Preparing for a Stocktake

Decide on a Schedule

Deciding on when to perform a stocktake is important as you aim to minimise and freeze the movement of stock where possible. In most cases, it is recommended to perform the stocktake before or after business hours as this is when stock is least likely to physically move.

Remove Random Tags

Remove any old or misplaced tags from bins, counters and any storage areas that aren't properly RFID blocking. Any spare or unused tags will be counted as part of the stocktake and may cause inaccurate counts to appear.

Prepare your RFID Devices

Make sure that all your RFID handhelds are charged and prepared before the stocktake. As part of this check, ensure that the devices are set to the right power levels. By default, the recommended power setting should be set to High.

Organizing the Product

Arrange the products where possible to have the RFID label exposed and not buried underneath the product. Having the product too densely packed may cause readability issues. If possible, have the product neatly stacked and organized to avoid the possibility of RFID tags touching and prevent reads.

Move Slowly Through Stock

When scanning through inventory, ensure that you move slowly past the stock to capture as many products as possible.

Moving too fast past sections of inventory may result in the handheld miss some of the product and not be reflected in the inventory.

The handheld will provide audible beeps to indicate whether any remaining RFID tags are still being scanned.

Move in a Sweeping Pattern

When scanning through the inventory, ensure that you move in a sweeping pattern across the product as this will increase the likelihood of scanning an item. 

Aim to move left to right, up and down in a crosshatch pattern to increase the readability of the RFID tag as it provides an opportunity for the handheld reader to scan the tag from different angles.

Failing to sweep over the inventory may result in some items missed and reduce the overall accuracy.

Introduce Movement to the Product

For dense inventory such as clothing or small goods, it may be difficult to scan all the items as they may be blocked or covered by the sheer quantity of product available. In these circumstances, it is recommended to introduce movement to the products in an effort to expose the RFID labels.

For products in containers, it is recommended to mix-up the container if the RFID labels are not neatly organized and exposed. Alternatively, you can scan the items as they are moved to a spare container.

For products on clothing racks or shelves, it is recommended to move the product or expose the RFID label while scanning.

Perform Multiple Passes

Although RFID is capable of capturing a large number of RFID labels simultaneously, there is still the possibility that an RFID label is still not captured or scanned.

It is recommended to perform a faster sweep of the inventory initially to capture a larger number of the RFID labels as a starting point. 

Once done, it is then recommended to perform a secondary, slower sweep to capture any remaining RFID tags that weren't captured as part of the initial sweep. Performing multiple passes will increase the likelihood that all RFID tags are captured during a stocktake.