It’s a usual day at the warehouse with a shift in motion. Pickers are in the aisles looking for items to send out for a shipment due that day. The deadlines are non-negotiable and the wave of orders is due by the end of the day. Everything is going according to schedule, until the first snag hits.
A picker suddenly stops at a bin which should have 24 units, trying to remember who had access last. The shift supervisor spends their day responding to requests such as โWhere did we move this?โ, โDid we slot it in overflow?โ, and โIs it on hold?โ And while this is happening, your shipment gets delayed, packing lines are in queue, and orders sit idle waiting for a solution.
So what exactly went wrong here? You think inventory is available at the warehouse just because itโs marked available in your sheets. Thatโs not entirely true.
What does โavailabilityโ mean at a distribution centre?ย
In a warehouse, available inventory usually means that it’s somewhere in the building. But when shipment deadlines are tight, this definition is not going to cut it. In order for actual order fulfillment, inventory is not considered available unless it’s pickable. So letโs try to understand the reasoning behind why availability doesn’t mean existing in the building. You can have 300 units in the warehouse building and still miss shipments if:
- itโs sitting in the wrong zone (putaway was never completed)
- itโs in returns/QA hold but still counted as โon-handโ
- itโs allocated to other orders, or promised to another key account
- itโs in the right zone but the pick face is empty (replenishment lag)
- itโs in cases/pallets but the order needs eaches (or vice versa)
Glossary
Putaway: The organized process of moving received goods from a dock or receiving station to their designated, optimal storage location within a warehouse.ย
Zone: A designated, physically or logically separated area within a facility used to group similar products or operations (e.g., receiving, picking, or storage) to maximize efficiency, organization, and speed.
Under all these conditions, if the system still says โIn Stockโ, then you don’t have a stock problem, you have an availability issue.
Warehouse managers, what’s the most difficult problem you had to solve?
by u/Swbr812 in logistics
Available at warehouse equates to pickable stock
When a picker item is able to go to the stock location, scan the right item, and complete the pickup without any hurdles qualifies as pickable stock.
Here are a few things warehouse managers need to take into account when ensuring stock availability:
1. Verified locationย
An SKU isn’t available if you cannot find its exact location. A verified location for an SKU means that it’s assigned to a specific, standardized bin. Every time an item moves, its new location is scanned immediately, ensuring overflow and staging areas are recorded as temporary stops.
Why is this important? When location uncertainty eventually contributes to mismanagement in inventory tracking, pick rates drop, mispicks rise, and staff end up wasting time running from one location to another.
2. Accurate status assignmentย
A significant problem that contributes to the availability problem is that inventory statuses are not assigned accurately. Hands-on inventory when it is not located at the pick-up location is tagged โAvailableโ due to lack of other options. To tackle this issue, warehouse managers can work on some relevant status iterations that can help streamline shipment.ย
- Available: Pickers can take it now
- Allocated: Itโs already promised; picking it for another order creates shortages
- Quarantined/QA hold: Physically present but blocked due to inspection/quality concerns
- Damaged: In the building but shouldnโt be shipped
- Returns: Needs processing before it becomes sellable stock
- On hold: Compliance, customer dispute, labeling issue, or investigation
Why is this important: If there is no clarity on the inventory status, the warehouse operates on inflated availability numbers, thereby over-committing to shipment deadlines.
3. Optimal stock quantityย
A critical inventory management KPI is maintaining optimal stock levels enough to meet demand at any given time. When inventory is just tagged available, but in reality, is not enough or in the right state to meet shipment requirements, you end up delaying deadlines. This can happen in the following situations:
- Pick face is empty while bulk is full (replenishment lag)
- Stock is spread across multiple bins and not consolidated
- Inventory is tied up in allocations, holds, or pending transfers
- The order requires 40 units but you have 40 in total across three statuses and two locations
Glossary
Pick face: The specific location in a warehouse where items are stored for quick and efficient order picking. It typically holds smaller quantities of inventory that are easily accessible to workers, while larger stock reserves are kept in bulk storage and replenished as needed.
Why is this important: Optimal stock availability determines how successfully you can close shipments on time. Inventory quantity only listed as optimal but not pickable will lead to missed cutoffs, poor decision making, and over-commitments.
