Best Practices for Inventory Success

Overview

Successful inventories require careful planning, clear communication, efficient execution, and thorough follow-through. This guide compiles proven strategies from organizations that have conducted hundreds of inventories, helping you avoid common pitfalls and achieve excellent completion rates with minimal disruption.

Planning & Preparation

Define Clear Scope

What to include:

• Asset categories: All IT equipment, furniture, vehicles, tools, etc.
• Value threshold: Assets over $500? $1,000? All items?
• Locations: Entire site or specific buildings/floors?
• Exclusions: Consumables, low-value items, leased equipment?

Document scope decisions:

• Write one-page scope document
• Share with all participants before launch
• Include examples: "Scan desktop monitors (Yes), staplers (No)"
• Prevents confusion during collection

Set Realistic Timeline

Inventory Size	Collection Period	Processing Time	Total Project
Small (<250 assets)	3-5 days	1-2 days	1 week
Medium (250-1,000)	1-2 weeks	3-5 days	2-3 weeks
Large (1,000-5,000)	2-4 weeks	1-2 weeks	4-6 weeks
Very Large (>5,000)	4-8 weeks	2-3 weeks	6-12 weeks

Key Principle: Allocate 20-30% of project time for processing (Match, Review & Process, Results)

Assemble the Right Team

Roles to fill:

• Project Lead (Administrator): Owns inventory, processes submissions, makes decisions
• Field Coordinators: Organize on-site scanning, answer user questions
• Subject Matter Experts: Identify assets, resolve flags (e.g., IT manager, facilities director)
• Scanners: Staff who will physically scan assets (internal or external)

Team sizing:

• Small inventory: 1 admin + 2-5 scanners
• Medium inventory: 1 admin + 10-20 scanners
• Large inventory: 2-3 admins + 30+ scanners

Pre-Inventory Data Cleanup

Before launching inventory:

• Review database: Are expected assets accurate?
• Update locations: Reflect recent moves or transfers
• Retire disposed assets: Don't expect to find things you know are gone
• Fix duplicate IDs: Resolve data quality issues now (not during inventory)
• Standardize naming: Consistent asset ID format

Naming Conventions

Inventory Naming Best Practices

Recommended format:

[Site] - [Purpose] - [Period]

Examples:
"HQ Building A - Annual Physical Inventory - Q1 2024"
"Warehouse 3 - Audit Compliance - Jan 2024"
"Remote Office Seattle - Quarterly Check - 2024-Q1"

Why this works:

• Site first: Easy to filter and search
• Purpose clear: Understand why inventory was conducted
• Period included: Distinguish from past/future cycles
• Searchable: Can find inventories by any component
• Under 75 characters: Displays fully in dashboard

Avoid:

• Abbreviations only: "HQ-API-Q124" (unclear to others)
• Just dates: "2024-01-15" (no context)
• Overly long: "Annual Physical Inventory for Headquarters Building A Including All IT Equipment, Furniture, and Office Supplies Conducted January 2024" (truncated in UI)

User Assignment Strategies

Standard Inventory (Assigned Users)

Best for:

• Routine quarterly/annual inventories
• Small to medium teams
• When real-time verification is valuable

Selection criteria:

• Site familiarity: Assign people who know the location
• Availability: Ensure they can dedicate time
• Technical comfort: Basic smartphone skills
• Balanced workload: Distribute assets evenly

Training:

• 30-minute kickoff meeting
• Show correct barcode types (asset tag vs. serial vs. shipping)
• Demonstrate scanning process
• Provide contact for questions

Blind Inventory (Token-Based)

Best for:

• Compliance audits (independence required)
• Large teams (20+ people)
• Temporary workers or contractors
• Unknown asset discovery

Distribution strategies:

Scenario	Best Distribution Method
Office workers	Email with detailed instructions
Field staff	SMS text message
On-site team	Printed QR code on assignment sheets
External auditors	Email with compliance context

Instructions to include:

• What to scan (asset categories)
• Example photo of correct barcode type
• How to handle issues (damaged tags, can't scan)
• Emphasis on accuracy over speed
• Support contact info

Verification & Quality Control

Physical Verification Discipline

Train users to:

• Confirm asset physically present: Not just scanning from a list
• Verify identifier matches asset: Don't scan wrong item
• Note condition accurately: Report damage honestly
• Report missing tags: Don't skip assets without barcodes (manual entry)
• Document everything unusual: Use notes field liberally

Administrator Processing Cadence

Daily routine (10-20 minutes):

1. Check dashboard: Review submission counts, progress
2. Process Match Tab: Approve high-confidence matches (green)
3. Quick wins: Resolve easy pending items
4. Monitor queues: Keep pending <50, flagged <10

Weekly routine (1-2 hours):

1. Deep flag resolution: Investigate complex issues
2. User check-in: Contact inactive users
3. Progress report: Communicate to team/stakeholders
4. Adjust timeline: Extend if needed

Data Quality Checks

Spot-check verification:

• High-value assets: Manually verify $10K+ items
• Random sampling: Check 5-10% of submissions for accuracy
• Serial number confirmation: Match serial to manufacturer records
• Location validation: Confirm locations make sense

Communication Strategies

Pre-Launch Communication

2 weeks before:

• Announce inventory to affected staff
• Explain purpose and timeline
• Identify participants

1 week before:

• Send detailed instructions
• Schedule training/kickoff
• Answer questions

Launch day:

• Send links/QR codes
• Remind of support contact
• Set expectations ("Scan everything by Friday")

During Inventory

Daily updates (if large project):

• "Great work team - 350 assets scanned so far!"
• "We're at 70% completion - keep it up!"
• "Only 3 days left - please wrap up your areas"

Milestone celebrations:

• 50% complete: "Halfway there!"
• 75% complete: "Home stretch - finish strong!"
• 100% complete: "Inventory complete - thank you all!"

