How can you collaborate with other departments to prevent shrinkage?

Setting shrink goals early and consistently following up with the team is crucial for shrink management. Shrink management is a responsibility at all levels of an organization, following best practices like walking high ticket items up to registers, doing cycle counts on high volume products, and locking up valuable merchandise are just some examples. It’s also up to leadership to ensure these best practices are being followed with consistency every time to ensure shrink potential is minimized.

In my experience , I refer to the community pharmacy setting . Shrinkage in the pharmacies is so important to manage . We want to make sure we have ethical staff members in the pharmacies. Making sure that counts are accurate while dispensing meds; Making sure that C2 drugs are in the safe , where only the Rph can have access to the medications;Making sure controlled substances are always double counted; Making sure only direct pharmacy employees have access to the pharmacy...all impact shrinkage. I have found pharmacies with high values have an entire staff that makes sure every drug dispensed is counted perfect. Inventory is also managed with ethics in high value pharmacies so there is no shrinkage.

This all depends on the industry you are in, take for example, if its manufacturing, the warehouse and maintenance department must work closely together with regards to shrinkage. This will reduce down time of equipment, planning of preventative maintenance will can be effectively schedule. If it is retailing, the sales/ marketing team must work closely with the warehouse. Stock out meaning a loss in business and loosing customer(s) which leads to profit loss. The industry you are in will dictates which other departments are affected heavily.

Effective inventory management is critical, and the outlined steps resonate with the theoretical frameworks I'm studying in business school. Communicating clear goals, tracking inventory with technology, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and accountability are strategies that seem not only practical but essential. I believe integrating these practices with modern tools like RFID and analytics can create robust systems that minimize loss and maximize efficiency.

THERE IS MANY TYPE OF SHRINKAGE ACCORDING TO THE ORGANISATION AND TRADE BUT SOME APPLIED TO MOST SHOPLIFTING,EMPLOYEES THEFT, MISADMINISTRATION BY STAFF MISHANDLING OF INVENTORY, ACCOUNTING ERRORS AND WRONG PRESENTION AND ALSO FINANCIAL CONSTRAINST

One thing that I have experienced in the community pharmacy setting is that it is important to have staff who focuses on quality of the patient care aspects . These types automatically want to make sure inventory is managed accurately . They also are ethical. Also, system initiated and proactive cycle counts help find and fix discrepancies in medication counts. You can detect for possible shrinkage and research the causes . Accurate counts while dispensing ( have the staff circle all their counts); making sure C2 meds are in the safe; double count controls...all this impacts shrinkage.

Other departments need some of your inventory. It's a fact of business. Marketing needs them for photos or product shoots. Sales needs them for demonstrations or to pull some information off of. The goal should be to make sure that you are not creating internal shrinkage and that everything is tracked and easy. A QR code for filling out a form on the door the marketing and sales teams use. A sign out sheet for this inventory with who and why. Any of these things helps make sure that this inventory is tracked.

Inventory tracking is essentially a 24/7 process, but how can you manage a 24/7 process? The answer is whole team collaboration. At my organization, during the day associates and supervisors do cycle counts on high traffic or high shrink items, they ensure the lock up walk up process is being followed with consistency, they look at shrink indicators weekly and make sure we are hitting the mark to minimize as much shrink as possible. Even after the store closes, our overnight team has processes in place to minimize operational shrink; ensuring accurate key recs for trucks,making sure all product makes it onto the shelf or overhead, etc. Inventory tracking is a whole team process where when followed correctly can provide great shrink results!

Only pharmacy personnel should have access to the medications. Enforcing accurate counts while dispensing meds ; taking perpetual inventory of C2's; making sure the controlled substances are always double counted while dispensing....etc.. all this impacts shrinkage . It's important to have a high quality pharmacy.

To protect product from malicious shrink, we follow MPS (Merchandise Protection Standards). This means locking up high ticket items, and when customers need said products, associates walk the product up to registers every single time. Now if anyone was to witness theft, they are not to retaliate but simply enter the theft in a portal where our Asset Protection partners review footage and build cases as needed. This whole team/cross functional effort helps us fight and mitigate shrink where possible.

I am referring to the pharmacy setting . Setting goals of how much extra of certain meds you want to keep on the shelf is important . Do we order high dollar meds as needed ? Etc ..So many parameters are looked at while analyzing and optimizing inventory . Checking for expired medications routinely every month is important , so we don't have expired meds on our pharmacy shelves . This is important because we don't want to dispense expired meds to our patients, and it is part of inventory management .

Rewards should be based on quality , ethics , honesty , and how we care for our patients ( in reference to the pharmacy settings). This will also help prevent shrinkage , stealing....and it helps spreads kindness in the world.

Educate employees about the importance of inventory control, security measures, and the impact of shrinkage on the company's bottom line. By involving multiple departments, you can create a collective understanding and commitment to preventing shrinkage. It’s also important to work closely with other departments, such as sales, marketing, and finance, to develop accurate demand forecasts and inventory plans. By aligning inventory levels with anticipated demand, you can reduce the risk of overstocking or understocking, which can contribute to shrinkage.

There’s always room for improvement; year over year we try to beat our previous shrink number. Through teaching and coaching on best practices; and even when accidents happen, it’s a teaching moment to make our associates sharper and better equip to identify shrink opportunities and minimize them. The leadership team reviews yearly shrink results and then creates a plan to minimize shrink in hopes of beating plan the next year during inventory. It’s all about optimizing process through continual feedback, training, and follow up.

In my opinion, often the downfall is lack of communication, scheduling time for cycle counting and preparation. Having a structure of areas to establish order for different phases of the process. Understanding WHY the processes are necessary , make them make sense, taking the time to explain what certain processes do to prevent shrinkage and optimum outcome. Everyone learns differently, tweaking the communication process will help.

To effectively prevent shrinkage, collaboration with other departments is crucial. One way to foster collaboration is by establishing regular communication channels, such as cross-departmental meetings or shared platforms, to facilitate the exchange of information and insights. By working closely with departments like inventory management, finance, and human resources, organizations can identify potential vulnerabilities, implement preventive measures, and address any emerging issues promptly. Additionally, fostering a culture of shared responsibility and accountability across departments can encourage proactive problem-solving and the implementation of comprehensive shrinkage prevention strategies