Measuring Inventory Management Effectiveness: 5 Metrics You Need to Track 

Imagine going into the next school year only to find that 10% — or more — of your technology assets are missing. With the influx of technology at your campuses each year, managing your inventory effectively is more critical than ever. 

Rather than simply assuming your policies are working, each decision you make should be informed by data. You have a litany of data points you can use to optimize people and processes. But if you do not know which ones to track, it can be paralyzing and stall your inventory management program. 

How do you know which data to track to get the most out of your inventory management program? For starters, here are five key metrics to monitor.

1. Missing or Lost Assets 

Every laptop that is not returned at the end of the year and every tablet that goes missing represents a significant cost to your district. For example, if a district has issued 10,000 Chromebooks to students and has a 5% loss rate, that works out to 500 devices lost annually — costing $150,000 or more to replace. Implementing best practices such as regular audits, clear accountability policies, and incentivizing proper asset management can drastically reduce these losses. 

Collecting data on missing or lost assets is important during audit season and for planning future purchases. Spending more money to replace lost assets means fewer dollars available for new technology assets. This could derail your district’s long-term technology plan and prevent students from having equitable access to resources. 

Focus on recording the asset retention rate at each campus to save your school district time and money. Some districts may even include the percentage of lost and missing assets on each principal’s evaluation to represent how the principal runs their campus. Are they financially responsible? Are teachers and students held accountable for the devices they have access to? 

Identify an acceptable threshold for missing assets from the audit, like five percent. If a campus has a missing rate higher than that, an improvement plan may be necessary. This plan should be developed with the Technology and Finance Departments and the campus principal to ensure staff and students appropriately manage classroom devices and report right away when items are lost. 

2. Task Completion Time 

Tracking how much time is spent performing inventory procedures can highlight efficiency gaps. If one staff member takes longer than another to complete a task, it may indicate a need for additional training, or it could be that your procedures have not been communicated correctly. 

Recognizing these numbers provides the opportunity to offer your staff more training and teach them the skills they need to be successful. Set a standard completion time for how quickly certain tasks should be done and then evaluate how consistently that process is being performed. 

The time spent on procedures also extends to how districts communicate information. Many districts expect campus staff to tag assets but have not taught them the proper protocol or given them the necessary resources to do this. Tracking task completion time will show you whether staff is prioritizing correctly and whether policies and procedures are properly documented. 

3. Staff Satisfaction 

While staff satisfaction is number three on the list, this metric is the most important. Your staff’s ability to successfully complete their tasks is the cornerstone of your entire inventory management program. You simply cannot be effective if you do not get staff buy-in. 

Survey staff to gauge their satisfaction and get a better glimpse into their roles and responsibilities. Here are some examples of questions you could ask: 

• Do you know what is expected of you at work? 

• Do you have the materials and equipment needed to do your job right? 

• Are your fellow employees committed to doing quality work? 

• Do you have any recommendations for how to better meet the goals the district has set out? 

• Could we accomplish these goals in a faster or more effective way? 

Their answers will provide insight into what they need to do their jobs efficiently. Make sure to continually revisit your communication plan, vision, and other change management principles. Continue to refine your message, procedures, and training based on staff feedback. 

4. Last Scan Date 

Certain assets are highly mobile and need to be continually monitored, rather than once a year during an audit. Ideally, campuses with a higher number of mobile assets should have more frequent audit processes or spot checks to ensure that inventory records are accurate. 

As a district, you should have a normal percentage of assets that are constantly moving. Identify staff who effectively maintain their inventory, then determine how much of that inventory is mobile versus static and break it down by product type. The last scan date is important because it helps regulate mobility at each school. If it is not equal across the district, then you have a starting point to investigate whether a particular school has the devices they are supposed to, how the campuses use assets, and even if the right people are managing the data. 

5. Vendor Satisfaction 

A vendor scorecard is similar to a staff satisfaction survey but geared toward vendor relationship management. The scorecard can cover how your vendors are handling installation, repair, disposal, and even audit management. Some of the key questions you should ask when building a vendor scorecard are: 

• How well does the vendor tag the assets? Are they following asset tagging best practices? 

• Are the vendors supplying devices following the correct procedures? 

• Are the vendors recording details on your assets? 

• Is the information provided to you by vendors given in a reasonable amount of time? 

• Can you find your items where vendors said they installed or delivered inventory? 

When building a vendor scorecard, make sure the metrics you are tracking are meaningful and measurable and that you have a consistent scale for how they are measured. Ensure those requirements are effectively communicated prior to signing your vendor contract and continuously evaluated during and at the end of the contract. 

Ready to enhance your inventory management? Frontline’s Inventory & Help Desk Management can help you track and optimize your key metrics. Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve your inventory goals!