Recycled & non recycled inventories:
The Executive Housekeeper is responsible for 2 types of inventories.
1) Recycled inventory: It includes linen equipments & some guest supplies like extra bed, iron, etc. The no. of recycled items that must be on hand to ensure smooth operations is expressed as a ‘PAR’. It refers to the standard number of items that must be on hand to support daily routine housekeeping operations e.g. One par of linen is the total number of items needed to outfit all the hotel guestrooms once. Most sister hotels would on a ‘four-par’ of guest rooms linen (guestroom, floor pantry, laundry & linen).
2) Non-recycled inventory: They include cleaning supplies, guestroom supplies, guest-amenities like toothbrush, hair-conditioner, etc. They are used up during routine activities of the housekeeping department. A purchasing ordering for non recycled inventory items establishes a ‘par’ no. based on 2 figures i.e. Maximum & minimum quantities. The minimum quantity is the least amount at which reordering is done taking into consideration the lead time (it is time taken by the supplier to convey goods from the time the order is placed). The maximum quantity is the amount ordered.
The executive housekeeper must establish reasonable levels for both recycled and non-recycled inventories. Overstocking should be avoided, as it ties up cash and calls for a larger storage area. There should be an effective purchasing system to consistently maintain the inventory levels set by the executive housekeeper. To maintain the inventory levels, the executive housekeeper needs to determine the par level for each inventory item.
