The following subjects will be covered briefly
The Industry that I work in
The types of goods that I Warehoused/Controlled
People management and Emotional Capital
Basic rules of good Housekeeping
Honesty
Short Cuts (that doesn’t work)
Stock Count
Procurement
THE INDUSTRY THAT I SPENT MOST OF MY CAREER IN :
They say that if you can turn your hobby into your job, that you will be very successful. Is that true? I would say to a large extent : Yes, Absolutely. There are too many people in the world that do a job that they hate, and sometimes you don’t have a choice, but in these difficult times you Have to hang in there until you can find something else. Please do not just resign, First find another position, and only then you can leave. I am not working my hobby (Flying RC Helicopters & Clay Pigeon Shooting), but I believe that I am one of the most fortunate people in the world, as I am doing absolutely what I enjoy. There are always a variety of things happening, so never a dull moment. I manage all Facets of Stock. From installing a new computer system, Procurement, Imports/Exports, Warehousing, Inventory Control, Stock Count, Logistics, Supply Chain, Forecasting, MRP / ERP, Raw Material, Manufacturing, Sales, Location Control, Build New Warehouses, Fix “Broken” Warehouses / Departments, Control Profit & Pricing, Back orders, Customer Care, Budgets, Give Feedback up and Down, Train Staff, not only discipline my staff, but also protect them. Give credit to hard and smart work being done.
THE TYPES OF GOODS THAT I WORKED WITH :
Aircraft & Helicopter Parts and Turbine Engines
Weapons & Ammunition (With Top Secret Clearance)
Furniture (Office & Domestic)
Clothing & Uniforms
Kitchen Equipment
Food for the Messes
Cleaning Materials
Laundry Exchanges for Staff Living on The Base (Single Quarters)
Caterpillar Parts (Original & Generic – 12,5 years)
Appliance Parts
Security Products Manufacturing & Finished Goods
Two Way Radio’s
Engineering Shop General Manager (Temporary – 6 Months)
Air Conditioning (HVAC)
FMCG
Motor Vehicle Parts
Aircraft Fuel – Very High Volume
Petrol, Diesel & Lubricants
Cellular Phones
Computers/Laptops
CCTV & Attachments
Sold Used Cars – Freelance (Inspectacar)
Drive Shuttle Freelance
PEOPLE & EMOTIONAL CAPITAL :
I love to be around people, so I get along with most people in the working and social environments. Because of the current state of the Economy, people are under severe pressures like never before. If you Respect all People and you try to understand their pressures, you need a lot of emotional capital. You must not only discipline your staff, but protect them as well, especially against other departments that abuse the blame game.
BASIC RULES OF GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
From your import, pricing, Warehousing and Inventory control, Stock Count, Distribution, Obsolescent/Over Stocking, Location Control, Lead Times, Sales Forecasts, and Exporting must all be carefully controlled, otherwise you will end up with Warehouses that are full of the wrong and slow moving stock. You can Kill the Company’s Cash Flow. I have asked a lot of Sales and Technical People : What do you want me to stock? Without exception, thay all said: Everything!!! (You can never do that)
HONESTY
Don’t Lie to your : Customers, Superiors, Staff and Recruitment Agents. You will get away with
some of it, however, it will always come back at some point, and then nobody will ever believe
you again. There are situations where you can not tell everybody everything, so rather keep quiet,
than to start lying. I worked for a Company where the Directors told us : If you tell the Customers
this or that, we will fire you. Extremely Difficult, but don’t lie.
SHORT CUTS (that never work)
At a Security Company that I worked for they also built 2 Way Radio’s. There was ONE Micro –
Chip that was only made by ONE COMPANY in China, and it was extremely expensive and this
Company only Manufacture this Micro Chip as per order, with a 22 week lead time. If you don’t
have the money to over stock, there are NO Short Cut. The Factory that built the Radio’s said in a
Production meeting that we must urgently order raw material, as they want to start building 2 way
Radio’s in 7 weeks time?? The Buyer that worked for me, and I both Jumped up and said : STOP
THE BUS!! Without the Chip that has a lead time of 22 weeks, there is Absolutely NO SHORT CUT.
No 2 Way Radios in 7 weeks, so don’t promise your Customer the wrong Lead Time, as you will
most probably loose that Customer, because you can not deliver on the wrong time. This is why I
said previously, your individual lead times must be in place and Correct!!
STOCK COUNTS (big or small)
If you want to completely destroy your stock count, skip the proper preparation before the
Stock Count. To have a good stock count, your preparation is more important than your stock
count. Long before your stock count, your paper work must be clinical. All Customers ( Internal &
External must be warned long before you have your stock count. To have a good Stock Count,
nobody must Disturb you, not even the CEO/MD. Let them also know about your next Stock
Count Date. I had many Stock Counts ( Financial Year End ) with the Auditors. Here your
Preparation and Stock Count must be the best that you can. I once worked for a Company where
the Manager Resigned just before annual Financial Year End, and he was too lazy to count the
Stock before he leave the Company, so he told the MD & FD that it is better to count after the
new system is installed. That is a big fat lie!!!! You must balance the stock to the old system, before you go onto a new System that you and your staff don’t properly know. Only once the growing pains of the new system are sorted out, can you test the Stock Count Module, and after that critical test, and all faults with that new module are sorted and all staff understand the New System, Then you can have a stock count with the Auditors. I warned the MD & the FD that we can absolutely NOT have 2 stock counts with the Auditors, one week after installing a brand new system. They did not believe me and forced me to have 2 Warehouses Stock Counted with the Auditors, one week after installation.
Guess what happened? We as a Company got a Qualification on our Audit Report, as we were still Clueless with the new system. Please don’t hire specialists and then don’t listen to them. If you do that, why did you hire specialists in the first place?
PROCUREMENT
Every financial crook in the world, wants to be in procurement, as I told ALL My Buyers : You are sitting with a blank cheque on your desk 24/7. The day you “fill it in, you are fired”. I can not tell you how many Bribes offers I received over the years. You will not believe me. The Suppliers / Sellers have a saying: Every Man has his price?? Sorry suppliers & sellers, this man does not have a price!!!
Why? Because money is absolutely not everything to me. I love Honesty/Loyalty/Respect/Trust/A Happy Boss that knows he can trust me with Billions. If I took your stupid bribe, I have nothing to live for, because I have then sold my whole life/integrity/honesty/my soul/my happiness to you for a few Rands. If you have done it only once, you will do it again, over and over. I don’t drink Alcohol and I don’t Smoke, so all the guys that tried to bribe me with a bottle, did not ever get a single order from me again. Top Management, Please employ the correct person for the job. I have seen Millions of Rands wasted in dead stock, because the person got hired on looks and cheap talks. That wrong person that you hire is going to cost you a fortune. Ever heard of a gravy train? Like state capture, you kill your own Company/Country Extremely fast. I can not help you more than warning you. We all make mistakes, but you can not hire An Aircraft Pilot, to overhaul your Ferrari’s Engine!!! ( Apologies to all the Pilots – You are Wonderful ).
Please send comments to – Paul Oberholster
See my profile on LinkedIn – Paul Oberholster
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