Building a supply list for a new facility

Opening a new building, taking over facilities for an existing one, or just tired of emergency runs for hand towel — the method is the same. Walk the building once, write down what each space consumes, and turn that into a standing order. An afternoon’s work that stops a recurring problem.

Walk the building room by room

Don’t start from a catalogue. Start from the rooms, because that’s where consumption actually happens.

Entrances

Matting, ice melt in winter, wet-floor signage

Washrooms

Hand towel, bath tissue, soap, dispensers, liners, air care, washroom cleaner, disinfectant

Kitchen or breakroom

Cups, napkins, cutlery, dish detergent, sanitizer, surface cleaner, liners, paper towel

Offices

Liners, surface wipes, glass cleaner, vacuum supplies

Shop, warehouse or production

Degreaser, shop towels, absorbents, gloves, safety glasses, hi-vis, first aid, floor cleaner

Shipping area

Stretch film, tape, boxes, void fill, labels

Janitorial closet

Mops, buckets, carts, brushes, microfibre, the chemicals that refill everything above

For each item, note what’s there now, what size or type it is, and roughly how fast it goes.

Estimating consumption

People usually guess badly at this. Two shortcuts:

Count what’s on hand and date it. Note what’s in the supply closet today, check again in two weeks, and you have a real usage rate without waiting a year.

Use headcount for washroom supplies. Staff count and visitor traffic predict hand towel and tissue far better than floor area does.

For anything seasonal — ice melt, matting, winter floor cleaner — note it as seasonal rather than monthly, or you’ll carry a year of stock you don’t need in July.

Three things to decide before ordering

Standardise where you can

One all-purpose cleaner used correctly beats five specialty products nobody’s trained on. Fewer products means less storage, less training, less waste.

Check your dispensers first

They dictate which refills fit — worth reading first if you’re inheriting a building.

Decide what you keep on site

Storage costs space. Weekly delivery of a small quantity usually beats monthly delivery of a large one, unless storage is free and cash isn’t.

Turning the list into a standing order

Once you know what the building uses in a month, you don’t need to order it. A standing order delivers it on a schedule and adjusts as usage changes.

That’s how most of our customers buy: we walk the site once, build the list with them, agree a delivery rhythm, and deliver against it. One schedule, one invoice a month, no minimum order.

If you’d rather do the walk yourself, the room-by-room list above is the whole method. If you’d rather not, that’s what we’re for.

What goes on the list for most buildings