Task

Packing slips and delivery confirmations that get filed and forgotten

The document is the proof, and its value shows up only when challenged.

A slip that proves a delivery costs almost nothing to file and a great deal to be missing.

Not every business has this problem, and some should leave it alone.

Most of these can be done better. Whether it's worth doing is a separate question. What follows is one common form of the problem, described in general terms, because your version will differ. These are possible challenges, not a description of your business, and some should be left exactly as they are. If it sounds like your week, that's worth a conversation.

Watch: The Paper That Only Exists Once

Sound familiar?

Slips are filed by the date they arrived, not by customer or job.
Nobody keeps a list of shipments that should have a signed slip.
Shortages get mentioned at the shelf and never claimed.
A disputed delivery ends in a credit because the slip can't be found.

What it looks like

Something ships, or something arrives, and a piece of paper comes with it: a packing slip, a delivery receipt, a signed confirmation. It gets signed or stamped, then put in a folder, a binder, or a tray. Occasionally it gets scanned. The filing is quick, which is why nobody thinks about it. The document is treated as a formality. It is the evidence that the thing happened.

What it costs

Most costs in this guide are a steady drain. This one costs nothing for months and then a great deal in a single afternoon. A customer says they never received it, or a supplier bills for something that never arrived. The question is always the same: can you show it? When one piece of paper can be found quickly, the matter ends. When it cannot, there is nothing to argue with, and the usual outcome is a write-off. It gets logged as a dispute, not as a filing problem, which is why it rarely gets fixed.

Where it goes wrong

Filed by date received, needed by customer or job. Finding a slip means guessing when it happened.
The document is never matched to anything. Whether it agrees with what was ordered or invoiced is a separate question nobody asks unless something looks wrong.
Shortages are noticed at the shelf, not on the slip. The slip is filed as though everything arrived, and the credit is never chased.
Nobody knows what is missing. With no list of shipments that should have produced a document, a missing one is found only when it is needed.

What a better version looks like

The document is captured when it is handled, photographed on receipt and attached to the thing it is evidence for. Retrieval stops depending on memory, and absence becomes visible: the useful report lists what shipped without proof, while there is still time to ask for a signature. What was delivered can also be compared with what was ordered and billed, with differences raised as questions.

What still needs a person

A person chases the missing ones, decides what a shortage means and whether to claim it, and works out what happened when the paperwork never matches.

Questions worth asking about your own operation

Can you produce the signed slip for any delivery in the last year within a few minutes?
Is there a list of shipments that should have a slip and don't?
How are shortages found, and how are they claimed?
Who owns the filing?

If this sounds familiar

Bring me the version you actually have. I'll learn how the process really works before I suggest anything. If it isn't worth changing, or isn't a fit for me, I'll say so. Talk through a problem