Duplicate Entries Causing Headaches? Learn How a Simple Solution Streamlined this Business Process
This podcast explores how duplicate entries in a purchase receipt inspection checklist brought a business process to a standstill and how a simple solution got it back on track.
(a) Challenges
- Duplicate entries in the inspection checklist caused confusion and prevented users from confirming receipts. This effectively halted the purchasing process and created a bottleneck in the workflow. Imagine receiving a shipment of parts, each of which needs to be checked against a list to ensure it meets certain standards. This is your inspection checklist. Now, picture the checklist for a certain part showing up twice. The system gets confused, doesn’t know which checklist to use, and prevents you from confirming receipt of the part.
- This delay disrupted the workflow and caused errors in the quality inspection process. Users were unable to confirm the checklist, which led to delays and prevented them from moving to the next step.
Solution and Benefits
The solution involved accessing the inventory stock item level, deleting the existing checklist entries, and reloading a fresh checklist. This was accomplished by adding a custom button called “Update Inspection Checklist” to the stock item screen.
- Benefit: This button allowed users to reload a fresh checklist based on the item class of the stock item. For example, all bolts could belong to the “fasteners” class, regardless of size or material. This eliminated the duplicate entries and streamlined the process by using a standard checklist for all fasteners.
The updated checklist was then tested on the purchase receipt screen to ensure it displayed correctly and without duplication.
- Benefit: This confirmed that the issue was resolved, and the system was back on track. The client could now confirm receipts without any issues.
The solution highlighted the value of customizing systems to fit specific business needs.
- Benefit: Sometimes out-of-the-box solutions don’t cut it, and custom solutions can provide the perfect fit to tackle specific problems.
The podcast concludes by emphasizing the importance of:
- Paying attention to the details. Small problems can snowball into larger issues, so it’s crucial to address them early on.
- Being proactive. Look for inconsistencies in your data, identify processes that take longer than they should, and encourage employees to report any issues.
- Seeking help from experts. Companies like Tayana Solutions can help diagnose problems and create solutions to improve business processes.
- Regularly reviewing processes. Systems need regular checkups and tune-ups to ensure they continue to run smoothly.