How to Manage Office Supplies Inventory

Ordering office supplies is an important task. Having the proper stock of office supplies will ensure the office has the necessary materials needed to perform efficiently.  Office supplies have a way of disappearing, and keeping track of it can be a difficult task.  Therefore, it is important to learn some methods and tips to help with maintaining and managing proper office supplies.

• Keep the supply room well organized, and properly labeled. This will help in keeping proper track of the inventory that you have currently in stock.


• Keep track of the office supplies that are used most. You can do this by doing an inventory of what is being taken out of the room most often.  Also, make sure that the most commonly used office supplies such as copy paper and copier toner are always well stocked. 


• Ask staff to sign out supplies that they are taking from the supply room on a sign out sheet.  There is no guarantee that everyone will actually take the time to do this, but it will still cut down on some of the inventory issues.  In addition, you can keep the supply room locked if necessary, provided it does not cause issues in the office production and your boss approves of it.


• Send out an email or memo asking all department heads to request specific supplies as needed.


• Keep a stash of some of the most demanded office supplies in a place where you have to access.  This will keep you up to date on the exact number of in-demand items there are. This could be helpful in keeping the most demanded items on hand, since getting supplies reordered and delivered can take weeks. 


• Check the supply room at the end of each day to keep track of what inventory has been taken out.  Go over the inventory list and see what needs to be reordered, or make note of what will need to be ordered soon.


• Order the office supplies that are needed and keep a report of what has been ordered and when the office supplies are to be delivered.