Vacation Planning and Office Supplies

With summer comes thoughts of summer vacations, taking a break at a lake, beach, or staying at home while reading the latest bestseller and binge-watching Netflix and Hulu shows. You’re all set to put your out of office email on, but your coworkers will still be working, unless your entire company shuts down for a week. When you’re not at the office, will your coworkers be able to be productive, or will they run out of the supplies they need? Read on to find out what you need to add to your pre-vacation checklist.

Top Office Supplies

As the office administrative assistant or office manager, you’re tasked with ordering, and keeping in stock, office supplies so they’ll be there when someone needs an item from the supply closet. Here’s a list of the office supplies you should have fully stocked, and even extra stock if that might be needed, before you go on vacation.

Pens, pencils, and markers
Paper: notepads, notebooks, post-it notes
File folders and labels
Printer paper
Printer toner and ink
Stapler and staples
Rubber bands and paper clips

How Much is Too Much?

Since you’re trying to reduce office management costs (who isn’t?), of course you don’t want to have supplies that aren’t used for months or years just sitting around in boxes. But you also don’t want your boss to have to run to the store to pick up office supplies because the office printer ran out of toner and you didn’t have a backup while you’re on vacation.

So there’s a fine line in how many of each product you should have on hand. Pens are easier to keep a couple more boxes than necessary on hand due to the space they take up, while reams of printer paper will take up more space. Take an assessment of anything that might be happening office wise while you’re out on your well-deserved vacation to anticipate office supply needs with this list of questions:

Is your company in a peak season? If, for example, you work in a tax office, the office printer will be used far more in tax season, so you should have more toner, ink, and paper (and possibly an extra printer) on hand to cover those printing needs.
Is your company hiring? If anyone new is coming on-board unexpectedly while you’re on vacation, that person will need notebooks, pens, etc.
What office supplies are commonly used? Take a look at what office supplies tend to diminish each week versus the ones that stay there in the supply closet untouched week after week. Maybe you don’t really need to replenish the yellow highlighters because no one uses them.

Toning Up Your Toner Supply

Once you’ve answered those questions, it’s time to stock up on office supplies. We can’t tell you how many pens and notebooks you should have, but the general rule of thumb for printer toner cartridges and ink is to have at least one extra full set of printer toner cartridges or ink for each of your printers, and more during a busy season.

Call Us

Adams Imaging Systems has an extensive inventory of compatible printer toner cartridges to choose from, as well as a full range of office equipment for when you need that. We offer quality products, service, and technical support that sets us apart from our competitors. Give Adams Imaging Systems a call at 978-462-9206 to get your office settled with printer toner cartridges and then go enjoy your vacation!