Our inventory count was off by 800 units and it tanked a big order

I mean, I always thought our manual spreadsheet system was fine, you know? It worked for years. But last month, we had a rush order for 1,000 custom parts from a new auto shop in Toledo. I checked the sheet, saw we had 850 in stock, and promised a two-day turnaround. When we went to pull them, the actual shelf count was 50. The sheet hadn't been updated after a big shipment went out three days before. I had to call the client, admit the mistake, and offer a huge discount to keep them. It was so bad. I spent the next 48 hours calling every supplier we have to try and piece the order together. Has anyone else been burned by manual tracking and switched to a real system? I'm looking at options now.

3 comments

3 Comments

janac591mo ago

John, did the client even push back on the shipping or were they mostly mad about the price difference? I'm curious if they brought it up or if you just figured that would soften the blow yourself. With my screwup they made me sit on the phone for twenty minutes while they checked other suppliers. Discount only worked because I had a long history with the owner.

margaretrivera2mo ago

What discount did you have to give them to keep the order?

johnthompson2mo ago

Had to knock off 15% to make it work. They were ready to walk over a 2% price difference from a competitor. Threw in faster shipping too, which cost me less than the discount would have. Sometimes you just have to eat a smaller margin to keep a good client.