[Revised Nov 2010].
SHRINKAGE, THEFT, SHOPLIFTING.
Tight security is provided by the system. So far as is known there is no way that either money or stock can be stolen without the program detecting it, so long as good procedures (rolling stocktakes and regular examination of the shrinkage report) are followed.
There are three ways that stock can be reduced on the stock cards;
By sale. In this case the appropriate amount of money will be collected, or the cash drawer will not balance. This is not a source of shrinkage.
By reducing the Stock on hand (SoH) figure on a stock card. In this case the program will ask the operator ID and reason for the reduction. This information is added to the `shrinkage report' and allows for legitimate reductions by identifying the operator/reason. If no reason or ID is given a blank section will appear on the shrinkage report; this shows that someone is writing off stock and not identifying themselves which should raise immediate suspicions. While it is possible for a dishonest staff member to enter another staff member's ID; in practice this becomes very obvious since the honest staff member will deny writing off the items when questioned, and that can usually be confirmed by looking at the times of the shrinkage write-down. If necessary get the shrinkage report daily to settle this. Any anonymous write-downs of stock point to attempts to cover up staff theft, and usually it is possible to identify the person concerned by careful consideration of time of write-down (who had unobserved access at that time?).
By reducing SoH during entry of a rolling-stocktake. This will show on the shrinkage report as `rolling stocktake', and reveals all shrinkage that has taken place since the particular items were last `rolled over' on the stocktakes. This will identify shrinkage due to both staff theft and customer shoplifting. Consideration of the locations and nature of the stock missing will often suggest which is most likely. To track down the cause, look for a group off stock being particularly hard hit, check the SoH against the machine frequently, and so find out exactly when the stock is disappearing which usually reveals who is taking it.
SHRINKAGE REPORTS
On a new system expect a meaningless shrinkage report the first time as it will contain many corrections of setting up errors. Once the system has settled down, do one page of rolling stocktakes per day, or one shelf using the handheld stocktake unit. Check the correctness of the figures and fix any errors, and print the shrinkage report once a month. This will quickly identify any problem areas and enable a closer look to be taken.
Eight to ten corrections per 100 items stock taken is normal; much more than this indicates that either someone is being careless or suggests security problems. Expect a much higher rate of discrepancies if catching up after a period of missed rolling stocktakes. Security problems should not be lightly dismissed as the cause of incorrect stock levels, experience with many sites has shown that the most common cause of difficulties in keeping the stock levels accurate in the computer is a dishonest staff member attempting to cover their tracks by ensuring the failure of the computer system. This is often the first indication that there are problems.
To run a Shrinkage Report, from the RxOne Start Menu, go to Reports, Stock Reports, Shrinkage Report. You can report by Staff Member, Product Group, Product Class or Supplier.
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