Recover from Government Shutdowns with Online Inventory Control Software

After the recent government shutdown, departmental budgets were tighter than ever. In fact, economists estimated the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $11 billion. Most of this comes from lost worker output and delayed spending. Many departments were already short on funds before this crisis occurred. Now, they’re scrambling to provide services with less money than before.

If you work in one of the departments impacted, there are measures you can take to stretch your small budget even further. One of the most effective measures is implementing effective online inventory control software. This can help your branch of the government recover from the weeks of frozen spending.

Simplify Interdepartmental Use of Online Inventory Control Software

Both state and federal departments of the government communicate frequently with other departments. The Department of Motor Vehicles might need to contact the Department of Vital Records if they have issues with tracking down vehicle records. There are countless situations where interdepartmental cooperation is necessary. But if you don’t have an accurate record keeping system, trying to share tools and other items in your inventory can be a nightmare.

Keeping track of your inventory online is a great way to streamline communication about assets and other tools your department uses. Instead of trying to organize countless briefing meetings, you can give them access to your asset tracking database.

Reduce Time Spent on Administrative Tasks

Administrative tasks are some of the biggest time sinks in government departments. There are thousands of records for you to track, evaluate, and send to various places. Some of these tasks aren’t avoidable, while others don’t need to be as cumbersome as they are.

Online inventory control software programs are a great way to reduce paperwork and the amount of time your department spends on administrative tasks. Inventory management databases can generate reports, track data over time, and help you identify patterns in your inventory flow. If you notice too much of a specific type of inventory disappearing in a short span, you can investigate causes before it starts to cost you more than you can afford.

Allow Employees to Request and Use Assets with Ease

These types of software are a great way to simplify your asset tracking and management duties. Trying to keep an eye on the location of every single one of your assets at the same time is impossible. Even if you had nothing else to do, you can only be in so many places at once.

Depending on what type of department you manage, you might be sending your employees out into the field with several assets. It’s easy for them to get lost or damaged when you don’t have a clear way of tracking them. A cloud-based system means that you can see where all of your items are at any given time. It also makes your employees more accountable, since they know their actions will be tracked and monitored.

Requesting assets can also be a difficult and time-consuming process. Depending on what kind of system you currently have in place, you might be spending thousands of hours on a manual process. Even if you are using an electronic system, you may not need as many employees managing requests as you currently have. A cloud-based system, like Asset Panda, will allow anyone in your department to make a request as soon as they have it.

This isn’t the first time the government has shut down, and it probably won’t be the last. Relying on an easily customizable inventory control software program that your employees can access at any time will help you make sure your budget goes exactly where needed. You can also find out what you can afford to lose in times of crisis.

Check out how Asset Panda can help you do exactly that by taking a free guided tour today.