Counted at the kerb, numbered inside

A vehicle arrives with an identity stamped into it. A consignment arrives with none, which is the whole difference between the two sides of this business. Everything on this page exists to give a line an identity before it is allowed past the door.

Scope What non-specialised means

A line is judged on how it counts, not on what it is

Non-specialised wholesale trade is the code for a business whose goods are not one family. It is a real description rather than a vague one: it means the test applied to an incoming line cannot be product knowledge, because no one holds product knowledge across every family at once. So the test is procedural.

A line is acceptable here if it can be counted at the kerb, described on one line of a goods-in note without a qualifier, and held in a numbered position until it is consigned on. A line that needs a paragraph to describe, or that cannot be counted without being opened, is refused — not because of what it contains, but because nothing further down the process would be able to say what was received.

Goods in Six steps, at the kerb

Receiving a consignment

Nothing comes inside firstThe consignment is counted on the pavement side, against the supplier's delivery note, before anything is carried through the door. Counting indoors means counting what is already mixed with what was here yesterday.
Count, then weigh the countUnits are counted and the count is compared with the note. A difference either way is written on both copies and initialled by the driver before the vehicle leaves.
Seals and wrap read, not removedShrink wrap and seals are read where they are. A broken seal is recorded as broken on arrival; it is never quietly replaced so the pallet looks right.
Goods-in number issuedThe line is given a goods-in number, which is the identity it did not arrive with. Every later document about that line carries the number, and nothing is referred to by description alone.
Position recordedThe line is set in a numbered position and the position is written against the goods-in number. A pallet without a position is a pallet nobody can be asked about.
Mixed pallets stay wholeA mixed pallet is not broken down before its count is agreed. Breaking it first turns one disputed number into several undisputed guesses.

Refused Turned away at the kerb

What does not come through the door

Anything that cannot be counted outside

If the count needs the line opened, repacked or sorted first, it is refused. A count performed after handling is a count of what we did, not of what arrived.

A delivery with no note

No supplier note, no goods-in number, no acceptance. A verbal quantity at the kerb cannot be put against a consignment note later in the week.

Anything needing a licence we do not hold

A line whose handling, storage or onward carriage is licensed is refused outright. The company does not assert permissions it has not got.

Anything destined for a vehicle on the sheet

Wholesale stock is not drawn on to prepare a vehicle. The two sides of the business share a door and a kerb, and nothing else.

Paper Travels with the line

Four documents per consignment

Supplier's delivery note: What the sender says was sent. Annotated at the kerb and initialled where the count differs.
Goods-in note: What was actually counted, the goods-in number issued, the position it went to, and the date and time.
Condition entry: Seals, wrap and visible damage as found on arrival. Written even when there is nothing to write, because a blank entry and a missing entry read differently later.
Onward consignment note: What left, under which goods-in number, on what date, and to whom. A line cannot leave under a description instead of a number.

Nothing on this page is a stock list and nothing here offers goods for sale. It describes the receiving procedure only. Enquiries about wholesale lines go to the corporate address in the footer, with the goods-in number in the subject line where one exists.