BHCT 208 THEORY UNIT 5 - HOUSEKEEPING INVENTORIES

DATE………… SHIFT…………….

Room no./ Area

Call-in time

Request made for

Request given by

Request taken by

Delivering time

Remarks

UNIT 5

HOUSEKEEPING INVENTORIES

GLOSSARY

Inventory: The term inventory refers to the stocks of purchased operating supplies, equipment and other items held for future use in housekeeping operations. It is a list for different items, held available in stock by a department

Inventory Control: It is a management function for classifying, ordering, receiving, issuing and accounting different items used for daily housekeeping operation.

Par Stock: minimum stock required to ensure daily smooth running of the department.

Stock Taking: physical verification of inventory by counting up stock

INVENTORY CONTROL DEFINITION

Inventory control is the management function of classifying, ordering and receiving, storing, issuing and accounting for items of value. As initial planning for opening takes place, systems and procedures must be designed to facilitate inventory control. Personnel training plans must be generated to familiarize the staff with how to take care of equipment and use supplies and account for items of value. Storage must be organized and allotted to the various categories of material; pars must be established; accounting methods must be coordinated with the controller’s office; and fiscal inventory rules and procedures must be established. It is very essential to have proper organization, systems and inventory control to overcome unnecessary loss and waste.

IMPORTANCE OF DOING INVENTORY IN HOUSEKEEPING

• It provides current stock of goods and materials required for operations

• Proper inventory do not allow shortage of goods in the department

• Updated inventory stocks and records help in minimizing the work load

• It also help in reducing market fluctuation effect (if occur ever)

• Proper inventory leads to the effective use of working capital

• Provide standardized guest room services

• Increasing goodwill

PROCESS OF INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

• Determine par levels for each recycled inventory and non-recycled inventory item used in hotel.

• Recycled inventory-establishing par stock

• Non-recycle-inventory are taken according to average usage percent of item and maximum occupancy percentage

• Take physical inventory of all item in-use and in storage

• Develop plan and policies to control storage, issue, and movement of item from HK stores

• Frequent stock updating and maintenance of inventory items

• Determine the lead time quantity as per the usage of item

Par refers to the standard quantity of each inventoried item that must be on hand to support daily, routine housekeeping operations.

Inventory management in housekeeping department includes:

Ø Par stock: it is the minimum level of supplies to meet daily demands of the hotel operations.

Ø The minimum quantity for any given cleaning supply is determined by adding the lead-time quantity to the safety stock level for that particular item.

1) 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.

2) The safety stock level for a given cleaning supply item refers to the number of purchase units that must always be on hand for the housekeeping department to operate smoothly in the event of emergencies, spoilages, unexpected delays in delivery or other situations.

Ø The maximum quantity established for each cleaning supply item refers to the greatest number of purchase units that should be in stock at any given time.

1) Consider the amount of available storage space in the housekeeping department and the willingness of suppliers to store items at their own warehouse facilities for regular shipments to the hotel.

The shelf life of items needs to be taken into consideration.

TYPES OF INVENTORY

1. RECYCLED INVENTORY- It is used for those items which can be used again and again in the house keeping operation. It includes linen, uniform, equipment and guest loan items. In order to maintain the inventory of these items Par stock; and minimum and maximum stock quantity is maintained

· Linen –Linens are the most important recycled inventory items under the executive housekeeper’s responsibility. Par levels of linen will depend on the laundry cycle, and the length of time needed to return linens to guest bedrooms:

For in-house laundry

Par 1 fresh linen in guest rooms

Par 2 soiled linen in laundry,

Par 3 fresh linen in linen room/pantry and new linen in store

For off-premises laundry

Par 1 fresh linen in guest rooms

Par 2 fresh linen arrived from off premises laundry (kept in linen room/ floor pantry)

Par 3 soiled linen going to off-premises laundry

Par 4 Emergency stock in store

For establishing par of linen, the executive housekeeper needs to consider are:

1. The laundry cycle,

2. Replacement criteria of linen

3. Emergency situations

An effective method of controlling linen inventory is to maintain floor pars. The occupancy reports generated by the front desk can be used to determine linen distribution requirement for each floor. A physical inventory of all linen items in use and in storage is the most important part of managing linen inventories. A complete count must be conducted at least once a month. It is necessary for all linen in all locations to be included in the count.

Points to remember

1. Laundry turnaround service and the frequency of changing sheets and towels in rooms will affect the par stock of linen required on a daily basis.

2. Ideally, laundered linens should rest in storage for about 24 hours to increase the useful life of the linen and to allow wrinkles to smooth out (permanent press items).