5 noticeable signs you have an availability problem at the warehouse
In order to fix late or delayed shipments, you need to address one of the key root causes behind it. Letโs go through the 5 prominent signs your distribution center may be struggling with availability issues:
1. Pickers spend too much time searching
Your team is probably wasting a lot of time trying to find items in the wrong locations listed in the spreadsheets handed over to them. They go from SKU to SKU trying to figure out where the inventory actually is. Building on this fragmented framework, new hires take ages to become productive because the actual map never matches with the system.
For example, a new warehouse associate is told to pick Item A from Aisle 5, Shelf B3 because thatโs what the inventory system shows. But when they get there, the shelf is empty because the item was temporarily moved to an overflow pallet near the loading dock and the system was never updated. The new hire spends 10โ15 minutes searching or asking coworkers where the item actually is.
Why does this happen?
Locations are not standardized (Zone A has bins, Zone B has shelf labels, Zone C has informal parking spots). This often ends up in confusion as to where to place items. Item movement is not logged consistently, which leads to discrepancies between the system and real-time availability.
How to fix it?
Cycle counts are not enough to fix this discrepancy. Warehouse managers need to make โlocation reliabilityโ a non-negotiable operational rule. Start by standardizing locations. Create sub-locations if required to generate a hierarchy for easy access. To minimize confusions, use a single naming convention across zones. Next, invest in a mobile scanning app to enforce scanning in order to move so that all inventory movements are logged consistently. Try to resolve why inventory ends up at unknown locations to eliminate this from happening in future.
Warehouse Ops Managers: What’s your biggest daily pain point?
by u/No_Poetry_2905 in Warehousing
2. Youโre hitting shipping deadlines
On records, youโre meeting shipping deadlines but in reality, youโre operating in survival mode. You notice overtime spikes unusually around cut-offs and peak days because staff is busy trying to get everything together for the pending shipment. You get to meet the shipment deadlines but at the cost of continuous back and forth and admin shifting gears to get the requested stock together.
Why does this happen?
In simple words, you notice the availability problem too late which drives you into overtime, trying to meet shipment deadlines. Replenishment does not align with pickup schedules, resulting in shipments being promised on fabricated records of inventory.
How to fix it?
Confirm availability for the shipments youโre about to take on. Double check the stock in verified bins and allocate only on the actual verified inventory not in the damaged/on-hold items. Set up a readiness strategy with critical KPIs that enable you to monitor whatโs at risk, whatโs pickable and what needs to be replenished to hit the cutoff.
3. Orders get short-shippedย
This is the next stage of the availability chaos at the warehouse. Whether it’s the replacements needed at the main office or spare parts required at a facility, your orders are always short-shipped. Complaints about partial shipments become a norm, leading to rework and delays. What seems like a one-off mistake is actually due to stock not being in the right state despite being present in the warehouse.
Glossary:
Short-shipped: A situation where fewer items are delivered than the quantity originally ordered or listed on the shipping document. This can occur due to inventory shortages, packing errors, or items being unavailable at the time of shipment.
Why does this happen?
Phantom stock from unaccounted inventory movements creates inflated quantities at hand. This leads to shipments being short-shipped due to lack of actual stock availability.
How to fix it?
Define inventory status in a correct manner. Inventory on hold/damage/returns should not be a part of the available stock. Start carrying out audits to ensure every move is accounted for so nothing goes unnoticed leading to verified stock quantities at all times. Follow standardized practices for location management to control how stock is scanned and recorded in the system.ย
4. Cycle counts take forever to reconcileย
Inventory counts take a long time due to numerous discrepancies remaining unaccounted for. Your team is busy reconciling the system and the stock counts but still ends up encountering the same problem every now and then due to the root cause being unaddressed.
Why does this happen?
Even though cycle counts are periodic they still don’t fix the problem because your strategy doesn’t focus on operational lags. Movement is not tracked and returns/damaged items somehow end up back in the system.
How to fix it?
Start by targeting the areas where errors originate such as high velocity SKUs and zones with frequent relocations. Investigate the cause of discrepancy such as movement not tracked and items not being scanned to implement the solution right away.
