Once a cyclical counting system has been implemented in the warehouse, the counting operation itself can be considered in two ways: with blind counts or with verification counts.
Blind counts consist of assigning locations and references to warehouse personnel in charge of inventory counts, but without providing them with the quantities that are registered in the computerized inventory control system. In this way, the operators will “blindly” count how many real units are in the rack locations, which they will report to the system. The system compares the counted values with those expected and if they do not match, it will request the count again to rule out a count error. Although blind counts can be a bit more labor intensive than check counts, in practice they have proven to be more reliable as warehouse personnel are forced to perform a more thorough count.
Blind counts can be speeded up considerably with the light-guided system from ATOX Soluciones Tecnológicas. Thanks to its versatility and its ability to communicate with the ERP or WMS that the warehouse is using, light guidance, in addition to maximizing performance in the order preparation through operations pickt-to-light and put-to-light, it guides each warehouse operator during counting procedures to the correct location at all times and in an orderly manner.
Verification counts or non-blind counts consist in that, in addition to providing the location and reference to count, the amount of stock that is registered in the inventory control system is also indicated. The warehouse operator goes to the location or slot of the rack, does the count and, if it matches the quantity that the system had indicated, he only has to confirm it. If it does not match, it will indicate its correction. This makes counting operations faster, but after counting multiple references, dealing with work overloads, time constraints, etc., this counting procedure is more prone to errors than blind counts, because it is easier than operators verify the stock count erroneously.
As with blind counts, in verification counts, the ATOX light-guided system speeds up the movements of operators, guiding them in an orderly manner to each location where they can carry out the count at all times. In addition, thanks to its display and pushbutton systems, it can work in coordination with the ERP or WMS to facilitate verification.
Now that we have explained what blind counts are and what verification counts are, we invite you to read our article on cycle counts, which allow for high levels of accuracy and reliability in inventory controls.