Warehousing and stock management

1Receipt and storage

• On arrival: compare the goods with the waybill and the order, count, check quality, record discrepancies and damage before signing.
• Store on pallets, away from walls, by batch, with clear aisles; respect the maximum stacking height.
• Separate hazardous, food, medical and non-food items; some products require a cold chain or controlled temperature.
• A clean, dry, ventilated, secure warehouse (restricted access, controlled keys), with fire extinguishers.

2Stock cards, FIFO and FEFO

Each item has a stock card (paper or software): date, receipt, issue, balance, document reference, signature. The balance must match the physical stock.

• FIFO (first in, first out): items that arrived first are issued first.
• FEFO (first expired, first out): for food and medicines, what expires soonest is issued first.

3Inventories, issues and losses

• A regular physical inventory (for example monthly) by two people, one of whom is independent of the storekeeper; discrepancies are explained and approved.
• Every issue is based on an approved request and a signed issue voucher or waybill.
• Losses (theft, damage, expiry) are declared in a report, never discreetly "corrected" on the card.
• Monitor safety stock and replenishment lead times to avoid stock-outs.

4Selecting, sizing and laying out a warehouse

A poorly chosen humanitarian warehouse is costly for its entire period of use: losses from humidity, pests, theft, handling time, no access in the rainy season. The choice must be made methodically, not on the basis of the first rental offer available.

Site selection criteria

When no suitable building exists, a mobile storage unit (rubb hall) is installed; common sizes are 10 x 24 m (240 m²) or 10 x 32 m (320 m²). It requires a raised, compacted platform, perimeter drainage, anchoring suited to wind conditions and a team trained in assembly (generally one day with 10 to 15 people). The Logistics Cluster can lend them in large-scale emergencies.

Calculating the required space

Sizing follows four steps:

1. Planned maximum stock: not the average stock, but the expected peak (arrival of a large convoy before a distribution), expressed in tonnes and cubic metres per category.
2. Volume per tonne: bagged cereals take up about 1.5 to 2 m³ per tonne, pulses and oil slightly less; light, bulky household items (blankets, jerrycans, tarpaulins) can exceed 5 m³ per tonne. The most restrictive criterion is therefore used, often volume for non-food items and floor load for food.
3. Stacking height: this depends on the item, its packaging and the structure. As a guide, stacks of 50 kg bags rarely exceed 3 to 4 m in height; cartons are limited by the strength indicated on the packaging. Net floor space is calculated as volume / usable height.
4. Gross floor space: aisles and service areas are added. In practice, the space actually occupied by stacks often represents 60 to 70% of the total space; the net space must therefore be divided by 0.6 to 0.7.

Commonly applied layout rule: pallets under all goods, at least 50 cm between stacks and walls for inspection and ventilation, main aisles wide enough for handling (2 to 3 m, more for a forklift), a receiving area, a dispatch area, a quarantine area for damaged items or items awaiting inspection, and a warehouse plan displayed showing the location of each stack.

Segregation and special conditions

• Food kept separate from chemicals, fuel and strong-smelling hygiene products; pest control (traps, inspections, fumigation by a licensed contractor if necessary, never by untrained staff).
• Health products in a dedicated area with restricted access and temperature readings twice a day; storage temperature usually below 25 or 30 °C depending on the label; cold chain of 2 to 8 °C for vaccines and certain products, with temperature data loggers.
• Dangerous goods (fuel, chlorine, batteries) in a separate, ventilated room with a spill containment tray, signage and safety data sheets.
• Valuable items (satellite phones, computers, vouchers) in a cage or locked room, with a separate register.

Fire safety and occupational health

Suitable fire extinguishers (dry powder and CO2) near the doors and regularly checked, no smoking, inspected electrical installation, clear emergency exits. Staff wear safety shoes and learn safe lifting techniques; the manual load carried by one person should remain reasonable (50 kg bags are carried by two people or with mechanical assistance, depending on the organisation's policy). Daily workers are registered, briefed on the rules and covered in accordance with local legislation.

5Stock documentation: from the waybill to the monthly report

Traceability of goods relies on a chain of documents that must make it possible to track each item from its arrival to its distribution or final disposal. An auditor or donor must be able to start from a line in the distribution report and trace it back to the goods received note, and vice versa.

