Steven Grandalski
GR6532840
COMM 101
Technical Writing
Assignment 3

Date: 7 Mar 2015
To: Cory Jeffers
From: Steven Grandalski

Subject: Recommend Change to Shipment Receiving Procedure

In response to our company’s repeated inability to exercise quality control and accountability of our assets, I completed an analysis of the ongoing issue and identified a critical flaw in the way we receive shipments. The underlying glitch that I have identified is causing a breakdown in the cradle-to-grave process of receiving equipment and then getting it out to the account custodians for operational use. In this memo, I will detail our current procedures for receiving shipment and highlight how it is the contributing factor that inhibits our ability to account for our assets. Then I will outline my proposed change, which I feel will solve our asset accountability problem. I would like to implement the revision to our receiving procedures next week. Implementing this change will increase our accountability and also save man-hours by eliminating the need for excessive inventory inspections. With your approval, I will begin to institute the change by creating a presentation to train and educate company personnel on the new policy, and also help our logistics department the required tracking process.

Current Receiving Procedure

The company’s procedures for receiving shipments from carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL is unstructured and is a contributing factor to our equipment accountability conundrum. Please reference the flowchart on page 2 of this memo; it will illustrate our process and further understanding of the key points. As you can see from the flowchart, when a carrier brings a shipment to us, our current process allows any company employee to sign for the shipment. This is where the process breakdown starts because it hinges on their knowledge of what to do next, and or their motivation and follow-through to complete the proper steps if they do. This has directly impacted and exacerbated the issue, and is the primary reason why we continue to find equipment and assets in desks, closets, lockers and the storage area. Because personnel don’t know what to do with a shipment they sign for, they take it someone in the flight that is not the account custodian, and it is put into operation without anyone’s knowledge. When this happens, it is not properly added to the custodians account paperwork. It could also result in the item being reordered, which wastes money and puts us over our authorization for that item. The second common scenario is the person, with the best intentions, does not follow through to complete the process. They put the item on a shelf or in a desk and forget about it, and that’s why we find so many items during exhaustive building and warehouse inventory inspections. Implementing my recommended change reduces the chances of this happening on a routine basis.

New Company Procedure

When I completed my research and analysis of the contributing factors behind the company’s recurring and unresolved difficulty to account for our equipment and assets, I found one common denominator within the facts; people. Company personnel are the primary reason why we continue to struggle with our ability to maintain the accountability of company assets or show improvements to our operational capability on paper. With over 150 personnel within the company, and with personnel being the common denominator behind the issue, my recommendation eliminates all but the personnel specifically hired to work in the logistics department. On page 4 of this memo, I have attached a flowchart outlining the new company process for receiving shipments of equipment and materials. The flowchart illustrates a streamlined process that goes from the receipt of a shipment through the final step of closing out the process. Here are the steps in order for the process illustrated by the flowchart.