what materials management stands for.
According to Alford and Beatty “storekeeping is that aspect of material control concerned with the physical storage of goods.” In other words, storekeeping relates to art of preserving raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods in the stores.

1. STORES MANAGEMENT

2. Stores management is part of the overall function of materials management. In order, therefore, to understand the function of the former it is desirable to have a clear understanding of what materials management stands for. According to Alford and Beatty “storekeeping is that aspect of material control concerned with the physical storage of goods.” In other words, storekeeping relates to art of preserving raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods in the stores.

3. S torehouse is a building provided for preserving materials, stores and finished goods. The in-charge of store is called storekeeper or stores manager. The organisation of the stores department depends upon the size and layout of the factory, nature of the materials stored and frequency of purchases and issue of materials .

4. Objectives of store management: Following are the main objectives of an efficient system of storekeeping: 1. To ensure uninterrupted supply of materials and stores without delay to various production and service departments of the organisation . 2. To prevent overstocking and understocking of materials, 3 . To protect materials from pilferage, theft fire and other risks. 4. To minimise the storage costs. 5. To ensure proper and continuous control over materials .

5. Functions of store management: 1.Receipt 2.Storage 3.Retrival 4.ISSUE 5.Records 6.Housekeeping 7.Control 8.Surplus management 9.Verification & packaging 10.Interaction &coordination

6. a)Receipt: Receipt is the process of checking and accepting, from all sources (vendors, production units, repair units etc.), all materials and parts which are used in the organisation . These includes supplies for manufacturing or operating processes, plant maintenance, offices and capital installations.

7. b )  Storage : The store room should be located at a convenient and appropriate place. It should have ample facilities to store the materials properly viz. bins, racks and shelves etc . There can be a single store room in case of a small organisation , but a large scale concern can have different or multiple stock rooms in addition to general or main store . The separate stockrooms may be used for different classes of inventories. The material should be stored in such a manner as to protect it against the risks of damage, destruction and any kind of loss .

8. c) Retrival : Retrival helps to easy accessibility to materials and ensures optimum space utilization. materials can be retrived with ease. d)  Issue: The materials should be issued to respective departments on receiving duly authorised requisition slips . It satisfies the demand of consuming departments by proper issue of inventories on receving the requisition.

9. e)Records: Various records are used in the stores . Bin cards :  These cards are very simple, giving  thedescription of the item including the code no., the unit of issues, the quantity of the item, etc . Stock cards: These are kept in the stores office. There are various kinds of stock cards- Showing the quantity only , Showing  the quantities and unit price, Showing  the quantities , unit price, value of stock, value of the balance in stock.

10. f)Housekeeping: The space is kept neat and clean so that material handling, preservation , storage,issue and receipt is done satisfactorily. g)Surplus stock: A  surplus  is the amount of an asset or resource that exceeds the portion that is utilized. A  surplus  is used to describe many excess assets including income, profits, capital and goods . Scrap and surplus disposal management is a function of stores.

11. h)Verification & packaging: physical verification and purchase initiation to avoid stock-outs . Packaging : Materials dispatched to customers from the finished goods store or from one store to another at different location require to be packed. Materials required packing according to their nature and this may vary from heavy wooden crates to ordinary paper cartons .

12. i )Co-ordination and interaction: Coordination and interaction is used to interface with production and inspection department.

13. Types of stores: Stores may be centralised or decentralised . 1) Centralised : Centralised storage means a single store for the whole organisation . Centralised storekeeping ensures better layout and control of stores, economical use of storage space, lesser staff, saving in storage costs and appointment of experts for handling storage problems.It further ensures continuous stock checking . Drawbacks: It leads to higher cost of materials handling, delay in issue of materials to respective departments, exposure of materials to risks of fire and accident losses are practical difficulties in managing

14. big stores. 2)Decentralized : Decentralized storage means independent small stores attached to various departments.  Decentralised stores involve lesser costs and time in moving bulky materials to distant departments and are helpful in avoiding overcrowding in central store. Drawbacks: uniformity in storage policy of goods cannot be achieved under decentralised storekeeping, more staff is needed and experts may not be appointed.

15. centralization or Decentralization then is a matter of convenience. However, one basic organizational feature must be observed . The entire Stores setup should be under the unified control of one department with Senior Controller of Stores in charge , in order to efficiently achieve the objectives of the function of stores.

16. Types of Stores:   Stores fall into broadly two categories contingent on the following considerations: 1)Functional : depending on the use to which the material is put – chemical, tools, raw materials stores, etc . Eg : Raw material store, Production Store, General Store, Tools Store,SalvageStore,PackingStore,SpareStore , ReceiptStore,QuarantineStore,FinishedGoods Store.

17. 2)Physical : depending on its size and location – centralstores , sub-stores, sites stores, etc . Eg: Central Store,Sub-store,Departmental Store, Group Store,Site Store, Transit Store, And so on.