In a recent event, seven employees of the VinFast automobile manufacturing plant were arrested for their involvement in stealing goods and materials from the company, raising an important question for all businesses: “Does your business truly know how much property and goods it’s losing without even realizing it?”

The loss of goods in warehouse management is a perilous issue that can conceal financial risks and harm a company’s reputation. It is essential to understand how to minimize these risks and ensure the safety of a company’s assets. The VinFast incident underscores the complexity of warehouse management and how losses of goods can occur even within large enterprises.

WHY DOES GOODS LOSS IN WAREHOUSES GO UNDETECTED? In the management of raw materials (NVL) warehouses in Vietnam, several unique characteristics and challenges exist:

1. Product Diversity and Packaging Specifications: Each type of goods comes with its own packaging and specifications, often with information in various languages following manufacturer standards. This complexity makes identifying goods challenging and prone to errors.
2. Simultaneous Influx Pressure: Due to the large quantity of goods delivered to warehouses on the same day to save on logistics costs, there is a need for quick inventory processing. This places pressure on warehouse staff and can lead to counting errors.
3. Infrequent Stocktaking: Unlike the final product stage, raw materials are not inventoried on a daily basis. Instead, stocktaking typically occurs at set intervals (biennially or annually), making inventory tracking more challenging.
4. Lack of Investment in NVL Warehouses: NVL warehouses often lack sufficient investment in equipment, software for management, and process monitoring. This can create favorable conditions for fraudulent activities or loss of goods.

HOW TO ENSURE SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY IN WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

1. Establish an Ethical Corporate Culture: Creating an ethical corporate culture is a crucial part of preventing goods loss and building a healthy, cohesive work environment. Companies need to foster a working environment where ethics and honesty are highly valued. Employees must recognize that doing things right and complying with regulations are not just encouraged but also promoted and rewarded. This helps employees prevent goods loss and ensures that all business activities are conducted honestly and within regulations, contributing to the sustainability and development of the company.
2. Improve Warehouse Management Processes: Ensure that warehouse management processes are clear, transparent, and closely followed. Enhancing warehouse management processes plays a vital role in preventing goods loss in warehouse management. Optimized warehouse management processes enhance performance, minimize errors, and ensure that a company’s assets are well-protected. For example, Vingroup Corporation has implemented modern inventory management systems in its VinMart supermarkets, optimizing the sorting and searching of goods and reducing errors during inventory checks. Hoa Binh Corporation, a leading company in the construction industry in Vietnam, has invested in improving warehouse management processes in its construction projects, utilizing smart inventory management systems and surveillance cameras to monitor construction materials.
3. Regular Checks and Employee Training: In practice, periodic inventory checks help verify that the quantity of goods in the warehouse is always up to date and accurate. These checks can be daily, weekly, or based on a predefined schedule, depending on the company’s characteristics. Regular checks can use technology, such as smart warehouse management systems, to minimize errors during the verification process and ensure the accuracy of inventory information. Moreover, regular checks help detect irregularities and fraudulent activities in warehouse management. Training employees in warehouse management procedures and inventory checks is crucial. Employees need to be proficient in work processes and be familiar with modern inventory management tools. Training should also focus on corporate culture, professional ethics, and awareness of the company’s assets.
4. Utilize Technology and Security: Implement technology such as surveillance cameras, personal digital assistants (PDAs), RFID cards for monitoring goods and alerting against irregular activities. Utilizing a smart warehouse management system is an effective measure to minimize the risk of goods loss in warehouse management. This system automatically records goods’ inbound and outbound activities in the warehouse and provides alerts for errors.
5. Invest in Employee Training and Development: Investing in employee training and development is a highly critical factor in addressing goods loss and efficient warehouse management. This is especially true when companies need to ensure that employees have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their jobs accurately and ethically.

These measures can help minimize the risk of goods loss in warehouse management and protect a company’s assets.