A protection fleet is a genuine asset on a multi-site programme and it behaves like every other distributed asset: without counting, it disperses. The panels do not get destroyed, they get left behind, and the programme buys more to replace them.
Why fleets shrink
Three reasons, in order. Panels left at a finished site because collecting them was nobody’s job. Panels mixed with site waste at strip-out. And panels taken by another trade because they were lying around. None of these are product failures and all of them are prevented by counting.
What to label
A phase colour, a site mark and, where it is worth it, a simple numbered batch. Colour coding by phase does most of the work because it is visible without anyone reading anything – a pallet of the wrong colour at the wrong site is obvious to whoever is unloading it.
The count
Count on delivery, count on move, count at the end of each phase. Three numbers per site per phase, and the difference between them is the loss rate. It takes minutes and it is the only way to know whether the fleet is being used or lost.
Where to keep it
A designated store per site, agreed in advance, that is not in the works area. A store in the works area is a store that gets cleared when the works move, and that is how panels get skipped. On a small site, a marked corner with the count written on it is enough.
What to do when the numbers do not add up
Find out where the loss is happening before ordering more. Usually it is one site or one phase, and usually the cause is that collection was not scheduled. Ordering replacements without fixing that just repeats the loss.
What to do at the end of each site
Collect before handover, not after. Once a site is handed over, access becomes a negotiation and the panels become somebody else’s problem to dispose of. Put collection in the programme for the week before handover, with a named person and a vehicle, and the fleet stays intact across the programme.
What to count, and what to stop counting
Trying to track every individual panel is a waste of effort. Track the pallet, not the sheet. Issue panels by pallet quantity, record which site and which phase received them, and reconcile at phase handover. If a site is short at the end, you know which phase to question rather than auditing the whole building.
The thing that actually goes missing is not panels – it is the offcuts from cutting around columns and door frames, which get swept up with general waste. Set a rule that offcuts above a set size go into a marked container rather than a skip, and the recovery rate moves more than any tagging scheme. Colour coding helps here because a blue board in a skip is visible. We supply panels in several stock colours so zones can be separated at a glance, and the issuing pattern follows consignment stock for multi-project contractors if you are supplying more than one site from the same batch.
What we can do
We supply PP honeycomb protection board in phase colours so a fleet is visually identifiable, and can supply to a per-site call-off schedule. Tell us how many sites and how long each runs, and we will help size the fleet and the replacement rate.