Checking Deliveries And Chasing Credits

If you and your team consider every delivery to be wrong, then that would be a good place to start.

You must check every delivery note and invoice you receive, the amount of errors on deliveries are considerable, so you must check every product matches the invoice and you have received the correct quantity.

This seems like teaching you to suck eggs, but I guarantee that if you don't do this one thing rigorously you will lose money. Your team must do the same thing in your absence.
Check it on delivery while the driver is there, or as soon as possible after delivery if it's a courier. Always check the invoice against the stock, work down from the top of the novice and check each item off, mark with a pen, do not allow the driver to lead you.

You are the person writing the cheque for the goods, you wouldn't pay a shop for a product you didn't receive, so treat your delivery the same way.
Errors on deliveries are caused in a number of different ways; the product being missed off the order, the product getting mixed up with other stock on the delivery vehicle, mistakes caused by the picker and driver.

If you don't pick up at least one mistake per week then you should be concerned. Over the years we have suffered from various issues with deliveries ranging from laziness to fraud, with one bread delivery driver taking slices out of a loaf of bread to make up other loaves and then selling them on.
Often delivery drivers are under tight time constraints to achieve all their deliveries so returning to their vehicle to look for something they have missed will not be that high on their list. They will hope that you don't spot the missing item

When claiming for missing stock make sure you follow the suppliers process and you follow it up. Always write on the invoice, both copies and identify the issue clearly, get the driver to sign as well. If it's a courier then ring the supplier immediately. Building relationships with the right people at your supplier is important so that you know who issues the credits and how long it takes.

We regularly have to claim for £100 per month and again like cash this is worth 20x the value by the time you have to earn that back and will come straight off our bottom line.