Storage and inventory of extra shirts?

[whitewater]

I can not figure out a way that i can keep it straight. Most times i order extras, in case of a mess up or 2. Mostly when i was training or if its time sensitive  order and there would be no time to print another shirt (who wants to do that anyway)

I have them in boxes right now according to size. But i still have no idea whats in there.

Should i get clear plastic bins? tape a paper on the outside of whats in there?

How do you guys and gals do it?

[balloonguy]

If you are talking about having inventory for actual use I would suggest getting several storage bins. We keep them for white, black and navy (seem to be our most popular). I keep each size and color in a separate bin. We have piece of masking tape with the color, size and count on the outside of the bin. If anyone removes or add a shirt the number is updated.
If you are talking about 1 or 2 pieces that are extras left over that is different. I like to use them for other orders. Is someone orders navy g2000's and I have 1 navy next level I will print that and give it them. They love something free and may be more likely to upgrade the next order.
Matt

[Homer]

We tried the bins, we tried a tally system of take one out, check it off. Excel sheets, all sorts of stuff...and right now, they are all in large boxes by size, all effed up in no order, because the color you need NOW is at the bottom of the box and who has time to neatly remove the top contents and grab that shirt? Instead you reach in to the bottom and rip that fkr out - screwing up the arrangement...when you find a system that works, fill me in.

[ericheartsu]

This is something we tackle with daily.

Right now I keep Gildan 5000s and Next Level 3600s in black, usually about a case on hand at all times. We have a wire rack, with two sizes per shelf.

Whenever I order goods from AA, alternative apparel, bella/canvas, and next level, I always order extras. Wether it's holes or mis prints, i feel safer having extras. Right now when we are done with the jobs, and we don't use the extras, I organize them in boxes, according to the distributor, so that at the end of the month I can return them.

[whitewater]

yea..its the 1 to 2 pcs.

yea homer..thats whats happening and its just a mess.

[tancehughes]

This is what we do


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[tonypep]

We have rows and rows of racks with rolling ladders and hundreds of SKUs to inventory and access. Only two people are allowed to touch the merch and adjust inventory. Some shops cage and lock this off.
Even still you will most likely be off on the #s. For the clothing lines we keep minimal overstock for replacements.

[3Deep]

This is what we do


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Oh I just hate you neat azz guys LOL we use bin's and trust me we've tried over and over to keep things organized but over time it becomes a mess again, from pulling and looking for extra shirt's and it's only two of us

darryl

[mimosatexas]

If I tried what tance has my stock would be covered in dust and dead bugs in a few weeks.  Central Texas and a crappy space I guess...

I use clear plastic bins with a large number on the front.  I then have a google spreadsheet with a tab for each brand/style and have color on the left and size on top, then fill in my quantities and have a total on the right.  I tend to steer people toward the same 8-10 brands/styles, but I have plenty of outliers.

In the actual bins I try to keep it organized by brand/style/color/size, stacked per size then folded in half, with a piece of parchment paper between styles or colors or brands etc.  Some shirts, like black G5000s take up multiple bins as I use those constantly and keep them stocked.

The numbers are impossible to keep 100% accurate as I occasionally pull mid run for a specific size if there is a mistake and forget to update later, but they give you a good idea.  I typically order 1-2 extra per size/color/etc for each run, so I have a lot of overage and stock in my shop.  I would say 2-3 times a month right now I can run small orders same day without spending anything due to having the shirts on hand.  It's nice

[alan802]

We don't have inventory of anything.  There are a few times here and there that we need 1 or 2 shirts due to misprints or damaged goods but the odds of us having the size, style and color needed are so low, it doesn't make it worth it for us.  For the shop that doesn't have sales people that open up the Sanmar catalog and say "here, pick one out of these 2,000 t's", it could work wonders.  Personally, I'd love to have a few brands and styles that we used for most everything instead of the way we do it.  We might do 100-200 jobs before we repeated a style and color during stretches of the year, which you might think is impossible, but it's not for us.  I envy those of you who repeat styles and colors often.  I've argued for years with the sales staff to narrow down the selection to proven/known styles but my approach hasn't worked, guess I need to pull out the hammer.

[Frog]

I have a few boxes of leftover extras that have saved my ass more than once, but still struggle like most of you knowing exactly what I have and then grabbing it.
For me, it's a three minute climb and browse.
The added plus is seeing what else is in the box, and maybe, just maybe that sticking in my mind for future reference.

I really expected one of you smart ass young technophiles to tell us about your inventory label printing program and companion smart phone app so even when on the beach at Cancun, you can check and see if you have two XL Jade G2000's!

[mimosatexas]

I can check my stock on my phone because it is in a google spreadsheet, but I don't think I would even care to print out a label from it since it changes so frequently.

[Shanarchy]

I stopped ordering extras.

I keep a dozen black G2000's in size S-3XL on hand. When they run out I replace them.

Any extras we accumulate (I ordered incorrectly, customer changed the order after and we never returned, etc) get piled on a shelf like Tance posted. Mainly so we can have a reminder that if we order more ice grey tees there is a dozen sitting on the shelf. When I print up shop tees for giving out I will usually print whatever is on there, with the exception of random large quantities.

In the past when I would order a few extras with every order, I would offer them to a customer of mine at a discounted rate with his order. He loved it. This was a "there's 100 tees here, you get them all. No cherry picking".

The other option, which I never did was an excel sheet. After every order add to it what you are putting on the shelf. Check it before placing an order to see what you already have. But this falls under the category of don't spend too much time chasing a couple of tees to save $5 off your next order.

[tancehughes]

Well what does help us is we pretty much steer everyone to gildan 2000/5000 and don't pull out any books unless they start asking. We don't stock anything else really


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[mimosatexas]

We don't have inventory of anything.  There are a few times here and there that we need 1 or 2 shirts due to misprints or damaged goods but the odds of us having the size, style and color needed are so low, it doesn't make it worth it for us.  For the shop that doesn't have sales people that open up the Sanmar catalog and say "here, pick one out of these 2,000 t's", it could work wonders.  Personally, I'd love to have a few brands and styles that we used for most everything instead of the way we do it.  We might do 100-200 jobs before we repeated a style and color during stretches of the year, which you might think is impossible, but it's not for us.  I envy those of you who repeat styles and colors often.  I've argued for years with the sales staff to narrow down the selection to proven/known styles but my approach hasn't worked, guess I need to pull out the hammer.

This sounds like a nightmare...I'm sorry Alan!

For school jobs and budget folks I basically exclusively use Gildan 5000's or 8000's if they want a blend.  They are dirt cheap, print well enough, always in stock, etc.

For the fashion and young folks or people want something a little nicer I steer them toward Next Level or the Anvil 980 basically every time.  I have yet to have anyone be unhappy with those choices.

The rest either know what they want already (usually American Apparel, Dickies, or some other known retail brand), want to look at samples for a particular style (women's tank, v-neck, long sleeve with a pocket, etc), or they want an odd style/color combo and I have to basically shop around until I find it or tell them it isn't possible.

I would say 90% of my overage stock is maybe 5 total brands and styles (G5000, G8000, A980, NL3600, AA2001).

I can't imagine letting someone pick a shirt out of a catalog without steering them toward something you are familiar with.  There are two many shitty shirts or hard to source shirts with stocking issues to blindly let the customer pick in my opinion.