Five Things Teams Usually Discover During a Year-End Stock Take and How to Avoid Them Next Year
A year-end stock take is a valuable moment of truth for any production site. It reveals what has been working well and what has quietly been causing unnecessary cost, waste or delays. Although the process is time-consuming, it offers a clear picture of how consumables have been managed throughout the year and where improvements can be made.
Below are the five discoveries that appear most often.
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1. Items that were used more than expected
Many teams uncover consumables that were completely drained long before anyone realised. These items are usually used frequently and often taken from stock quickly during busy periods. Although this is normal, it can cause downtime or urgent orders that interrupt workflow. The insight is not the empty shelf itself but the pattern it reveals about usage.
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2. Items that were purchased but hardly touched
The opposite is equally common. A stock take often reveals items that have been sitting untouched for months. These slow movers take up space and tie up the budget. They can also hide behind newer stock, making it difficult to see what is actually available.
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3. Duplicate or misplaced items
Production environments are fast-paced, and products are often picked up and returned to different places. During a stock take, teams frequently find boxes of consumables that were thought to be missing, only to discover them in the wrong storage area or left on the side of the bench. This leads to unnecessary reordering and prevents effective planning.
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4. Inaccurate counts and inconsistent records
A stock take often highlights mismatches between what is recorded and what is physically on the shelves. This can happen when teams are ordering while busy or when there is no consistent process for updating stock levels. Although the discrepancies may seem small, the time spent correcting them adds up across the year.
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5. Unexpected shortages that could have been prevented
Quite often, teams realise that certain critical items are running out without anyone noticing. These shortages tend to occur at the worst possible moment and can slow work or stop it completely. A stock take exposes these risk areas and makes it clear which items need better monitoring
Moving from Discovery to Prevention
Year-end findings are valuable, but the real benefit comes from preventing the same issues in the future. This is where the DTC HUB provides a clear advantage.
The Hub offers complete visibility of every consumable across your production site. It allows teams to complete routine stock checks quickly and easily, place orders through Rapid Order, use Scan and Go to update stock levels instantly, and track what is moving quickly or slowly. Centralised admin control keeps records accurate and up to date, and personalised labels ensure everything is stored clearly and consistently in the same place.
The result is a clear, organised and reliable system that removes the guesswork from stock management and helps prevent the five most common year-end discoveries. It reduces errors, avoids shortages and gives teams the confidence that the right products are on hand whenever they are needed.
If you would like to explore how the DTC Hub can support your production site throughout the year, our team can guide you through the platform and show you how other customers are already benefiting from simpler and smarter stock control.
