Physical Inventory Taking Using Inventory Records and Direct on-the-Spot Monitoring.

Abstract : An integral part of any commercial activity is the periodic counting of assets. In some larger establishments (such as a complex of warehouses and arsenals) this is a major undertaking involving many man-hours of labor. It is customary to take such an inventory on an annual basis. This report provides an approach which employs a sampling design in which items are inspected on a rotating basis but also uses the time series of inventory records. The present procedure, therefore provides: (1) a quality control of the inventory records protecting the establishment from having to use inventory records that are seriously in error, and (2) a method of computing best estimates of complete inventories for items at any specified time with computable statistical errors of inventory estimation. As indicated above, the method is a combination of rotation sampling of items and the application of an autoregressive time series analysis applied to the inventory records. (Author)