Post-Completion

Within 1 week of completion:

• Thank participants publicly
• Share high-level results (completion %, findings)
• Communicate next steps (missing asset searches, etc.)
• Request feedback on process

Processing Best Practices

Match Tab Efficiency

Process in this order:

1. Auto-approve high confidence: Green matches (≥95%) - bulk approve
2. Review medium confidence: Yellow (70-94%) - quick decisions
3. Research low confidence: Red (<70%) - manual matching
4. Handle duplicates: Keep earliest, reject rest

Use filters effectively:

• Filter by confidence score
• Filter by asset category (process all IT together)
• Filter by location (process floor-by-floor)
• Filter by submission date (clear oldest first)

Review & Process Tab Strategy

Tackle flagged items first:

• Flags are blockers to completion
• Resolve highest-value flags first
• Batch similar flag types
• Don't let flagged queue grow beyond 10-15 items

Pending queue approach:

• Quick wins first (new assets, minor location updates)
• Bulk actions when possible (assign category to 20 items at once)
• Don't overthink - make reasonable decisions and move on

Documentation Discipline

Always add notes when:

• Rejecting submission: Explain why ("Wrong barcode - shipping label")
• Updating location: Document reason ("Confirmed with facilities - moved Dec 2023")
• Changing condition: Note what changed ("Downgraded to Fair - screen cracked")
• Creating new asset: Source ("Discovered during inventory - untagged purchase")
• Making exception: Rationale ("Approved despite low confidence - photo confirms match")

Post-Completion Best Practices

Immediate Actions (Day 1)

1. Export all reports: PDF and CSV formats
2. Save to shared drive: Don't rely only on system
3. Backup photos: If attached submissions are valuable
4. Generate audit trail: Compliance documentation

Follow-Up Actions (Week 1-2)

1. Address missing assets: Schedule physical search for high-value items
2. Catalog new assets: Complete database records, generate tags
3. Update systems: Import to CMDB, update insurance, adjust depreciation
4. Resolve discrepancies: Document findings, initiate investigations

Long-Term Actions

1. Schedule next inventory: Quarterly? Annually?
2. Document lessons learned: What worked? What didn't?
3. Improve processes: Update instructions, fix data quality issues
4. Archive results: Retain for compliance (3-7 years typically)

Compliance & Audit Considerations

Audit Trail Requirements

Ensure inventory includes:

• Timestamps: All submissions, approvals, changes
• User attribution: Who scanned, who processed
• Decision rationale: Notes explain why assets approved/rejected
• Change history: Track updates to location, condition, value
• Photos: Visual evidence of asset condition

Retention Policies

Typical retention periods:

• Financial audits: 7 years
• Compliance audits: 5 years
• Internal records: 3 years minimum
• Check regulations: Industry-specific requirements (HIPAA, SOX, etc.)

Independence for Audits

When independence required:

• Use blind inventory (external auditors can't see database)
• External personnel conduct scanning (not asset custodians)
• Administrator reviews but doesn't override findings arbitrarily
• Document exceptions with justification

Recurring Inventory Programs

Quarterly Cycle Approach

Stagger sites:

• Q1: HQ and Warehouse A
• Q2: Remote offices
• Q3: Warehouse B and Field offices
• Q4: Data centers and IT assets

Benefits:

• Distributes workload
• Fresh data year-round
• Easier than annual "big bang"

Template Creation

Build reusable templates:**

• Inventory settings: Pre-filled for each site
• Instructions document: Copy/paste with minor edits
• Email templates: Invitation, reminders, thank you
• Training materials: Reuse presentations, videos

Continuous Improvement

After each cycle:

• Metrics review: Completion time, rejection rate, flag rate
• User feedback: What was confusing? What worked well?
• Process updates: Refine instructions, improve training
• Data cleanup: Fix systemic issues before next inventory

Key Success Metrics

Metric	Target	Excellent
Completion Rate	85-95%	95-100%
On-Time Finish	Within due date	1-2 days early
Rejection Rate	<5%	<2%
Flag Rate	<10%	<5%
Processing Time	20-30% of project	<20%
User Satisfaction	7/10	9/10

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Waiting until end to process: Process daily to prevent backlog
• Unrealistic timeline: Allow adequate time for collection AND processing
• Poor instructions: Unclear scope leads to wrong items scanned
• No database cleanup: Dirty data = low confidence scores = more work
• Ignoring flags: Flagged queue grows unmanageable
• Over-processing: Don't let perfect be enemy of good (make decisions, move on)
• No communication: Users don't know progress or expectations
• Forgetting follow-up: Missing assets, new assets languish unresolved

What's Next?

• Common Issues & Solutions - Troubleshooting inventory problems
• FAQ - Frequently asked questions
• Creating an Inventory - Step-by-step setup guide

Getting Help

For inventory planning assistance or strategy consultation, contact the ARMOR Support Team.