3. The total amount of linens removed from guest rooms for cleaning should be consistent with the occupancy (most establishments use the “clean for dirty” exchange system to control linen issues).

(Linen in use x Price) + (New Linen x Price) = Linen Valuation

INVENTORY COUNT SHEET (ROOMS)

Floor/ section: …………….. Name of room attendant……………. Date …………...

Room no.

Bed sheet

Duvet cover

Pillow cover

Bed cover

Mattress protector

Towel

Bath mat

Single

double

Singles

double

single

double

single

double

Face towel

Hand towel

Bath towel

101

102

103

104

INVENTORY COUNT SHEET (ROOMS)

Floor: …………….. Name of floor supervisor………………. Date: ……………..

Room no.

Bed sheet

Duvet cover

Pillow cover

Bed cover

Mattress protector

Towel

Bath mat

Single

double

single

Double

single

Double

single

double

Face towel

Hand towel

Bath towel

101

102

103

Maid cart-1

Maid cart-2

Floor pantry

Soiled linen from hamper

TOTAL

Auditor’s signature ………………… House keeper signature…………………

MASTER INVENTORY SHEETS (Rooms)

Month………………. Date ………………….

Item	Guest rooms	Floor pantry	Maids trolley	Laundry		Linen room	Linen store (new)	discard	total
Item	Guest rooms	Floor pantry	Maids trolley	soiled	Under processing	Linen room	Linen store (new)	discard	total

INVENTORY COUNT SHEET (Restaurants)

Outlet ……………… Restaurant Manager…………….

Location	Table cloth			Table napkins	Waiters’ clothe	Napery	Tray cloth
Location	oval	Square	rectangle	Table napkins	Waiters’ clothe	Napery	small	large	oval
On table
Side station 1
Side station 2
Side station 3
Soiled linen
Store
TOTAL

Auditor’s signature………………… House keeper signature………………….

RESTAURANT INVENTORY COUNT SHEET

Month……………. Date…………………

Item

Outlets

Room service

Banquets

Laundry

Linen room and store

TOTAL

Last inventory

Variance

Auditor’s signature…..………... House keeper signature……………

MASTER LINEN INVENTORY SHEET

Prepared by ………………… Date…………………….

PART I	1. Item
	2. Last inventory date
	3. New purchase
	4.Subtotal (2+3)
	5. Discard
	6. TOTAL (4+5)
PART II	7. Main store room
	8. H. K. Store room
	9. Linen store room
	10. Linen room
	11.laundry
	12. Guest room
	13. Maids trolley
	14. On roll away beds , cribs etc.
	15. TOTAL ON HAND (Add 7 to 14)
PART III	16. Loss (6-15)
	17. Par stock
	18. Amount needed (17-15)
	19. On order
	20. Need to order

Ø Uniform-

Par levels of uniform housekeeping department is responsible for uniforms, sufficient supplies must be maintained according to number of staff, departments, sizes, colors, types etc.

For in house laundry

Par 1 uniform in use by staff

Par 2 soiled uniform in lockers/uniform room/laundry

Par 3 fresh uniform in uniform room

For off-premises laundry

Par 1 uniform in use by staff

Par 2 soiled uniform in lockers/uniform room

Par 3 fresh uniform arrived from off premises laundry (kept in uniform room)

Par 4 soiled uniform going to off-premises laundry

Points to remember

1. Uniforms must be controlled and recorded as for linens.

2. Laundry turnaround times will affect the stock level of uniforms.

3. Uniforms should be counted and recorded on stock sheets according to your procedures.

UNIFORM INVENTORY SHEET

QTY.	SIZE	DESCRIPTION	UNIT COST
		FRONT DESK
		Shirts
		Tie
		Trouser
		Saree

· Guest loan item- these items are not maintained in the guest room. They are usually stored in the house keeping store room/ housekeeping control desk and when requested, delivered to the guest, at no charge criteria. The housekeeping department is typically responsible for maintaining the inventory of the guests’ loan items, responding to the loan requests, and tracking the items in order to make sure that either they are returned back to the department or yet to collect before guest will depart from the property. Examples of guest loan item are iron and iron board, hair dryer, alarm clock, hard board voltage adaptors, hot water bottle, rollaway beds, etc.

Par level of Guest loan item is decided on the basis of

· Size of the hotel and type of operation

· Minimum and maximum quantity level of their usage

· Forecasted occupancy

Points to remember

· All loan items must be tracked and recorded when issued, and when they are returned (date, item, guest name, room number, date returned, and signatures).