Documents and their purpose

Record-keeping rules

• One card per item, per batch and, if donors require it, per project or per donor. Goods from two donors are not mixed on the same card, even if they are physically identical, unless an allocation method has been agreed and documented.
• Each line shows the date, the reference of the supporting document, the quantity received or released, the balance and the signature.
• Corrections are made with a new line referencing the adjustment report, never by crossing out, erasing or using correction fluid.
• The balance on the card, the balance in the ledger or software and the physical stock must match; any discrepancy is an event to be explained, not a detail to be adjusted.
• Documents are pre-numbered; cancelled copies are kept and crossed out, never destroyed.

The stock report and reconciliation

Every month, the fundamental equation is checked for each item and each project:

Opening stock + receipts (deliveries, incoming transfers, returns) - releases (distributions, outgoing transfers, consumption) - reported losses = theoretical closing stock. The theoretical closing stock is compared with the physically counted stock. Any discrepancy is analysed and reported.

Reconciliation is also carried out between departments: stock receipts must match the purchases recorded as received in the accounts, and releases must match the programmes' distribution reports. For in-kind goods received from a United Nations agency (WFP food, UNHCR or UNICEF items), the agreement generally requires a detailed monthly report on a prescribed template, with losses classified by cause and waybill numbers.

Choosing an IT tool

A well-protected spreadsheet is sufficient for a small warehouse with a few dozen items. Beyond that, inventory management software or a module of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system becomes necessary: traceability of batches and expiry dates, access rights, change history, reports by donor. Whatever the tool, the paper stock card on the stack remains useful as a cross-check and as a fallback in the event of a power or connectivity outage.

6Planning replenishment: safety stock and reorder point

Managing stock means constantly balancing two risks: stock-outs, which interrupt assistance, and overstocking, which ties up funds, increases losses and expiries, and can lead to ineligible costs if the goods are not used within the project period.

Basic concepts

• Average monthly consumption (AMC): average of actual releases over the last three to six months, adjusted for stock-outs (a month without stock does not mean zero demand) and for planned changes (new area, new influx).
• Lead time: time between the decision to order and availability in the warehouse, including the procurement procedure, manufacturing, transport, customs clearance and receipt. The lead time actually observed must be used, not the one promised by the supplier.
• Safety stock: quantity that protects against variations in consumption and lead time. A simple formula: safety stock = AMC x (maximum observed lead time - average lead time), in months. Many organisations instead set a number of months of coverage (for example 1 month for common non-food items, 2 to 3 months for essential health products).
• Reorder point = AMC x average lead time + safety stock. When available stock (physical stock + orders in the pipeline - quantities already reserved) falls below this level, an order is placed.
• Maximum stock = reorder point + order quantity; it must not exceed storage capacity or the shelf life of the products.
• Months of stock available = available stock / AMC: a simple indicator to track in the monthly report.

Worked example

A health project consumes on average 4,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts per month. The average lead time from the procurement centre is 2 months; the longest observed lead time is 3 months. Safety stock = 4,000 x (3 - 2) = 4,000 sachets. Reorder point = 4,000 x 2 + 4,000 = 12,000 sachets. If the organisation orders 3 months' worth each time (12,000 sachets), the maximum stock is 24,000 sachets, i.e. 6 months of consumption, which is compatible with a remaining shelf life of more than 18 months on receipt. In the rainy season, when consumption can double, the project adjusts the forecast AMC and places its order earlier.

Classifying items to focus effort

ABC analysis classifies items by the value consumed: a small proportion of items (class A) often accounts for most of the value. These items are subject to weekly monitoring, more frequent stock counts and detailed planning. It can be combined with criticality (an inexpensive but vital item, such as a laboratory reagent or an essential medicine, receives the same level of attention as a class A item).

Prepositioning

In areas exposed to seasonal disasters (cyclones, floods, epidemics) or difficult to access for part of the year, a contingency stock is built up before the high-risk season. Its size derives from the planning scenario (for example 3,000 households affected in the first 72 hours), the capacity of cluster actors and the funding available. It is necessary to plan who authorises its use, how it is replenished, and what happens if it is not used: rotation into regular programmes before expiry, transfer to another project with the donor's agreement.

Dormant stock is not safety stock: it is a loss in the making. Any item with no movement for more than three months must be flagged in the monthly report, with a proposal for use, transfer or disposal.

