Inventory Management is a science primarily concerned with specifying the shape and percentage of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The scope of Inventory Management concerns the fine lines between replenishment lead time, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory valuation, inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory, available physical space for inventory, quality management, replenishment, returns and defective goods, and demand forecasting. Balancing these competing requirements leads to optimal inventory levels, which is an ongoing process as the business needs shift and react to wider environment.
All the above mentioned aspects of the scope of inventory are important but for the purpose of this article we shall be dealing with Inventory Management as it relates to Quality Management. We shall dwell exclusively on Inventory Management of Chemical Raw materials, Packaging Materials, Finished Goods, and Returned/Defective Goods. Every space used for storage of raw materials or finished goods must be fumigated, and fire extinguishers available.
RAW MATERIALS
To ensure production goes on without interruptions and also to enjoy economy of scale, every manufacturing organization stocks raw materials. Depending on how big the operation of an organization is, there must be enough space to store raw materials. Quality Management entails that a Quality Manager certifies that storage space for raw materials is fit for the intended purpose and that raw materials stored in the space will remain in their original state until time for use. The space where raw materials are stored should not have any adverse effect on the quality of raw materials stored. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) of all raw materials stored should be readily available and should serve as a training guide for Inventory and Quality Assurance personnel. To maintain the potency/quality of raw materials they are to be stored at certain temperatures and humidity. The storage space should have hygrometers installed and readings taken every morning and afternoon. Readings are used to draw a chart every month. All those who handle raw materials (Inventory, QA, Warehouse, Forklift drivers etc.) should know the hazards associated with every raw material and are to be trained accordingly. Inventory personnel are to be trained on the need to check vehicles for cleanliness and presence of rodents and insects. This is to avoid giving access to such into a fumigated raw material area and possible contamination of materials. Take some bags to the receiving bay and be certain that labeling, batch number, manufacture and expiry date are present and valid. Store materials away from walls and on off the floor on pallets. Take materials to Quarantine Area, affix yellow label and take sample for analysis. after analysis, issue Certificate of Analysis which certifies the material fit for use for production and paste green labels on materials or red labels if materials fall short of standard and are to be rejected. Move such materials to the reject store. Quality Manager should train Inventory personnel to understand the First to Expire First Out (FEFO), First In First Out (FIFO) principles.
PACKAGING MATERIALS
The nature of some packaging materials demand that they be kept under controlled conditions. Some need to be kept under Ultra-Violent light for sterility. Some need to be kept under controlled humidity and temperature to prevent damage. Of course, the readings will be taken every morning and afternoon and chart done at month end. Most Packaging materials do not have expiry date so the FIFO principle is applicable here. The parameters to check for packaging materials include but not limited to colour and design, gram per square inch of material, dimensions etc. every approval to receive and use must be in writing and never oral.
FINISHED GOODS
After packaging of goods is complete, goods are sent to a holding area pending the result of analysis from the QC department. On no account should goods leave this area until the express approval of the Quality Manager is secured in writing. The store housing finished goods must be free of rodents and insects. It must be very well secure. Products should be neatly stacked with spaces given for inspection from time to time. There should be adequate lighting as well.
RETURNED/DEFECTIVE GOODS
Products can be returned due to one defect or the other or due to poor handling between the period it left the factory and when it gets to the point of sale. Notwithstanding the amount of care and attention that go into product manufacture, defects are bound to happen as no process is 100% free of error. However, the goal is to keep these down to the barest minimum. Some facilities have a benchmark of 1% for returned/defective goods. If more than 1% of goods sent out of the factory are returned for any reason then a red flag is raised and cause and effect protocol is initiated. When these goods are returned, no matter the quantity, there must be thorough investigation to know what exactly is wrong. This is what is called Corrective Action Preventive Action (CAPA). There should be a separate store for these goods pending resolution of investigation and decision taken whether to discard or reprocess.
All of the above and more are to be coordinated by the Quality Manager so he must work hand in hand with the Inventory Manager to ensure there are no compromises on the quality of any process.
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