How to Centralize Office Supplies

Centralize office supplies to control the supplies' distribution.

Office supplies have a way of disappearing in most office environments. It is up to management to stock the materials and save on the cost of those supplies. One way of doing that is to centralize the office supplies so the supplies are given out when employees need them. Begin this process with a lockable empty storage room.

Things You'll Need

• Spare room
• Stand up shelving (optional)
• Labels
• Black marker
• Three sets of keys to the room

Instructions

1. Assess the empty storage room. Decide if all of your extra office supplies can be stored there. Install stand-up shelves if necessary. Stack boxes of copy paper on the floor or on bottom shelves. Stack pens, markers, paper clips and other supplies on upper shelves. Another option is to place these boxed items on the floor.

2. Write the names of each section on labels with a black marker. Place the labels on the floor or on the shelves so employees know where to look for and store additional office supplies. For example, use categories such as "pens," "legal pads," or "copy paper."

3. Stack the supplies in the appropriate section. Close the door and lock it when you are finished.

4. Designate two people to have access to the office supply room. Give each person a key to the room. Ideally, you want two people to have access. This is desirable if there are morning and evening shifts, or in case one person is out ill. The third set of keys should be a master set kept by building maintenance or security.

5. Create and disseminate, either on paper or in e-mail, an employee notice explaining the new office supplies retrieval procedure. Each employee will need to ask the key-holding front desk or supervisor for office supplies. The employee can retrieve an appropriate amount of office supplies. The door is locked again until needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Some departments may even require employees to obtain a supervisor approval before requesting office supplies. This helps curb the company's office supplies cost. The approvals concept could cascade up more than one chain of command, requiring a department or regional supervisor's signature, or other approval as well.

• Implementing a supervisor approval process can cause tension among employees. The employees may think the company does not trust them. Approval requirements can cause delays in supply delivery to the employee if the appropriate approvals are not obtained in a timely fashion.

References

• Santa Clara University: Office Supply Request Policy