The client who thought they had more
You print a year's supply of forms, brochures and branded folders for a client and hold them in your warehouse. Their offices email when they need some: 'Please send 2 boxes of the blue folders to Leeds.' Someone picks, packs, sends and updates a spreadsheet, usually. One day the client asks for ten boxes and there are three. They thought they had plenty. They need them for an event on Monday.
Meanwhile, the spreadsheet says you hold 40 boxes of a leaflet that was replaced last year, and nobody has asked the client whether to destroy them.
Warehousing that grew by accident
Holding printed stock for clients starts as a favour and grows into a service. The systems around it rarely grow with it.
- Balances live in a spreadsheet updated when someone remembers.
- Call-offs arrive by email and phone from many people at the client.
- There is no reorder level, so the client finds out they have run out when they try to order.
- Obsolete stock is never flagged or cleared.
- Storage and pick-and-pack time are hard to charge because they are not recorded.
What informal warehousing costs
Stock-outs make you look disorganised even when the client caused them. Reprints ordered in a panic are rushed and squeezed into the schedule. Unrecorded picks mean balances drift and you cannot answer a simple question about how much the client has. And storage, picking and dispatch are real work that is often given away, while the space fills up with obsolete items.
A client stock and call-off system
- Each client's printed items are set up with their description, pack size, location in your warehouse and reorder level.
- When a print job finishes, the quantity goes into stock against the client automatically.
- The client's staff call off stock through a simple web page, choosing items and delivery address. Their manager approves if the client wants that step.
- Call-offs become pick lists for your warehouse, and dispatch books the courier and records delivery.
- Balances update with each pick, and when an item drops below its reorder level, the client and your account handler are told, with an option to reorder the print.
- Items not called off for a set period are listed for the client to decide whether to keep, move or destroy.
- Storage, picks and deliveries are recorded so they can be charged on your agreed terms.
| Task | Spreadsheet and email | Stock and call-off system |
|---|---|---|
| Check balance | Open the spreadsheet, hope | Live balance per item |
| Place a call-off | Email to whoever | Client web page |
| Reorder print | When they run out | Alert at reorder level |
| Obsolete stock | Sits for years | Listed for a decision |
| Charge for service | Estimated or waived | Recorded activity |
Warehousing as a service you can charge for
Clients see their own balances and order without emailing. Your warehouse works from pick lists. Reprints are planned rather than rushed, which is better for your schedule. You can charge for storage and handling with a record behind the invoice, and you can offer the service to other clients with confidence because it runs itself rather than depending on one person's spreadsheet.
It also changes the renewal conversation. When a client's contract comes up, you can show them exactly what they called off, how often, and which items sat unused, which helps them order the right quantities next time and shows the value of the service beyond the print itself.
Is this your warehouse?
- You hold printed stock for clients and track it in a spreadsheet.
- Clients have run out without warning.
- Call-offs arrive by email from different people.
- Obsolete printed items have sat on shelves for years.
- Storage and picking are not charged, or are charged by guesswork.