· Items must be counted and recorded according to company procedures.

Inventory control can be done by:

i. Maintaining proper record

ii. Doing appropriate storing and stocking

iii. Regular updating of bin cards

iv. Keeping regular check on on-going items

GUEST LOAN ITEM REGISTER

Date	Room no.	Loan item requested	Call received		Delivery		Received back
Date	Room no.	Loan item requested	Time	Taken by	Time	Delivered by	Date	Received by

GUEST CALL REGISTER

Ø Guest essentials – They are items that are essential for the guest use in rooms but are not taken away by the guests, for e.g. ashtrays, etc. (though they are taken away sometimes). They can therefore be termed as recycled inventory items. Hence par levels are determined in a manner similar to room linens and other recycled items. Considering the cleaning cycle and nature of the material and its use, determine the numbers of pars.

Ø Machines and equipment- All machines and equipment must be maintained in proper working order so employees will use them safely and effectively. The executive housekeeper needs to develop systems and procedures for controlling the hotel’s inventory of machines and equipment.

Par level depends on

i. Size of the hotel

ii. Number of rooms

iii. Minimum and maximum quantity required for the cleaning needs

Points to remember

· Sufficient stocks of equipment and machinery must be on hand to ensure that staff can effectively carry out housekeeping duties.

· Machinery and equipment should be recorded according to procedures (stock counts and control sheets, issues, records of repairs etc.)

Bin Card- The card should specify the item name, model and serial numbers, purchase cost, expected life span-as per their usage/hour, warranty information and local service contact information. These records help determine when a piece of equipment needs replacement. The card lists all the accessories and spare parts that can be used with the machine and that are owned by the hotel. The proper storage areas and work areas should also be mentioned.

Repair Logs-these logs should be kept and filed along with the corresponding inventory card. Repair log should record the date the item was sent for repair, a description of the problem, name of the maintenance/ engineering department person who performed the repairs, what repairs were made, which parts were replaced, cost of repairs, and the amount of time the equipment was out of

service. This record is used to pin-point problems, estimate repair costs and to calculate the down-time during the useful life of the machine.

Equipment log- Equipment log should be maintained to record all equipment that is issued and returned on a daily basis. The date, time issued, and person to whom the equipment is issued, location in the hotel where the equipment will be used and the time of receiving it back in the store or control desk should be noted in the log. When not in use all equipment should be stored and locked.

Par level depends on

i. Size of the hotel

ii. Number of rooms

iii. Cleaning frequency

Inventory control can be done by

i. Regular updating of equipment logs and inventory cards

ii. Proper compiling of inventory card system

iii. Storing and using equipment according to the specified standards

iv. Regular maintenance check for all the machines used within the department.

ABC HOTEL

HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

BIN CARD

DATE………….. S. No.…………………..

ITEM NAME………………………………………………….

MODEL/ SERIAL NO. …………………………………………..…..

PURCHASE COST………………………………………………………………….

ACCESSORIES……………………………………………………………………………….…

SPARE PARTS………………………………………………………………………………………………

EXPECTED LIFE SPAN……………………………………………………………………………………..…………..

WARRANTY INFORMATION………………………………………………………………………………………………………

VENDORS NAME/ ADDRESS/ CONTACT ……………………………………………………………………………….……………….

……………………………………

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

REPAIR LOG

DATE

(equipment gone for maintenance)

DESCRIPTION (of maintenance)

SENT TO (maintenance dept./ local service centre)

EQUIPMENT TAKEN BY (name of the person)

DATE (received back)

REPAIR done

PARTS replaced

COST of repair

DOWN-TIME

EQUIPMENT LOG

MONTH…………………………

EQUIPMENT

NAME

ISSUING DATE/ TIME

NAME OF PERSON

(whom equipment is issued

LOCATION

(where equipment to be used)

RETURN DATE/ TIME

REMARKS

2. NON RECYCLED INVENTORY- those items which are consumed by the guest or used during housekeeping operations

Ø Guest supplies- Hotels provide a variety of guest’s room supplies and amenities for the guests’ needs and convenience. The executive housekeeper is typically responsible for standardizing the storing, distributing, controlling process and maintaining adequate inventory levels of guests supply items and amenities. E.g. bathing soap, facial tissue, hangers, water glasses, mini-bar trays, match box, ashtrays, etc.

Par level of Guest supplies depend on

· Number of rooms in hotel

· Forecasted occupancies and

· Procedures for minimum-maximum stock holding and lead times

GUEST SUPPLIES INVENTORY SHEET

MONTH……………………….. YEAR………………….

