When it comes to campus logistics, one thing that is an absolute necessity within a campus is organization. Organization amongst departments, with outside partners, and within your internal team must be present to create streamlined daily workflows. But what if you don’t currently have a campus logistics platform in place? Spending excessive time working on completing tasks, monitor incoming, and outgoing packages, and ensure that KPIs and SLAs are met can negatively impact your department. Our solution? Intra EDU. This comprehensive campus logistics software platform is designed to serve the needs of colleges and universities of any size across the country. Here, our team takes a deep dive into how your department can budget for and justify a campus logistics platform, like Intra, for your university. 

Step 1: Quantify Risk Assessment

Before making any decision that substantially impacts your department’s finances, the first step you should take is calculating your risk assessment. Essentially, this means taking time to strategize and outline the benefits and downfalls of what your department will look like with and without a campus logistics platform in place. For many universities, Intra is utilized by multiple department managers on campus, including mailroom, central receiving, and asset managers. For each department, the benefits of Intra will differ, but having a cohesive system that keeps your campus connected daily is a huge benefit providing long-term improvements for your campus. 

When doing this risk assessment, there are a variety of aspects to consider—first, the importance of inbound and outbound packages to and from your facility. For example, specialty graduate schools in STEM programs that deal with medication, chemicals, or other hazardous materials will need complete oversight of where packages are at all times. Without some form of accountability, such as a chain-of-custody report generated through Intra, when packages are lost or misplaced, there is no accountability. The result? Students and faculty blaming your department for lack of oversight and revenue loss. Suppose loss of parcels or assets has plagued your campus in recent years. In that case, this risk assessment helps you discover just how much revenue and time has been lost and justify budget strategies to begin saving for a campus logistics platform like Intra. 

Step 2: Research Time Management Needs

After conducting a risk assessment, the next step in budgeting for your new campus logistics platform is figuring out current time management usage and how this would be adjusted with the integration of a new platform. For many universities, departments such as the mailroom or central receiving are often overlooked, left to fend for themselves when it comes to budget increases. This leaves your department with dated equipment with an increased likelihood of malfunction or breakage, halting your team’s progress on daily tasks. Depending on how long it takes to complete tasks such as scanning, sorting, and organizing packages, you may realize that a modern and innovative system like Intra is a worthwhile investment. While the cost may seem more intense upfront, the savings over time will outweigh the initial purchase and installation. Using Intra, campuses can consolidate and streamline many daily tasks that commonly plague mailroom, asset, and central receiving managers. We prioritize user experience through an easy-to-use interface that optimizes all aspects of package tracking and facilities management. The result for your team is a comprehensive solution that takes labor and time-intensive processes and creates unique and effective processes to help your team thrive.   

Step 3: Identify Opportunities for Service Increases

One of the last steps involved in budgeting for a campus logistics platform is identifying opportunities to increase service offerings with the help of a facilities management platform. Your service offerings are likely limited if your campus is currently working with outdated software or even minimal to no software. By investing and budgeting for a campus logistics platform, you can provide extensive opportunities for your university, increasing your sphere of influence amongst your department and the campus. For example, if your university has a dated mailroom located within your student union, you know the drill. Endless lines, angry students and faculty members, misplaced packages, and a team of exhausted employees at the end of the day. But what if you had a logistics platform that integrated with smart lockers and self-service kiosks? What if you had ample storage space for assets that you would then be able to sell for additional revenue? These options and endless more are available through Intra. If you are calculating budgets for a campus logistics platform, consider the revenue generated through streamlined processes and the time, hassle, and manpower saved. All these aspects work together to provide service increases that will set your department and university apart.

Step 4: Continuously Conduct Reporting

The last step in budgeting for a campus logistics platform like Intra is conducting reporting. When bringing up budget increases or changes to your superiors, they almost always want to see concrete data. Conducting reporting prior to investing in a new platform can clearly outline where gaps are in your daily processes and how a new platform is a perfect solution. Additionally, many stakeholders do not realize the tangible numbers of packages or assets that your facility handles, and this can be an eye-opening realization for them. For example, suppose your department handles over 60,000 packages per year with a relatively high percentage lost and no storage space. In that case, you can justify why this has resulted in stagnation for your department. Since the primary goal of universities is to continue to expand, a need for updated software to handle these changes is a must. 

Invest in the Best with Intra EDU by SCLogic

When it comes to facilities management platforms, not all software is the same. At SCLogic, we’ve spent over a quarter-century learning, testing, and perfecting our product and service offerings so that your team is equipped with the best in the business. If you are in the process of budgeting for a new or improved facilities management platform, we have you covered. We understand that this process can often feel complex and overwhelming, which is why our team will be here through every step of the implementation process. To learn more, email [email protected], and if you’re ready to take your university to the next level, schedule a demo with us today.