regions. They had hired an expensive
third‑party survey team, who used a
truck-mounted laser for measurements.
Using a truck-mounted laser was
accurate, but the costs associated with
the surveys only allowed for physical
inventory measurements to be
performed once yearly.
During the rest of the year, team
members kept a perpetual inventory by
performing self-reported monthly
estimates of material on hand. They
estimated these amounts monthly
and sent the totals to the Finance
Department.
As a result of not using current,
accurate measurement data, the
company was experiencing major
write-offs every year, corresponding to
large financial swings.
Stockpile Reports was used to
perform monthly physical inventory
counts using a mix of measurement
technologies, including iPhones,
drones and planes. A combination of
collection methods were used,
depending on an individual site’s
location, safety, stockpile placements
and sizes:
n
n
A portion of one location is
measured monthly by a drone for
tall coal piles, in a high-traffic area,
which made it unsafe for ground
measurement by iPhone.
n
n
Bunkered material and smaller
stockpiles were measured monthly
with iPhones using internal
labour to spot check incoming
deliveries, and also to ensure that
outgoing deliveries met production
expectations.
n
n
Physical inventory count was
conducted quarterly using Stockpile
Reports’ flyover service on the
same day – if weather permitted.
This provided a running perpetual
inventory for the company.
The cost-savings were immediate, as
there is no third-party labour needed to
implement the solution. The
time‑savings enabled the company to
perform company-wide measurements
regularly. For example, the average
time required using internal labour and
Stockpile Reports’ flyover service was
20 min. for each site. Internal labour
used for piloting a drone for site
measurements averaged approximately
45 min. per site. The average
measurement by iPhone was 3 – 5 min.
per stockpile and bunker.
The materials company has
accelerated physical inventory counts
and is now performing monthly
measurements. Measuring often,
regularly and accurately is the key to
inventory control. They are now able to
make data-driven material handling
decisions and are greatly reducing
financial write-offs.
Conclusion
Over the last three years, Stockpile
Reports has worked with over
125 companies in 18 countries
performing physical inventory counts
at over 1625 locations. Based on this
experience, the company believes that
more frequent physical inventory
counts (quarterly or monthly) is the
most effective way to enable accurate
perpetual inventories – with accuracy
levels similar to other retail and
manufacturing businesses – and reduce
write-offs. After all, every stockpile is
cash sitting on the ground.
