Inventory Control Flashcards
What is purchasing? What is it based on?
not just ordering, includes acquiring goods or services to accomplish of an organisation
- what market has to offer
- past experience of food service operation
- use to be made of the product
- more precise than federal or provincial standards
Define product specifications
-statement of particulars in commercial and specific terms
-detailed description of measurable characteristic desired in an item:
quality, size, weight, performance parameters, safety requirements, health parameters (low sodium, gluten free etc..), value parameters (organic, fare trade..)
What are major objectives of purchasing?
- maintain quality and value of a product
- quality: customer satisfaction, associated to gastronomic values - minimize cash tied-up in inventory
- Maintain the flow of inputs to maintain the flow of output
- strengthen competitive position
- allow purchasing to be done by different people
What are some specifications included in purchasing? (general and specific for meat + F&V)
- trade name/common name
- condition/form
- grade/barnd
- purchase unit
- number of items in a purchase unit
- content: weight/volume of each package
- unit for price quotations
- any specific factors needed to obtain exact items
meat: area of production, feed for animals, age of meat, cut, depth of fat, %fat, % cereal in sausage/cultlets, gender
fruits and vegetable: variety, size limit, style, type
additional:
- additions ([un]sweetened)
- type of container
- condition on receipt (froze. chilled)
- pure/imitation (flavourings)
- nutrient content (salt, sugar)
- count/portion size
- concentration or specific gravity
- lead time (best before date/exp)
- no rust
- hygiene and sanitation HACCP
- processing/packaging date to be shown
- temperature of previous storage
- temperature of delivery truck
- other storage conditions
- % of broken pieces
- absence of specific items (allergens, gluten, sulphite)
- specific moral values: organic fair trade, GMO free, etc.
What is the list of allergens?
- nuts, wheat, eggs, milk, soybean, powdered mustard and seed, fish, crustaceans, shellfish
- gluten: barley, oats, rye, triticale, wheat
- sulphite: potassium, bisulphite, etc.
What are types of purchasing?
small foodservices:
- distributors: manufacture specific
- brokers: like distributor but represents many manufacturers
- wholesalers: supermarket for food service
Bigger foodservices:
- centralized purchasing (done by specific department)
- group purchasing (many foodservice buy together to get better price, can involve competitive bidding = guaranty supply, prices, specific sales volume
What does inventory management include?
involves storing goods purchased
large inventory:
- allows storage for future use
- prevents shortage due to fluctuating demand
- takes building space
- incurs cost to maintain
- may result in spoilage
small inventory:
- less money tied in inventory
- less spoilage
- requires more careful management
- good purchasing procedures
- sensitive to fluctuating demand
What are the pros and cons to inventory?
pros:
manager: knows quantities, plans what needs to be purchased, informed about possible theft, evaluation of turnover rate
cons: requires time to complete, specific skills, possible errors, increases bureaucracy
What are the ways to do inventory management?
ABC method (3 categories) A. highest value items/low shelf life = apply tight controls (2x records daily) B. average value = apply some control (1 or 3 x records a week) C. low value/long shelf life = minimal control (once a week records)
perpetual inventory method
- total count once
- adjust inventory values as per used by employees
- less time wasted to take full counts
- errors can be integrated and can grow over time
- full inventory should be taken occasionally to correct those errors
How do you manage quantity stocks?
- set minimum amount in inventory before reordering
- decide when/how much to order
- do not allow stocks to rise or fall pass a certain amount
How does the buffer stock help manage stock quantities in the inventory?
used to adapt to fluctuating demand
smaller the stocks, less inventory maintenance costs
management determines right quantities
How does “just in time” help manage inventory? (aka leaner inventory)
- reduces inventory control and maintenance cost by having less inventory
- goods spend minimal time in inventory
- cyclic menu - planned purchases so buy what needs to be used
- pay current price for items
- vulnerability to disasters/human errors
- less adaptable to fluctuations in demand
What is inventory turnover? How do we calculate it?
cycle in which goods are replaced by new
calculation:
food cost for period/ average inventory value for the period = inventory turnover for the period
eg. 150/200 = 0.75 turns or turnover of 0.75/75%
What is selective inventory control?
separating inventory into categories:
eg. raw materials - food in store
work in progress - dessert mixes ready to bake
finished products- food ready to be served
leftovers - used as an alternative menu item
What is the application of FIFO?
first in, first out always used when dealing with food less important for non perishable items avoid losses due to spoilage requires food stored to rotate (older foods in front so easier to reach and recent foods in the back harder to reach)
