GXO’s outsourcing survey found 61% of leaders already outsource warehouse operations. Once stock leaves your building, inventory accuracy stops being a stocktake habit and becomes a contractual control — or a silent margin leak.
Your goal is a partner setup where accuracy is measured, disputed and corrected on a known cadence — not discovered only at year-end.
Why accuracy fails after outsourcing
Shared sites multiply location rules, kit recipes and promo packs. Without agreed cycle-count methods and variance thresholds, partners and brands argue from different WMS extracts. Logistics cost already consumes a material share of online turnover in many markets — Polish e-chamber research places logistics and delivery often between 5% and 20% of e-shop turnover — so inaccurate stock drives both write-offs and emergency freight.
Checklist: controls that belong in the brief
- Target inventory accuracy by ABC class (for example 99.5% A / 98% B / 97% C) with a written count method.
- Cycle-count calendar tied to SKU velocity, not only annual stocktake.
- Quarantine and recount rules for damages, short receipts and kit scrap.
- Daily or weekly variance report with root-cause codes your finance team accepts.
- System of record: which WMS/ERP figure wins when feeds disagree.
- Liability and credit rules when variance exceeds the agreed band.
Questions to settle before go-live
- Who freezes picking during a recount of a high-value location?
- How fast must a variance above threshold be escalated to the brand?
- Are promotional kits counted as components, finished kits, or both?
How Dcode fits
Dcode runs warehouse work across Care Direct partner sites with WMS/ERP-minded handoffs — so inventory accuracy can be briefed with storage, clean-area finishing and peaks in one operating mix. Pair this with the warehouse partner brief checklist when you shortlist sites.
Next step: send your current accuracy KPI and last three variance reports to ask@dcode.gr or via the contact page. We will map them to a practical count plan before proposing capacity.