Since mid-March, customers and auditors no longer need to personally visit the logistics centers for stocktaking purposes. The logistics service provider GROUP7 offers inventories via Skype at all warehouse locations in Germany on more than 220,000 square meters. A Skype inventory takes place in the following steps: After the main inventory count has been completed by a member of the staff, the counting results are transmitted electronically to the respective auditor. The latter then selects certain articles as samples. In the next step, GROUP7 organizes a video conference in which the individual positions of the articles are controlled in order to provide physical proof of the number determined in advance. "We worked hard on this solution to enable our customers to make solid annual inventories even such difficult times as the corona crisis," explains Günther Jocher, Managing Director of GROUP7.
Annual financial statements and stocktaking despite Covid-19
GROUP7 carried out the first Skype inventory at the Kelsterbach logistics center near Frankfurt. “We faced a dilemma: on the one hand, a classic inventory was not possible due to the corona regulations. On the other hand, it was out of the question to postpone the stocktaking due to the end of the fiscal year”, Hubert Borghoff, Head of Logistics and Vice President of GROUP7 explains. A solution was found quickly together with the customer and the auditor. The experience of GROUP7 with innovations helped immensely. "This accelerated the development of our solution via Skype", Hubert Borghoff continues.
Special situations require individual solutions
New processes for stocktaking are not the only challenges with which customers currently approach GROUP7. "Especially in the difficult time of Corona, we offer logistic solutions and additional storage space in Germany flexibly and at short notice in our modern multi-user warehouses," Günther Jocher concludes.