Hello all, here's a question that I didn't see addressed on the forums anywhere. We do periodic physical inventories such as cycle counts (usually we do cycle counts weekly). This includes finished goods as well as components and in-process goods, cycling through different items so ideally we cycle through everything eventually--hence the term "cycle"--I don't know if this is typical, but it is how we do it. We also do year-end inventory of everything we have in inventory; we do this at our fiscal year-end.
My question is this: What are your thoughts on whether it is necessary to establish written procedures describing methods and responsibilities for performing cycle counts and other counts and how to handle (and whether to investigate) inventory discrepancies? Without written procedures, I think a regulator or auditor can reasonably question why we don’t investigate discrepancies, how we know theft/food fraud are not occurring, and whether our traceability/inventory controls are adequate. It’s troubling to me that seemingly random quantities of finished goods appear and disappear with associated uncertainty regarding whether they are acceptable in food safety, authenticity, and quality.
I don't expect inventory to be perfect, and I don't think you can ever achieve perfection. I am also unaware of regulations requiring such written procedures. However, it just seems to me that without such written procedures, there are too many questions relating to food safety and quality without some written method of whether/how to investigate that something has occurred to adversely affect food safety, authenticity, or quality. Currently, we seem to view inventory discrepancies as merely minor financial losses or gains, and this does not seem right to me, for the reasons explained.
We are regulated in the United States under 21 CFR Part 111 and 117 and we have SQF and NSF GMP certifications.
Thank you,
Matthew