Items

Inventory on hand

New purchase

Total

Amount used

Room nights

Usage per room

Unit cost

Cost + tax

Value per room night

Total inventory value

Monthly expenditure

The guest supplies could be classified in three categories: -

· Guest expendables

· Guest essentials (part of recycled inventory)

· Guest loan items (part of recycled inventory)

Guest expendables – They are items that the guest is either expected to use or take away on departure from the hotel. Some supplies maybe paid for by other departments, e.g. table tent cards, guest services directory, etc are usually paid for by the sales department or F n B department. Sometimes the soaps supplied are neither used nor taken away, but are still replenished when the room is made ready for a new guest. All expendable items are usually inventoried and stored by the housekeeping department directly. The types and quantities of guest supplies that a hotel routinely provides depend on the hotel’s size, clientele and service level.

Inventories are controlled by establishing pars, taking physical inventories and maintaining records. Par levels have to be established for the main store, floor pantries and room attendant trolleys. Along with the par level, reorder point will also be mentioned. Inventory levels for printed materials and stationary will depend on their usage rates. Writing papers and envelopes may need to be changed regularly, while TV tent cards, instruction sheets, etc. are a relatively permanent feature. Occupancy levels, usage rates, safety levels, lead-time quantities and purchasing schedules are considered when determining minimum and maximum inventory levels for these.

Par level depends on

i. Usage rate (for supplies)

ii. Forecasted number of occupied rooms

Inventory control can be done by

i. Frequent monitoring

ii. Tracking pilferage ratio and consumption ratio

Ø Cleaning supplies- Cleaning supplies and small cleaning equipment items are a part of non-recycled inventory in the housekeeping department. These supplies are consumed or used up in the course of routine housekeeping operations. Par levels of cleaning supplies will depend on the scope of cleaning, and the amounts or quantities used in day-to-day housekeeping operations. A par for cleaning supply item is actually a range that is based on two figures:

• Minimum inventory quantity

• Maximum inventory quantity

The on-hand quantity for a cleaning supply item should never fall below the minimum quantity established for that item. Minimum quantities are established by considering the usage factor associated with each item. Usage factor refers to the quantity of given non-recycled inventory item that is used up over a certain period.

The minimum quantity for any given cleaning supply is determined by adding the lead-time quantity to the safety stock level for that particular item.

1) 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 maximum quantity established for each cleaning supply item refers to the greatest number of purchase units that should be in stock at any given time.

1) Consider the amount of available storage space in the housekeeping department and the willingness of suppliers to store items at their own warehouse facilities for regular shipments to the hotel.

2) The shelf life of items needs to be taken into consideration.

Controlling of inventory of cleaning supplies involves establishing strict issuing procedures to regulate the flow of products from the main storeroom to the floor cleaning closets. It also involves maintaining accurate counts of the products on hand in the main storeroom. Points to remember planning inventory levels for the cleaning supplies are:

• Based on usage rates for the various cleaning supplies under different occupancy levels, the executive housekeeper can determine par levels for every floor pantry,

• As per the floor need, cleaning supplies can be taken by the GRA from the housekeeping main storeroom,

• Usage rate can be easily checked by monitoring the issuing record of supplies from the HK store.

• Floor cleaning closets/ pantries can be inspected on a regular basis to ensure the over storing or misuse of any inventory item.

• A perpetual inventory of all cleaning supplies is often used in conjunction with a par stock system.

• The self-life of certain items needs to be taken into account. The quality or effectiveness of some products deteriorates if they are stored too long before being used.

• Maximum quantities should not to be set so high that large amounts of the hotel’s cash resources are unnecessarily tied up in an overstocked inventory.

Inventory control can be done by

i. Maintain proper consumption record (purchase and issue records)

ii. Tracking misuse/pilferage constantly

Points to remember

Ø Cleaning supplies should never be allowed to reach below minimum stock levels

Ø Cleaning supplies must be recorded as for other items, and issues or requisitions must be tracked daily.

Ø Staff must be trained on the correct usage and handling of chemicals and cleaning supplies to avoid wastage and high costs.

INVENTORY CONTROL SHEET

(Supplies and Equipment)

Month……………………….

Item	Beginning inventory (a)	Purchase (b)	Total (a) + (b)	New purchase/ issue	Ending inventory
CLEANING SUPPLIES
All purpose cleaner
Glass cleaner
Carpet shampoo

EQUIPMENT
Kentucky mops
Yard brooms
Vacuum cleaner

INDENTING FROM STORES

It is a procedure where the housekeeping department makes a list of items required by the department for its functioning and sends it to the stores department. The list is called as indent slip and it is usually made once in a week. Main stores scrutinize such indents and issue the material which is available in the store and if some items are not available/ out of stock in the main store then he place the order with the suppliers to send such material within specified date and time.

