Goods receiving: from paper to phone scanning

We have about 100 suppliers, and more than 10 of them arrive every day. Receiving one supplier used to take us 20 to 30 minutes. This is how it worked:

1. The supplier arrives with the goods and a delivery note or invoice, and hands the document to the storekeeper.
2. The storekeeper signs the supplier's delivery note, without checking.
3. Only later is everything checked to see whether all the goods arrived. If there was a mistake, the storekeeper calls the supplier to arrange a return.
4. Everything is marked on paper, and then someone sits at the computer for a few minutes entering what arrived and what didn't.
5. Labels are printed from the computer, and only then are the goods put away in the warehouse.

The problems this caused

• Mistakes and lost goods. Similar goods, but not the ones we ordered, were received as if they were the right goods.
• Barcodes of new products were hardly ever entered. So at the till, many products had to be typed in by hand.
• Returns were missed. Someone had to remember to send a damaged product, or one that arrived by mistake, back to the supplier, and it didn't always happen.

What I built: receiving by scanning on a phone

When a supplier arrives, the storekeeper spot-checks that the products on the delivery note were actually ordered and signs. In most cases the full check happens afterwards, in the app on a phone:

• Scanning barcodes to confirm that what arrived is what was ordered.
• Entering quantities.
• Reporting a damaged product or another problem.

Everything entered updates the system on the computer right away. You can add a barcode to a new product and print labels with one click. A report of a damaged product or a mistake is sent to the supplier on WhatsApp automatically.

What changed

• Time: receiving one supplier now takes about 10 minutes, depending on the goods, and some suppliers take a minute.
• Mistakes: a significant drop in the number of mistakes, because every product is scanned against the order.
• Returns: you see them in the system right away, so they aren't forgotten.
• No copying: nobody copies from paper to the computer anymore.

A short checklist

• Is every delivery checked against the order, and not only against the delivery note?
• How long does receiving one supplier take you, from arrival until the goods are put away on the shelf?
• How many products are typed in by hand at the till because their barcode isn't entered in the system?
• Is the supplier's invoice compared with both the order and what was actually received?

When you don't need custom development

If only a few suppliers arrive each week and there are few products, a well-organized sheet and the inventory system you already have may be enough. Custom development starts to pay off when goods receiving happens every day, when there are many products with barcodes, and when every mistake needs to be sorted out with the supplier.

Frequently asked questions

Can I improve goods receiving tomorrow, without a new system?

Yes. Two small steps help right away: enter a barcode for every new product the moment it's received, and keep one list of open returns that someone goes through every day.

What should I check before building scan-based receiving?

Where supplier orders are kept today, which products already have a barcode entered, and who does the receiving. With that information you can check how to connect phone scanning to the system the business already uses.

You can also read about where warehouse order handling gets stuck. And if you have a similar process that takes up time, you can tell me about it in a short conversation.