What Are the Benefits of Inventory Management for Colleges and Schools?

Inventory Management is essential for schools and colleges these days. The education authorities need to look into this for its implementation. Let us look at a school scenario when inventory management software is not utilized.

According to a report of Riograndesun, more than $600,000 worth of property belonging to the Española Public Schools District is misplaced, broken, or stolen. Between 2018 and 2019, the District compiled a list of disposed assets that totaled $1,272,882.30. About half of the items removed from the District's budget had become obsolete. The rest were either broken or had vanished.

Around $42,500 worth of items were labelled  “stolen” on the list, including 66 iPads, five cameras, six projectors, 16 laptops, and two desktop computers. A whopping $600,000 worth of school property was found lost or stolen.

This is just one example of a school. There are several colleges, universities, and institutes which experience a similar situation. In order to keep assets and inventories secure, these entities must keep track of them. In short, the school inventory management system is what is required for achieving this objective.

Below are the several other benefits of using inventory management:

Also Read: How Inventory Management System helps the Education Sector?

Minimized Human Error

As per the DeltaXML,  “It was reported that S&P companies saw a loss of $150 million in this time, with financial services in the U.S. reporting losses of $160 million. The cause according to Amazon? Human error.”

Inventory tracking software eliminates human error, thus making data accurate.

For asset tracking, barcodes are used with long digit numbers. While making entry of these numbers manually, typo errors can occur. To avoid that, a scanner is used to input data automatically by just scanning the barcode.

This removes the human error factor and data is more authentic and verification is more efficient. The system also works with smartphones thus obviating the need to buy a piece of specific equipment to perform the task.

All Information Accessible & Centralized

With inventory or asset tracking management software, all data and information are stored in a centralized database. With Cloud technology, such data is accessible anytime anywhere.

Furthermore, in any disaster situation, the entire data is safe, secure, and retrievable. Data includes asset information, inventory information, equipment maintenance related data, financial information, etc. All this becomes very important for processing any insurance claims that may arise.

With the manual system, you cannot save or obtain all data and information in any disaster situation. The system also eliminates storing information in different spreadsheets.

Asset Life Cycle

Fixed Asset life cycle is very crucial for organizations. It lets them manage their valuable items effectively and add precious useful life to the assets. However, it is important to have a software solution to ensure proper functioning, upgrading, replacement, and disposal of an asset.

Overall, the solution optimizes the life cycle of the asset. An asset manager plays an important role in the life cycle of an asset. The system directly supports future planning and formulation of a vision for schools and colleges. Not just this, data-driven information leads to effective decision-making for better operational outcomes.

When an institution disposes of all asset information under its control, they can analyze data to help in gathering statistical and analytical reports. As a result, this leads to better decision making and boosting business growth and asset life.

Asset Maintenance

Bad management of equipment not only leads to avoidable money spent on maintenance but also results in decreased equipment life.

During the entire equipment lifecycle, a business firm confronts several maintenance issues. These issues can cut into the benefits of the organization.

Asset management software makes the job easier for an organization by storing all information and data pertaining to all equipment. It also helps in scheduling maintenance activity and creating pre-alerts for the users. Overall, the system assists in growing the business by identifying unproductive items and by taking appropriate decisions.

Moreover, under-maintenance also gives rise to diminished efficiency. Equipment maintenance has to be done on a regular basis. The software helps in keeping track of maintenance.

Also Read: Asset Maintenance: Types with Benefits and Drawbacks

Therefore, asset management software enables organizations to keep track of their equipment. With such information, you can easily see records to identify which are the assets that need maintenance, thereby avoiding unexpected downtime and the resultant expenses.

Data & Asset Security

Educational entities such as schools, colleges and institutes run the risk of their assets and inventories going missing. However, with asset and inventory management software, the number of lost and missing assets can be detected and decreased. Such software keeps track of all the assets, giving alerts when assets are moved out of a particular location. This ensures enhanced security.

Data security is part of Cloud service. The dedicated servers and database systems eliminate vulnerabilities by providing security of client data with a specialized and dedicated team of cyber security experts. The system stores data in encrypted form and prevents unauthorized people from accessing the data.

The consequences of an information security breach can be disastrous. It not only creates an interruption in the business activity but also causes harm to organizational reputation. Asset tracking security is, therefore, paramount.

Inventory Control  

Inventory plays an important part in the education sector. If required inventory is not available in stock, it reflects poor planning and results in decreased productivity, business loss and slipped deliveries.

If a machine fails and spare parts are not available in stock, it affects organizational productivity. If a proper software solution is not in place, it can lead to the transmission of wrong information and mismanagement of operations.

The asset management system centralizes business data. Thus, no wrong information gets passed and the organization knows the level of inventories in stock at any point of time.

Conclusion

Inventory management is important for schools and colleges. For example, they have a library with thousands of books which are expensive. Keeping a track of them is very important. Besides, these institutions also have chairs, tables, desks, laboratory equipment, AV teaching aids like projectors, televisions, video players, DVDs, magazines, etc.

Also Read: Why Rail Assets Require Efficient Asset Management Software?

With inventory management, you can collect all the vital information. This helps in saving money in the long run. Most importantly, you are able to track all the assets.

The software assists in avoiding stock-outs, managing many locations, and guarantee precise recordkeeping. Inventory management makes these procedures simple by removing the manual method.