Inventory loss is the silent killer of Kenyan garages. Nobody reports it as theft because nobody can prove it. The count is just always a little lower than the records.

A 5 percent loss on KES 3 million of parts a year is KES 150,000 gone. That is two to seven months of a technician’s salary, depending on skill level, gone on parts nobody can account for.

Why garage inventory disappears

Four patterns account for almost all loss:

Parts pulled for a job and never logged against the job card
Parts borrowed for a favour and never returned
Parts sold over the counter without a receipt
Parts damaged during fitting and quietly discarded

The first is by far the most common. It is usually not malicious. A technician pulls a part, gets busy, forgets to write it down.

The control that matters most

The single most effective control is to require every part movement to be logged against something. A job card or a POS sale. Nothing in, nothing out, without a digital trail.

That means when a technician pulls a brake pad, either:

It goes onto a job card, and the job card logs which vehicle and which customer
It goes out over the counter with a printed receipt
It stays on the shelf

No third option.

Physical controls that support the system

Digital controls only work if the physical side is disciplined too.

Keep the parts store locked during working hours
One person issues parts. If everyone can help themselves, nobody is accountable
Post the stock level on the shelf so technicians can see what they take
Do a weekly spot check on the top 20 fastest-moving items

Weekly cycle counts beat annual stocktakes

An annual stocktake tells you what you lost last year. A weekly cycle count on high-value items tells you what you lost this week, while you can still investigate.

Pick the top 20 parts by value. Count them every Friday. Investigate every variance above KES 1,000 that same day.

When loss continues

If inventory still disappears after these controls are in place, the problem is cultural, not systemic. Somebody has decided the rules do not apply to them.

The conversation is uncomfortable but necessary. Bring the numbers. Show the trend. Ask directly.

How Gariclaim helps

Gariclaim logs every part movement against a job card or POS sale. Stock levels update in real time, and the full movement history shows exactly when and by whom each part was issued.

You can filter movements by user, by date, and by job card. If a part is missing, the trail tells you where it went.

Start a free trial and stop the leak.

How to Reduce Spare Parts Theft in Your Workshop