At Paide Gümnaasium, a high school located in the heart of Estonia, managing an extensive inventory of technology equipment used to be a labor-intensive and complicated process. With a wide variety of audiovisual gear, including cameras, cables, and lighting equipment, the school required an efficient system that would allow students and staff to easily reserve and manage these resources.
This need led Paide Gümnaasium to Booqable, which was able to create an intuitive inventory management and reservation system that the department’s manager, Kaarle, could tailor to the school’s unique requirements. Since implementing Booqable, Kaarle has transformed the way the school tracks and manages its audiovisual equipment inventory. Below are some of the key features Paide Gümnaasium has found instrumental in simplifying its day-to-day operations.
Generating high-quality barcodes directly from Booqable
One of the most valuable features that attracted Paide Gümnaasium to Booqable was its ability to generate barcodes directly within the system. Previously, the school had to manually label and track equipment through spreadsheets, but Booqable has simplified this process significantly.
With the help of the school’s own label printer, the school generates durable labels for all its equipment to prevent loss and track the whereabouts of items at any given time. This allows staff and students to efficiently check out and return equipment by simply scanning each item. If you don’t have your own label printer like Paide Gümnaasium does, you can easily pay a printing company near you to convert your Booqable barcodes into physical barcode labels to stick onto your products.
Additionally, the system enables wireless scanning within the storage room by scanning barcodes through the mobile app, allowing for easy movement through the space to scan items as they are checked in or out. This reduces paperwork and manual input, saving staff valuable time while keeping the inventory up to date.
Using one barcode to scan bulk items at once
Paide Gümnaasium has also innovatively leveraged Booqable by using a single barcode for multiples of the same product.
For instance, the school manages a large number of cables, often reserving several identical items for a single booking. Rather than scanning each cable’s barcode individually, the school developed a system where a single barcode for multiple bulk products is attached to the wall in the storage room.
This method allows staff and students to scan the same barcode multiple times, corresponding to the number of items being checked out. This approach has significantly reduced the time spent processing orders while ensuring inventory accuracy, eliminating the need to manually handle and scan each individual item.
When asked about the impact of Booqable’s barcode feature, the department manager, Kaarle, commented: “The most important feature for us has been the barcode scanning, as each item has its own label and barcode. We wanted the process to be quick and reliable, and now, with a wireless scanner in our storage room, we can easily move around and scan barcodes on both the items and the walls. It’s comfortable and quick, and our system is much simpler.”
Managing tasks on the go with Booqable’s mobile app
Paide Gümnaasium also takes full advantage of Booqable’s mobile app to manage inventory remotely. This feature has proven particularly useful for staff. For example, when a teacher or student inquires about the availability of certain equipment, administrators no longer need to log into a desktop browser. Instead, they can access the app from their mobile devices, open up a new order, search for the item in question, and immediately see the availability of its stock.
This convenience has been transformative, especially for administrators who may not always be on campus but need to manage requests or view bookings. The app provides a seamless way to check stock, create bookings, and even communicate with other staff members about the status of equipment, all without needing to be physically present at the school.
Kaarle shared how the mobile app has improved their operations: “It’s been extremely helpful to have the mobile app to quickly add bookings or search for what’s available in the storage room. I’m not in the building every day, so when someone asks me about the status of an item, I can simply open the mobile app, search for the item, and instantly see its status.”
Simple changes, with a huge impact
Since adopting Booqable, Kaarle from Paide Gümnaasium has seen significant improvements in how he manages the school’s student resources. The ability to generate barcodes directly in the system, the use of single barcodes for multiple stock items, and the convenience of the mobile app have all contributed to simplifying the equipment reservation process.
For any school or institution with a large equipment inventory, Paide Gümnaasium’s use of Booqable demonstrates how a smart inventory management system can save time, reduce errors, and improve overall organization. As the school continues to grow and evolve, Booqable will remain a key tool in taking the stress out of student rentals.
