Sort now, decide later
Facility and operations teams feel pressure to throw wet goods out fast so the floor can be cleared. Keeping everything causes its own problems. The middle path is to sort stock into three working groups and put off the difficult calls until the area is safe and the records exist.
The groups are simple. Keep: items plainly unaffected. Hold: items that might be saved, or that need someone else's say, such as an insurer, a supplier or a regulator. Discard candidates: items plainly ruined or unsafe. The rule underneath all three is that nothing leaves the building before it's been photographed and counted.
Settle who's in charge before sorting starts. One person, usually from operations or inventory control, owns the log and the zone markers so counts stay consistent across shifts. Anyone can move product, but only one set of records counts as the truth. Duplicate lists cause many of the later arguments with insurers and suppliers, because two counts of the same pallet rarely agree. Keep the system simple, with paper labels if that's what works, rather than building something elaborate mid-event.
A working order
Make the zone safe
No sorting until the water, electrical and structural risks are handled.
Photograph it in place
Capture the stock as found, with water lines, labels and pallet positions visible.
Set up three areas
Mark keep, hold and discard-candidate zones on the dry side of the building.
Count and log
Record SKU, quantity, condition and location in the loss log.
Pause the discards
Check with the insurer before throwing out anything of real value.
How the first days can look
- The first few hours
- Safety, stopping the source, photos, getting stock off the floor.
- Same day or the next
- Sort into groups, notify the insurer, set up the hold area.
- Following days
- Hear from suppliers and manufacturers, then decide on repacking, returns, sale or disposal.
- After drying
- Reconcile final counts with the loss log and the shipping records.
Capture this for every group
Common questions
Does everything the water touched have to go?
Not automatically. Some goods can be dried, repacked or returned, and others can't safely be kept. Both the condition and the kind of water matter.
Why set up a hold area?
It stops quick, irreversible decisions while the insurer and suppliers weigh in.
General information for Commerce City, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.