Every client site is a stock location
A cleaning contractor typically holds a central store and dozens of sites, each with its own cupboard of supplies. Consumption at each site is steady but different: a school uses far more paper than an office, and a clinic uses more disinfectant. Treating all of it as one pool hides where stock is actually building up or running out.
Modelling each site as a location, with its own minimum levels, lets restocking become a list rather than a phone call. The supervisor or driver knows what each site is below and delivers exactly that, instead of topping everything up or waiting to be asked.
It also shows where money goes. A site that consumes twice what similar sites do is visible in the numbers, which prompts a useful question about whether something is being wasted, or the contract is priced wrongly.
- Create a location for each client site and for the central store
- Set minimum levels per site for consumables that are used steadily
- Restock from a list of what each site has fallen below
- Compare consumption across similar sites to spot waste or under-pricing
Consumables with a predictable rhythm
Bin liners, hand towels, toilet paper, soap, gloves and cloths are consumed at a fairly steady rate at each site. That predictability is what makes minimum levels work well here; unlike project-driven stock, the past is a good guide to the future.
A minimum level per site, set from actual use, means a low-stock alert appears while there is time to deliver on a normal round. Without one, the alternative is an urgent trip when a site reports that the towels have run out.
Recording use does not need to be elaborate. A scan at the point of restocking, recording what was delivered to which site, is usually enough to keep the numbers reasonable, and a quick count of the cupboard during a visit corrects any drift.
Chemicals and decanted products
Cleaning chemicals bring extra requirements. Products have batch and sometimes expiry dates, must be stored properly, and are often decanted or diluted into smaller containers. Knowing where a concentrate is and how much of it remains matters for both cost and safety.
The rules on handling, labelling and safety information for chemicals vary by country and are set by the relevant authority, so the specific requirements should come from your regulator or supplier rather than from a stock system. What a system contributes is knowing what you hold, where it is, and which batch it came from.
Recording batch numbers at receipt and tracking a product by location makes it possible to answer a question about a specific product quickly, such as which sites hold a product that a supplier has issued a notice about.
Machines and equipment readiness
Scrubber-dryers, floor polishers, vacuums, carpet extractors and pressure washers are expensive, move between sites and need regular maintenance. Knowing which machine is where, and whether it is ready, prevents the frustrating situation of arriving at a site to find the machine is elsewhere or broken.
Recording location, service history, next service date and availability for each machine is enough. It answers whether a shift can start with the right equipment, which is the only question that matters at six in the morning.
In StockFlow, supplies and chemicals can carry batch numbers, expiry dates and per-location minimum levels with low-stock alerts and recorded transfers between locations, while machines can be managed in the Assets module with check-in and check-out, maintenance status and readiness reporting.
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