Loss control Management is an emerging trend in the retail and manufacturing industry that started over a decade ago and still continuing to evolve even more. Most of the success stories behind leading supermarkets, manufacturers and retailers have had their success stories being contributed by, among others, Loss Control Management.

Many businesses start on higher note but before the narrative is complete the business starts falling down gradually or tremendously and before any salvage is done, it closes down before dawn.

Business owners keeps pumping in immense stock to their businesses/stores and are always concerned when the returns don’t match the amount of capital pumped in. This are concerns that loss control management through the loss control managers try to solve.

Loss control managers play a vital role in the businesses by ensuring adherence to procedures(SOPs) and policies on risk management, loss control, inventory management among others.

This is how loss control management is categorized :

Double Checkers(DCs)

This are loss control officers that receive and double check goods into the store/business. They are situated at the point of entry where goods are received and their sole purposes is to make sure that whatever the client(business owner) ordered is what is being delivered physically and in documentation. Someone might ask what is the risk involved in losing stock at the receiving bay?.

This among other irregularities associated with the receiving of stock is solved out by hiring a loss control company to prevent from happening and damaging the business at the long run.

Front End Controllers..

This are personnel situated at the point of sale (POS) of a super market. Their main purpose is to oversee that the procedures and regulations relating to the point of sale are adhered to by the personnel involved in selling of goods(Cashiers). Their functions among others include:

-Dispatching of bulky stock and ensuring that whatever sold out in the receipt is whatever being issued out and in details from the Make to the Model and quantity sold out to the customers e.g. Fridges ,microwaves, mattresses, TVs, Gym equipment’s, washing machines etc.

CAMERA CONTROL OPERATORS

This is a very crucial department in the monitoring of the sales floor activities and the store rooms. Shrinkage(loss) of a greater magnitude and frequency occurs either on the sales floor or the store rooms. many of us have heard stories of people caught stealing in the supermarkets. This scenario happens daily in Kenya. The work of this section is to monitor customers and staffs that pilferage(steal) items .Staffs for example accounts for a percentage of losses incurred by a business. This might be through theft for consumption(foodstuffs) or usage(non foodstuffs).Therefore the personnel try to monitor, prevent and solve such issues of theft in the premises.

FLOOR WALKERS

Just like the cctv personnel ,this category of plain cloth staffs are always important in monitoring the movement of customers inside the supermarket in a bid to spot any sort of theft or mishandling/breakage of items in the sales floor. They work hand in hand with the cctv personnel on the movement in the floor. So next time you go to a supermarket and try to steal, think twice.

STOCK TAKERS

This category of staff selected from all sections carry out stock taking in the premises to ascertain the actual physical number of salable items in the sales flour and stores. This is in a bid to statistically know whether the quantity stock of displayed by the system tally with the physical stock counted. There might be cases where the system shows a product is actually in surplus physically but in more cases the stock is always in negative i.e. the physical goods are lesser than in the system. So the big question is where does this negative good vanished to? This helps in the planning and re organizing of the stock movement for both short and long term objectives.