Store indent book is kept at the control desk so that the supervisors may indent for housekeeping supplies that are required. The supervisor/ control desk in-charge fill up the indent sheet in the book and forward it to the main stores.

STORE INDENT BOOK Date……………….
S. No.	Indented Items	Quantity Indented	Quantity Issued	Remarks



……………………………. ………..……………………… …………………………. MADE BY APPROVED BY STOREKEEPER

STOCKTAKING

Definition: to maintain stock sheets for all areas and items so that exact stock will be identified easily is termed as stocktaking.

Points to remember

• Record all deliveries, requisitions and issues, as well as breakages, variances etc. To ensure that all items are recorded and all movement tracked

• Keep stock sheets up to date. Some stock is counted daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the area and frequency of use.

• Stock sheets should also contain details of the each item, the supplier, the number of items per case or container, the price of each case/item, opening stock, purchases, total stock, Total value of items used, closing stock, and value of closing stock.

• Damaged items should be kept separately, recorded and handed to the appropriate person, according to procedures, and for stock control purposes.

Stock taking can be done on with the help of following methods:

• Perpetual stock taking or continuous inventory-It is a method of accounting for inventory that records detailed inventory records of the department.

• Physical inventory- The physical count to measure the level of inventory items present in the department

Safe guarding assets can be done by following steps mentioned below:

• Tracking demand and supply ( to identify theft by a staff member, delivery driver or guest)

• Frequent stock taking (for accuracy in records by staff members)

• Maintaining storing standards and frequent spot checking (to check spoilage and pilferage of the inventory items)

• Recording discards, shortage, mix-ups, damaged items (to track mishandling, misuse of the items)

STOCKTAKING FREQUENCY

RECYCLED INVENTORY ITEMS		NON RECYCLED INVENTROY ITEMS
Linen	Monthly/ bi-monthly/ Quarterly	Guest supplies	Weekly/ fortnightly
Uniform	Annually	Cleaning supplies	Weekly/ fortnightly
Machine and	Quarterly/ annually	Stationery	Weekly/ fortnightly
equipment
Furniture	Annually

STOCK ROTATION

Definition: Stock rotation ensures that same items were not in use every day, and would extend the life of the stock.

IMPORTANCE

• If items are not rotated they will wear out unevenly and need to be replaced sooner.

• Goods that are not rotated will become stale smelling or possibly creased and soiled, and will need to be re-cleaned.

• Mildew may be more likely to form if items are not rotated correctly.

• Certain items like cleaning agents and customer supplies may have expiry dates and would need to be rotated to ensure that the items do not expire.

• Poor stock rotation may result in damage or spoilage of goods and items, which will have to be replaced. This will cost the establishment more money.

PROCEDURE

• Incoming, new stock should be stored so that it is not placed with existing stock.

• New items are usually placed behind older items, or on different shelves, so that older items are used first according to the FIFO (First in First Out) principle.

• Boxes or containers or perishable stock items such as cleaning supplies/guest supplies should be marked with the date of delivery, and stored with the most current date behind older stock. This will help to identify which items should be used first.

• Color coded tabs or systems are an easy way to identify different batches of stock e.g. red for oldest items, then yellow, and blue for new stock.

• Clean linens direct from the laundry should be stored on different shelves from items laundered earlier. This will allow linens to “rest” before being re-used.

• Regular spot checks of store rooms and storage areas will help to ensure that stock rotation systems are being followed correctly.

• Staff training will also ensure that procedures are followed.

AREA INVENTORY LIST

Planning the work of the Housekeeping Department begins with creating an inventory list of all items within each area that will need Housekeeping attention. Since most properties offered several different types of guestrooms, separate inventory list may be needed for guest room type. When preparing the guestroom ‘AIL’, it is a good idea to follow the same system that room attendant will use as their sequence of cleaning task & that supervisor will use in the course of their inspection. E.g. Area within a guestroom may appear on an inventory list as they are found from right to left & from top to bottom around the room.

It is the part of pre-opening process, which is used by the executive housekeeper to do the systematic planning process for the department. For this, EHK have to identify the areas to be taken care most and then the detailed check list is prepared for the hotel overall as well as for individual areas inventory list is prepared and handled by the supervisor and attendants respectively.