How to Maintain Office Supplies
There is no way around it --- if you work for a living, you need office supplies, no matter your profession. Although office supplies seem like a relatively small expense for a business, this expense can add up quickly. To better maintain your company's office supplies, adopt the following steps.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Employee assigned to keep track of inventory
- Contracted office supply company (preferable)
Instructions
-
How to Maintain Office Supplies
-
1
Make a list of office supplies that are used in your organization, and approximate your monthly usage of each item. Develop your inventory levels based on this usage. After you realize your inventory requirements, calculate a realistic monthly budget for office supplies.
-
2
Establish a standardized office supply listing from which employees are allowed to order; it should consist of all your necessary items at the lowest price possible. If you can purchase one kind of pen for less than the price of another similar pen, common sense would dictate that you purchase the cheaper pen. Regulating office supply purchases in this manner results in a couple of benefits: it keeps supply costs down, and it reduces the chance for office supply envy among employees because everyone will have the same types of items.
-
-
3
Create an office supply policy for employees and then keep them accountable. This will help you adhere to your new office supply stock list and stay within your budget. How? Assign one person to be responsible for logging supplies out to employees, for maintaining the inventory levels, and for ordering supplies when needed. Note: When you take delivery costs into account, it is more cost-efficient to place fewer large orders per month than to place many small orders.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
When determining your inventory levels, it is important to find the magic number for on-hand quantities. Not too much, but not too little, so that the least amount of dollars are tied up in inventory. If at all possible, enter a contract with your office supply vendor of choice and negotiate pricing for those items you have selected for your standard list. If the vendor realizes that ordering volumes for these items will increase due to the standardization within your company, it may be more willing to work with you in offering reduced prices.
