TOPIC 3: MANAGING INVENTORIES

Types of Inventories
Recycled inventories are those items that have limited useful lives but that
are used over and over again in housekeeping operations. E.g. linens,
uniforms, guest loan items, some machines and equipments.
Non-recycled inventories are those items that are consumed or used up
during the course of routine housekeeping operations. E.g. cleaning supplies,
small equipment items and guest supplies and amenities.
Par and Minimum/Maximum Levels
In order to manage the inventories, first of all, the executive housekeeper must
determine the par levels for each recycled inventory item, and
minimum/maximum levels for each non-recycled inventory item.
Par number is the standard number of recycled inventoried items that must be
on hand to support daily housekeeping operations.
Minimum/maximum level is used to measure the on hand quantity for the
non-recycled inventoried items. When quantities of a non-recycled item reach
the minimum level established for that item, supplies must be reordered to
bring the inventory back to the maximum level.
Managing Inventories
In order to manage inventories;
First; determine the inventory level for all types of items used in the hotel
Second; control the inventory level of the items. For this;
 develop standard policies and procedures that control the storage,
issue and movement of items from the laundry and the main
storeroom
 take physical inventory of all items in use and in storage and
maintain records
Managing Recycled Inventories
E.g. Linens, Uniforms, Guest loan items, Machines and equipment
Linens
The executive housekeeper is responsible for the storage, issuing, use and
replacement of three main types of linen inventories;
 bed - sheets, pillowcases, mattress pads or covers
 bath - bath towels, hand towels, specialty towels, wash cloths, fabric
bath mats
 table - table cloths, napkins, banquet linens for F&B
Establishing Par Levels for Linens
When establishing linen par levels, the exec. housekeeper needs to consider
three things;
The laundry cycle; three par of linens (if the hotel change and launder linen
daily): one par-linens laundered, stored and ready for use today, a second par-
yesterday’s linens which are laundered today, and a third par-linens to be
stripped from the rooms today and laundered tomorrow.
The replacement of worn, damaged, lost or stolen linen; a general rule of
thumb is to store one full par of new linens as replacement stock annually.
The emergency situation such as power failure, equipment damage; one full
par of linens in reserve for emergencies.
In summary, totally five par of linens should be maintained on an annual basis

Controlling the Inventory of Linen

Storage: laundered linens should rest in storage for at least 24 hours before
being used in order to increase their life and give the opportunity for wrinkles
to smooth out.
Issuing: issuing procedures ensure that each floor linen closet is stocked with
its par amount at the start of each day. A floor par equals the quantity of each
type of linen that is required to outfit all rooms serviced from a particular floor
linen closet. In order to determine the linen distribution requirements for each
floor linen closet, the followings are needed;
 occupancy report
 linen discard record; is used to record the number of damaged and
discarded linens.
 linen control form; is used by the room attendants to record the
number of soiled linens by type that are removed from guestrooms
and delivered to the laundry.
Taking a physical inventory of linen; all linens must be counted in the
hotel. They may be located in the; main linen room, guestrooms, floor linen
closets, room attendant carts, soiled linen bins or chutes, soiled linen in
laundry, laundry storage shelves, mobile linen trucks or carts, made-up roll-
away beds, cots, sofa beds, cribs.
Keeping records in the physical inventory of linens; Linen count sheet; is
used to record the counts for every type of linen in each location.
Master inventory control chart; is used to record the totals on the linen count
sheets. Once the totals are collected, the results of the inventory can be
compared to the previous inventory control to determine actual usage and the
need for replacement purchases.

