Know what is coming before the truck does
Receiving starts before the delivery. Each morning, look at the approved orders due that day and that week: which suppliers, which items, how many and in what unit. The team then knows how much space to clear and which items need their lots and dates checked.
A delivery with no approved order behind it should not be unloaded until someone in purchasing confirms it. Goods accepted without an order are the hardest to bill correctly later.
TipAsk suppliers to quote your purchase order number on every delivery note.
Check the paperwork against the order
Before counting a single carton, compare the delivery note with the purchase order. Most receiving errors are visible on paper.
If the delivery note quotes no order number, or an order you cannot find, stop and call purchasing before unloading. A delivery meant for another branch is far easier to send on from the truck than from the shelf.
- Match the supplier and the order number
- Check each item and its unit against the order lines
- Note any item delivered that was not ordered
- Note any item ordered that did not come
- Check whether this is the whole order or part of it
Count what is actually there
Count every line in the unit printed on the carton, not the unit on the paper, and count before you sign. Write down what you found, not what the note says. If the driver cannot wait for a full count, sign for the number of pallets or cartons only, subject to count.
Damaged cartons are counted apart, then either refused on the spot or received and set aside, by a rule agreed with each supplier.
TipNever let the driver’s schedule decide how carefully you count.
Check condition, dates and lots
Open a sample of cartons, not only the outside of the pallet. Look for crushed or wet packaging and broken seals and, for chilled goods, the temperature on arrival. For lot-tracked items, record the lot code and expiry date; the guide to stopping stock from expiring covers dates in detail.
- Packaging intact and dry
- Seals unbroken
- Chilled goods at the agreed temperature
- Lot code and expiry date recorded for tracked items
- Items and sizes as ordered, with no substitutes
Receive what arrived, not what was ordered
Post the receipt for what came in, line by line. A short delivery is a partial receipt, and the rest of the order stays open for the next delivery. An over-delivery is a decision for purchasing, not for the dock: send the extra back or raise a new order for it before it goes on the shelf.
TipTreat the rest of a line as cancelled only when purchasing confirms it is not coming.
Put it away and record where
Goods are not received until they are on a shelf the system knows about. Record the bin each line goes to, or use a receiving bin and move the goods on the same day. Stock left in an aisle or on the dock is stock nobody can pick, and it is the first to go missing.
Keep one receiving bin per warehouse and empty it every evening. Anything still there the next morning shows that put-away has fallen behind, and that the system holds stock in a place nobody will look for it.
Post the same day and pass on the problems
Post every receipt on the day the goods arrive. The stock becomes available to sell, and accounts can see what is waiting for a bill. A receipt posted a week late makes stock look short and bills look early.
Send every difference to purchasing the same day: short, damaged, wrong item or over. They settle it with the supplier, and accounts bills only what was received. Goods already billed that later prove faulty go back to the supplier against the bill.
Checklist: At the dock
- Check the orders due each morning
- Do not unload without an approved order
- Match the delivery note to the order
- Count in the unit on the carton before signing
- Set damaged cartons apart
- Record lots and expiry dates for tracked items
- Receive only what arrived
- Put every line into a named bin
- Post the receipt the same day
- Send every difference to purchasing