7Full example: opening and managing the Kalemba warehouse

Fictitious context: the NGO "Horizons Partagés" is opening a base in Kalemba to respond to the arrival of 18,000 internally displaced persons, spread across two sites and host families. Over the next three months, it must store food received from WFP (rations for 9,000 people) and household items funded by an institutional donor for 1,800 households.

1. Estimating storage needs

The monthly ration per person comprises 12 kg of cereals, 1.8 kg of pulses, 0.75 kg of oil and 0.15 kg of salt, i.e. 14.7 kg. For 9,000 people: 132.3 tonnes per month. Deliveries arrive every two weeks, but WFP plans to deliver one and a half times the monthly requirement before the rainy season: planned maximum stock of approximately 200 tonnes of food. For household items, 1,800 kits of about 22 kg and 0.12 m³ each: 39.6 tonnes and 216 m³.

With an occupancy rate of 65%, the gross floor space required is 244 / 0.65 = 375 m². The team adds 40 m² for the quarantine area and office, i.e. approximately 415 m². The only building available in Kalemba measures 300 m². The decision: rent this building for food and quarantine, and install a 240 m² mobile storage unit next to it for the household kits, which are less sensitive to heat and pests.

2. Organising receipt of the first convoy

The first WFP convoy comprises 4 trucks, i.e. approximately 90 tonnes according to the waybills. The storekeeper, an assistant and a member of the programme team acting as witness inspect each truck. Result:

Discrepancies are written on each waybill, with the driver's signature, before the consignee signs. The torn bags are rebagged: the recovered contents are weighed (382 kg for 9 bags, i.e. a loss of 68 kg) and recorded. The 8 bags of wet split peas are placed in quarantine pending the opinion of a quality inspector; the 9 cartons of oil are examined can by can (42 intact cans out of 54 are recovered). A loss-in-transit report is sent to WFP within the deadline set in the agreement, with photos, and the transporter's liability is invoked under its contract.

3. Managing releases and distribution

The first distribution cycle covers 4,500 people at site A. The programme issues a requisition calculated on the validated list of affected people; the logistician checks the calculation and allows a limited rounding margin (rations per household according to household size). The stock release note and the waybill accompany the load to the site. In the evening, the distribution report shows 4,437 people served; the leftovers corresponding to the 63 absent people are returned to the warehouse with a return note and recorded as receipts on the stock cards. A follow-up distribution is planned for those who were absent.

4. The month-end stock count

On the 30th of the month, the physical inventory is carried out by the storekeeper and the administration officer, under the supervision of the logistics coordinator. Movements are frozen during the count. Extract of the result:

The handling of discrepancies shows three different cases: a documented quality loss, an administrative error corrected by a traceable entry, and an unexplained loss that requires reporting. The organisation has set an internal threshold: any unexplained discrepancy greater than 0.5% of the value of an item, or any discrepancy on a valuable item, triggers a review by the country coordination. The threshold is not a tolerance: a smaller discrepancy is also analysed and reported.

5. The monthly report to the donor and WFP

For each commodity: opening stock, receipts by waybill, distributions by site and by cycle, returns, losses by cause (transit, storage, distribution), counted closing stock. Food losses for the month amount to 68 kg of sorghum (torn bags), 150 kg of missing sorghum (3 bags, chargeable to the transporter), 100 kg of split peas destroyed and 36 litres of oil, i.e. approximately 0.4% of the tonnage received: a level that will be scrutinised but remains explainable, and each loss is documented by a report, photos and, for the destruction, minutes signed by witnesses.

8Adapting inventory management to the context

Sudden-onset emergency

In the first few days, goods arrive before procedures: unsolicited in-kind donations, convoys from several organisations, shared warehouses. The priorities are to receive nothing without a document, even a simple handwritten numbered waybill, to physically separate stocks by owner and by donor, and to set up stock cards from day one. Unsolicited and inappropriate donations (used clothing, expired medicines or medicines not on the national list) can clutter the warehouse: a clear acceptance and refusal policy is needed, aligned with that of the cluster and the authorities. The common storage services offered by the Logistics Cluster allow small organisations to store goods without opening their own warehouse, provided they follow its receipt and release procedures.