Managing Non-recycled Inventories

E.g. cleaning supplies and small equipment items, Guest supplies, Printed
materials and stationery
Establishing Inventory Levels for Non-recycled Items
The par number for a non-recycled item is a range between a minimum and
maximum inventory quantity based on the;
 usage rates
 occupancy levels or average occupancy
 frequency with which supplies are to be reordered
 lead time
The minimum quantity = the lead time quantity + safety stock level
The maximum quantity = the number of days between orders / the number of
days it takes to use one purchase unit + minimum quantity
The lead time quantity refers to the number of purchase units that are used up
between the time that a supply order is placed and the time that the order is
actually received.
The safety stock level refers to the number of purchase units that must always
be on hand to operate smoothly in the event of emergency, spoilage,
unexpected delays in delivery etc.
Cleaning Supplies and Small Equipment Items
Are consumed or used in the course of routine housekeeping operations.
Cleaning supplies e.g. all purpose cleaners, disinfectants, germicides, bowl
cleaners, window cleaners, metal polishes, furniture polishes, scrubbing pads.
Small equipment items e.g. applicators, brooms, dust mops, wet mops, mop
wringers, cleaning buckets, spray bottles, rubber gloves, protective eye
covering, cleaning cloths and rags.
Controlling the Inventory of Cleaning Supplies
Storage, issuing and movement of cleaning supplies: perpetual inventory of
all cleaning supplies is used to provide a record of all materials requisitioned
for supply closets. As new purchases are received by the main storeroom and
as supplies are issued to floor cleaning stations, the amounts of those cleaning
supplies are adjusted on the perpetual record. When the perpetual record
shows that on -hand quantities for particular cleaning supplies have reached
the minimum quantities (the order point), a requisition for sufficient quantities
can be placed to bring the quantities back up to the maximum levels.
Taking physical inventory of cleaning supplies: physical count of cleaning
supplies should be made every month.
Previous physical inventory (beginning inventory) + monthly purchases - issues
= ending inventory
Ending inventory - expected amounts on hand = the loss

Records that are used in physical inventory of cleaning supplies:

Inventory record is used as a worksheet for taking the physical count of all
cleaning supplies.
Form for calculating expected inventories is used to determine the expected
inventory for each cleaning item. The results of the physical count can be
compared to the expected ending inventory. The variance gives the loss.
Guest Supplies
E.g. bath soap, facial soap, toilet seat bands, toilet tissue, facial tissue,
hangers, glasses, plastic trays, water pitchers, ice buckets, matches, ashtrays,
wastebaskets, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, bathfoam, shower caps, shower
mats, sewing kits, shoe shine, cloths, disposable slippers, laundry bags, plastic
utility bags, sanitary bags, emery boards, pens, stationery, printed items such
as “do no disturb” signs, fire instructions, guest comment forms, hotel or area
marketing materials.
Example:
Establishing Minimum/Maximum Inventory Levels for Bath Soap
1. Step: determine how many bars of soap are contained in a standard
package.
Example: 1 case has 1000 bars of bath soap
2. Step: calculate how many bars of soap will be used on an average day
during the hotel’s peak season (consider the occupancy level, and amount of
items that would be used in each room each day).
Example: there are 200 occupied rooms and one bar of soap is used per room.
3. Step: determine how many days it will take for the hotel’s guests to use a
standard purchase unit of soap.
Example: there are 1000 bars in each case, 200 will be used each day so 1000
÷ 200 = 5 days to use up one case of soap. In other words, one purchase unit
(case) of bath soap will be used up every five days.
4. Step: determine the minimum number of purchase units of soap that
should always be in stock at nay time. The minimum quantity = lead time
quantity + safety stock level.
Example: safety stock level for soap is one case or enough for a five day
supply and the lead time quantity is five days. So the minimum quantity is two
cases (1 case for safety stock level + 1 case for lead time = 2 cases) In other
words, the reorder point for soap is two cases.
5. Step: determine the maximum quantity of soap. Storage space and the
frequency of orders affect the maximum quantity for soap. Maximum inventory
= the number of days it takes to use one purchase unit + the minimum
quantity.
Example: soap order is done once a month, the amount of time between
orders is 30 days. So 30 ÷ 5 = 6 cases; the amount of soap that will be used in
30 days is six cases. Plus the minimum quantity of 2 cases; 6 + 2 = 8 cases;
the maximum quantity for soap can be established as 8 cases. When the
number of soap in inventory reaches 2 cases, the executive housekeeper
should place an order of 6 cases.

As a result of taking physical inventory;

 In order to maintain the established par levels, the executive
housekeeper has the correct figures on the number and type of all items;
 in use
 discarded
 lost
 in need of replacement
 those figures can then be used as cost control information in planning
the budget of the department.