Improved Methods among Wholesale Food Distributors for Inventory Control, Sales Accounting, and Shipment of Merchandise

Excerpts from the report Introduction: The office function in the wholesale food distribution business usually includes all of the paper work, including accounting and filing, connected with the purchase and sale of merchandise. This report deals with the paper work necessary in the preparation of sales invoices and methods of performing this work in an efficient manner. Useful byproduct information for inventory control and cost control programs was also obtained. The number of man-hours required to maintain maximum inventory turnover with minimum out of stock, and the billing of retailer orders, selection and shipment of merchandise, and related activities comprise a major cost in wholesale food distribution. Many companies are using automatic tabulating equipment in an attempt to reduce the overall cost of distributing food. During the study the primary objectives were: (1) To apply the principles of work simplification to routine documents in order to integrate operations for inventory control, sales accounting, and shipment of merchandise; (2) to determine the sales volume necessary to justify use of automatic tabulating equipment rather than manual methods; and (3) to develop an inventory control program and obtain useful information on segments of the business, as a byproduct of the billing operation.