Protracted crisis

The risks change: expiries, accumulation of orphan stocks from completed projects, routines that become lax. Typical measures are a full quarterly physical inventory in addition to cycle counts, a review of slow-moving and non-moving items, transfers between projects authorised in writing by the donors concerned, and an approved and documented disposal procedure (donation, sale, destruction) at the end of the project.

Camps and urban areas

In a camp, the warehouse is often close to the affected population: pressure on guards and daily workers is high, and tensions during distributions can spill over to the warehouse. In cities, storage is expensive and space scarce; direct deliveries from suppliers to distribution sites are preferred, which requires rigorous on-site receipt with a witness and a signed waybill, or cash-based modalities that reduce the need for storage.

Remote management and insecurity

• Reduce the quantities stored in places exposed to looting and favour more frequent rotations.
• Geotagged, time-stamped photos of stacks and stock cards sent every week; video calls during stock counts.
• Physical inventories carried out by a third-party monitor, or by staff from another base, at least once a quarter.
• Contingency plan for the warehouse: what happens if the area becomes inaccessible, who holds the keys, what quantity is acceptable to lose.

Warehouses managed by a local partner

The intermediary organisation remains responsible for the goods vis-à-vis the donor. It defines the transfer of custody in writing (waybill signed at each transfer), provides the tools (cards, report templates, padlocks), trains the storekeeper, carries out joint stock counts at the start and then unannounced spot checks. It avoids entrusting stocks beyond the partner's demonstrated capacity, and budgets for the actual costs of guarding and handling rather than assuming the partner will absorb them.

9Common mistakes, controls and interview questions

Field mistakes and how to avoid them

Warehouse visit checklist

• The building is clean and dry, with no signs of water or pests; pallets are in good condition.
• Stacks are kept away from walls, aligned, stable and identified by a label (item, batch, expiry date, donor).
• Stock cards are present and up to date; three items picked at random match between the card, the software and the physical count.
• The quarantine area is used and documented.
• The week's documents (waybills, goods received notes, stock release notes) are filed and numbered with no gaps in the sequence.
• Fire extinguishers are accessible and checked; emergency exits are clear.
• The temperature log is completed for health products.
• The visitor and key register is kept up to date.

What auditors and donors look at

They check end-to-end traceability on a sample (from invoice to distribution), consistency between stock reports and narrative reports, the handling of losses, the existence of independent stock counts, the management of assets and stocks at the end of the project and, for in-kind donations, compliance with the agency's reporting templates. A low but undocumented loss rate is more worrying than a higher rate that is explained and followed by corrective action.

Interview questions

1. "How do you size a warehouse for a new response?"

A good answer starts from the planned maximum stock by category, converts it into volume, applies a realistic stacking height, adds aisles and service areas (occupancy rate of 60 to 70%), provides for quarantine and segregation, and then compares with the available options (rental, mobile storage unit, common storage provided by the cluster).

2. "During a stock count, you find a 3% discrepancy on a valuable item. What do you do?"

The candidate recounts, checks the documents for the period (stock release notes, waybills, returns, data entries), looks for administrative errors and then, if the discrepancy remains unexplained, secures the warehouse, reports in line with policy, writes a factual report and proposes corrective measures, without accusing anyone without evidence.

3. "Explain the reorder point to a project manager."

A good answer uses a worked numerical example to explain average consumption, actual lead time and safety stock, and shows how these determine the date by which the programme must issue its purchase request.

4. "How do you manage a warehouse entrusted to a partner in an area you cannot visit?"

A good answer cites documented transfer of custody, weekly reports and photos, limiting quantities, third-party stock counts, remote checks and a contingency plan, as well as support in the form of training and budget.

5. "What do you do with the remaining stock at the end of a project?"

A good answer mentions the final stock count, the disposition rules in the agreement, the written request to the donor for authorisation to transfer to another project or donate, complete documentation and updating of the asset register.

Key references

• Logistics Operational Guide, warehousing and inventory management chapters: Global Logistics Cluster.
• WFP warehousing and commodity management manuals and guides.
• UNHCR Supply Chain Manual and UNICEF supply procedures.
• WHO guidelines on good storage practices for pharmaceuticals and on the storage and transport of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products.
• The Sphere Handbook (2018), food assistance standards and the sections on supply chain management.
• Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS).
• Guidelines on in-kind and unsolicited donations, in particular the WHO Guidelines for Medicine Donations.