Role of Stores Management in an Organisation

The store plays several crucial roles in an organisation which include:

• Receipt is the process of checking and accepting, from all sources (vendors, production units, repair units etc.), all materials and parts which are used in the organisation. These include supplies for manufacturing or operating processes, plant maintenance, offices and capital installations.
• Identification is the process of systematically defining and describing all items of materials in stock. It includes the preparation of a Stores Code or Vocabulary, the adoption of materials specifications and the introduction of a degree of standardization. In certain cases, part of this work may be done by the design, planning or standards departments or sometimes the
  purchase department.
• Inspection involves the examination of incoming consignments for quality. Very often there is a separate quality control or inspection department, which undertakes this work for most, materials. Otherwise goods are inspected by stores to ensure that the inspection procedures laid down are carried out before materials are accepted into stock.
• Storage and preservation involves items to be binged and kept in storage bins and impounds; as usually indicated in the yard. The location is usually indicated in the transaction card. The storage period may vary between one day and one year or more,
  depending upon recoupment procedures/safety stock required, etc. storage is the physical act of storing the materials. The general rule is: “A place for everything in its place”. Presentation involves the maintenance, of materials to retain their quality. Quite often, temperature, humidity, dust and other factors cause deterioration of materials.
• Materials handling involves movement and handling. This can be manual or mechanical (e.g. by use of forklifts) heavy items, dangerous or inflammable goods, and delicate merchandise have all to be handled differently.
• Packaging: Materials dispatched to customers from the finished goods store or from one store to another at different location require to be packed. Materials required packing according to their nature and this may vary from heavy wooden crates to ordinary paper cartons.
• Issue and Dispatch is the process of receiving demands, selecting the items required and handling them over to users, or dispatching them to customers.
• Stock Records are the documents which record, form day to day, full particulars of individual receipts, issues and balances of materials in stock.
• Stores accounting is the process of recording details of stock movements and balances in terms of financial value. It is sometimes undertaken by accounts department, but there is much to be said for it being handled by stores. In practice, it is often found that such an arrangement saves a good deal of work and duplication. It has the added advantage of making Stores personnel responsible for providing their own financial information, which they require for the purpose of inventory control