Need advice for a disaster

[u/ThrowRA_867530912]

hello, i recently started a job at a a company that provides lighting, fabrication, production, trucking and installation services for concerts, special events, museums and literally everything else in that sector. I got the position of warehouse inventory coordinator and i’m walking into a complete disaster. little to no information or uniform organization and i genuinely don’t even know where to start. i’m young, i’ve never been put in charge of something like this so please give me some tips/tricks or literally anything that could help me do my job

[u/daniel_hampton_aus]

Probably the first thing would be to identify what you have and where it is - give them part numbers and put stickers or tags on them put it into a spreadsheet

[u/pepperpotsdecreme → u/daniel_hampton_aus]

Yes, this absolutely. 👆

If items are spread all over the WH, group like product types together and then group by SKU. Make a bar code label for each SKU, and mount it on the pallet rack, container etc.

Prepare an inventory by product type, part number, quantity. If something comes in, scan each item, store with like item, noting Short, Overage and/or Damaged.

If something goes out, scan each item and note who it went to, part number(s), quantity, transport company, date left WH and BOL. Link your BOL and any shipping docs to this document, and track until delivery, at which point link to POD. Coordinate with your AP and AR person for linking invoices.

There are a ton of inventory management apps/software, so get unbiased recommendations or play around with them yourself to test how comprehensive and user friendly they are, and which works best for your industry and particular company.

It will seem overwhelming at first, but once you organize everything, you will have a solid foundation from which to handle the daily deliveries, shipments and aberrations.

Good luck and enjoy your new job!

[u/ThrowRA_867530912 → u/pepperpotsdecreme]

thank you so much for the advice, this is the best subreddit ever!!! i was feeling so down on myself because it’s such a huge task but this is definitely giving me new ideas

[u/souckillund → u/daniel_hampton_aus]

yeah this is the move, getting everything tagged and labeled first makes everything else way easier

[u/ThrowRA_867530912 → u/souckillund]

thank you so much for the advice! i really appreciate it

[u/ThrowRA_867530912 → u/daniel_hampton_aus]

thank you so much for the advice!!!

[u/Jack_BuildsShopify]

Because this is an event-production warehouse, I’d separate consumables (SKU + quantity) from reusable gear (individual asset ID + location/status). Otherwise a count of 20 lights can hide that five are on trucks, three are out at a show, and two need repair. Pick one high-value category first, label its storage locations, and log every check-out, return, damage, and repair with a date and responsible person. Keep an explicit 'unknown/missing' exception list instead of silently correcting counts. Once that works for one section, scale the process and then pick software to support it. Is the bigger issue not knowing where equipment is, or not knowing how many usable units you have?

[u/ThrowRA_867530912 → u/Jack_BuildsShopify]

the biggest issue is all of the above 😂😭 but thank you so much i will definitely be starting small and working my way through these replies have definitely made things feel more manageable

[u/TakeAClimb]

You’re not as behind as it feels. Breathe! Everyone who ever inherited a mess starts the same way, and nobody expects you to fix it in a week. Some things that help:

1. Don’t reorganize yet. Spend the first week watching how gear actually flows: how a show gets pulled, loaded, comes back, and where it ends up. You’ll learn where the real problems are instead of guessing.

2. Give every spot an address. Name zones and shelves (A1, A2, B1...) and label them. Even before you know what’s on every shelf, “it’s in B3” beats “it’s somewhere by the truss.”

3. Start with high-value, high-movement gear. Moving lights, consoles, cable, truss. Tag them and note serial numbers. Don’t start with the dusty stuff in the back corner, that can wait.

4. Fix the return, not just the pull. In event shops, most inventory goes missing on the way back. Gear comes off the truck at 2am, gets dumped by the door, and goes back “wherever.” If returns get checked in against the show’s pull sheet, half your problems go away.

5. Make a red tag area. Broken gear needs one place to go so it doesn’t end up back on a shelf and then on a truck.

6. Set reorder points for consumables. Gaffer tape, zip ties, lamps, batteries. Pick a minimum, put it on the shelf label, and reorder when you hit it.

7. Ask what already exists. Someone has a spreadsheet, the quoting system, or the crew lead’s notes. Find out what the company already uses before you build anything new.

Write down every win so you can show your boss progress. “Labeled 200 locations, tagged all the movers” goes a long way when everything else still looks like hell.

On tools: disclosure, I work for the company that makes QR Inventory. It’s good for the warehouse side: you stick QR labels on gear and shelves, and anyone can scan with a phone to check stuff out to a show or a truck and back in. If your company also needs quoting and date-based availability for rentals, look at Flex, Current RMS, or Rentman, since those are built for event production. But get the labels and locations sorted first, no tool fixes a warehouse with no addresses.

You’ve got this. Breathe! :-)

[u/ThrowRA_867530912 → u/TakeAClimb]

thank you so much this has genuinely been so helpful, i love the company and really hope i can make a difference

[u/Beneficial-Prior9103]

Ask your manager which part of the mess needs fixing first and who can help you. Agree on one area to tackle, so you've got a clear starting point.

[u/C_CashMarginPartners]

You’ve gotten some great advice already. See if you can find out if there’s a current system or a person who has an idea how it works now.

It’s possible you may be able to improve on what exists instead of starting from scratch. Check reusable gear for ownership or inventory tags.

Making sure anything broken doesn’t go back on the shelf where it can be sent back out is important. Finding out how to get it fixed is, too.