Store procedure & Practice

Meaning:

After the completion of purchase procedure, the next important aspect Of materials management is storekeeping.
A storehouse is a building provided for preserving materials, stores and finished goods. The in-charge of store is called storekeeper or stores manager. The organisation of the stores department depends upon the size and layout of the factory, nature of the materials stored and frequency of purchases and issue of materials.
According to Alford and Beatty “storekeeping is that aspect of material control concerned with the physical storage of goods.” In other words, storekeeping relates to art of preserving raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods in the stores.

Types:

Stores may be centralised or decentralised. Centralised storage means a single store for the whole organisation, whereas decentralised storage means independent small stores attached to various departments. Centralised storekeeping ensures better layout and control of stores, economical use of storage space, lesser staff, saving in storage costs and appointment of experts for handling storage problems. It further ensures continuous stock checking.
It suffers from certain drawbacks also. It leads to higher cost of materials handling, delay in issue of materials to respective departments, exposure of materials to risks of fire and accident losses are practical difficulties in managing big stores.
On the other hand, decentralised stores involve lesser costs and time in moving bulky materials to distant departments and are helpful in avoiding overcrowding in central store. However, it too suffers from certain drawbacks viz., uniformity in storage policy of goods cannot be achieved under decentralised storekeeping, more staff is needed and experts may not be appointed.