Founded in 2016, Global Preparatory Academy, GPA, is a dual language Spanish immersion public charter school. Through a partnership with the largest school district in Indianapolis – Indianapolis Public Schools, GPA has a student body size of over 650, enrolled from Pre-K – Grade 7. As a dual language and project-based school, GPA connects students from diverse linguistic backgrounds and educates its students together in a highly rigorous, engaging and nurturing environment.
They use extensive technology to implement their learning philosophy. This includes equipment such as MacBooks, iPads, Chromebooks, Smartboards, and other necessary school supplies for students and teachers.
Global Preparatory Academy uses EZOfficeInventory to track this growing inventory of IT equipment and enhances accountability with automated record-keeping of transferred assets.
Efficient, accurate IT equipment tracking with EZOfficeInventory
As a result of the global pandemic, additional student technology was purchased to meet the needs of virtual instruction. GPA had purchased EZOfficeInventory in 2020, however due the pandemic, had been unable to complete implementation and full utilization of the system. The next year, GPA’s Hardware Technician focused on fully implementing the functionality of EZOfficeInventory to enhance workflows for teachers and students.
The school was previously using Excel spreadsheets to track their equipment. Since they could not maintain current, real-time records on the static sheets, there were a lot of inaccuracies in inventory count. For example, if an item was damaged and removed, this change would not be immediately updated and as a result, the inventory count on the sheet would be higher than the actual quantity.
Also, when the items were put into maintenance, the item status would not be updated in real- time and showed them as available, leading to confusion.
“[Our] job is easier by tracking and knowing which classrooms have items, our accountability has definitely improved,” says a GPA representative.
Finally, since the school was not able to accurately track how much of a certain item was available in stock, they would reorder existing items resulting in excessive inventory.
Better equipment management with automated maintenance
GPA follows the Asana ticketing system where teachers create tickets for damaged technical equipment. For example, if a Chromebook is broken, a ticket is generated and sent to the IT hardware department for further processing.
When a maintenance ticket is received, the IT department uses EZOfficeInventory to view the item details and history to gather further information. They evaluate how many times that piece of equipment has been damaged or broken, previous reasons for damage, and how frequently a particular student broke it. This is helpful in implementing a school policy where if a student has damaged equipment more than once, they will be charged for the repair.
After verification, the item is put into maintenance. Once the item is repaired, it’s checked out again to staff or students. The ticket in Asana is marked as closed.
The hardware tech team also finds it extremely helpful to scan and upload all necessary documents related to IT equipment such as license and warranty claims into EZOfficeInventory. Getting repairs done while equipment is under warranty is much more efficient with all the documents in one place.
Overall, the maintenance feature has helped the school efficiently track equipment, streamline check-out history, and reduce equipment loss by approximately 80%.
Smart procurement with Purchase Orders
The hardware tech team uses the Purchase Orders module to streamline the procurement of IT equipment. While creating an order they add a custom field with the order code from the vendor or in the case of online order, the order link, for reference.
The order is submitted and emailed to the finance department using the EZOfficeInventory email template. The finance department prepares a purchase requisition that details price, quantity, vendor, and other purchase information for approval from the CEO. Once approved, another custom field is added which includes the approved requisition number and sent to Director Operations for his signature. When the item is received, it is marked as received in EZOfficeInventory.
“We create POs for [something] as simple as purchasing batteries and once acquired, just hit receive items on the app and it’s on our record,” explains a GPA representative.
The team finds it helpful that they are able to manage multiple shipments of an order and keep an accurate record of how many items are received in EZOfficeInventory. For example, if they order 600 headphones and receive multiple shipments of 100-150 headphones, EZOfficeInventory enables them to accurately mark these shipments by adding the number of headphones received and the date they are received.
With all information conveniently logged into the system, the team finds it easy to run end-of- financial year reports in EZOfficeInventory. For example, they run a report on purchased Assets to analyze their spending. The Custom Report capability has also helped the school in facilitating auditors as per their requests.
The future with EZOfficeInventory
As GPA is expanding and adding new locations, they are looking forward to exploring the full functionality of the system and trying new features such as Locations and Reservations. They are also looking to expand the use of the system to track not only IT equipment but also other school furniture.
The hardware tech team appreciates the highly responsive customer support team that is always quick to answer their questions and address concerns. EZOfficeInventory has helped GPA improve inventory and budget management, and as the school continues to grow, the team finds EZOfficeInventory will be the right fit for all their tracking needs.