5. โAvailabilityโ becomes a bottleneck
Just like inventory, equipment stored in the warehouse wrongly tagged โAvailableโ can become a major bottleneck. One broken forklift in the warehouse can slow down the whole project out on the field. To escalate the process the crews informally start putting in reservation requests taking the whole tracking request workflow offline.
Why does this happen?
Equipment downtime is not logged in the correct manner to trigger maintenance on the right time. Due to this, maintenance ends up being reactive rendering doubt on the availability of equipment in the warehouse.
How to fix it?
Implement proper location standardization, and naming conventions to facilitate maintenance for ensured equipment availability in the warehouse.ย
Make the shift: From tracking inventory to inventory operations management
The majority of warehouse managers struggle not because they donโt track inventory but because they rely on what the system represents to be true, without accounting for operational lags. Simple inventory tracking means record keeping of what exists. It is focused on maintaining stock count and changing data once any changes are made.
A basic inventory tracking model looks like this: Count โ List โ Update โ React to discrepancies
Count:
- Cycle counts: Cycle counts are scheduled counts of specific SKUs, locations, or zones performed regularly throughout the week.
- Wall-to-wall counts: Wall-to-wall counts are full physical inventory audits where every item in the warehouse is counted.
- Spot checks: Spot checks are quick verification counts triggered by suspicion or operational friction.
List:
- Spreadsheets: Spreadsheets are commonly used to track temporary information such as overflow storage locations, incoming pallets waiting to be put away, or items that were moved during busy shifts.ย
- Bin maps: Bin maps are visual representations of the warehouse layout showing rack positions, aisle numbers, and storage zones.ย
- Printed reports: Printed reports are often used during picking, counting, or auditing activities.
- Exception logs: Exception logs track known inventory issues such as missing items, damaged stock, or unresolved discrepancies.
Update: Sometimes teams rely on a quick fix mentality known as โfix it in the system.โ Instead of investigating the root cause of the discrepancy, they adjust the inventory to keep operations moving.
React to discrepancies: Investigation after a short-ship, a customer complaint, or a variance pops upโ leaning towards reactive approach.
While tracking is an essential part of warehouse management, it usually ends up being a reactive approach. If there is discrepancy between the records and the actual stock quantity, the warehouse ends up running on staff knowledge. In case of missing SKUs, pickers are relying on each other to find out who used the items last. Thatโs not control but mere survival.
Inventory operations management: Whatโs different?
The shift to an operational mindset focuses on proactive planning and flow rather than just tracking. Instead of knowing where things are, you are in control of getting everything ready and out the door for shipments at the right time.ย
- Plan: Anticipate demand before orders are fulfilled to ensure the right stock is in the right places. This means understanding upcoming orders, seasonal spikes, and trends that will affect inventory.
- Reconcile: At regular intervals, reconciliation ensures that the system reflects the physical inventory. Instead of fixing problems after they arise, the process can proactively identify discrepancies early, helping the team fix issues before they escalate.
- Replenish: Rather than waiting until a pick face is empty or stock is low, replenishment is managed to keep things stocked and available. Automatic or manual triggers ensure that when stock reaches a low threshold, replenishment happens quickly to avoid delays.
- Audit: The process of auditing inventory involves ensuring that the inventory system reflects reality. Audits allow for continuous improvement by capturing discrepancies and putting corrective actions in place.
Inventory operations management is about ensuring readiness and creating workflows that keep inventory flowing smoothly from one stage of warehousing to the next. Itโs about proactively predicting issues before they happen and being prepared to act on them swiftly, minimizing disruptions to the business.
Practice inventory control, not counting
The key to overcoming availability problems in your warehouse is not rigorous counting techniques but the right processes and systems in place. As a warehouse manager, your focus should now be to reduce operational friction and to ensure that the right stock is available in the right location, making availability more than just an obsolete number in the spreadsheet.
When youโre trapped in the grind of everyday inventory orders, it’s easy to revert to endless counting to solve discrepancies. But there is so much that counting can do. It’s time to move past the basic inventory management into operational control.
EZO offers organized location management, mobile scanning and custom states for all your inventory needs.
Ready to reduce the hunt for missing inventory?
Try a demo with EZO to see how easy it is to enforce reliable locations, accurate statuses, and a smooth reconciliation process, without adding extra labor. Start optimizing your operations today!ย
