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Tips & Tricks in Palats

How to succeed with your inventory!

Palats works equally well whether you´re inventorying furniture or building materials. Depending on the type of product you´re recording, you´ll see specifications with standard response options tailored to that particular product category. This ensures that the information is collected consistently and easily, regardless of who performs the inventory.

Before going out to take an inventory, it´s important to consider what information needs to be collected and for what purpose the inventory is being carried out. For example, if it´s an inventory conducted ahead of an office relocation where the collected data will be handed over to an architect to be used in designing a new space, it´s important to gather measurements and information about the condition of the articles.

There are a few things that are good to keep in mind before you start your inventory. We’ve listed them here to help make the process as smooth and successful as possible!


📍Place items on a floor plan and define zones linked to specific areas

This makes it easier to track where you've inventoried – and to locate the item later in the process. By linking areas such as rooms to the floor plan, you'll get a more detailed overview of where items are located when it’s time to plan a move (if applicable). It also helps you identify the location of a specific room directly on the plan while inventorying.


📸 Take clear photos 

This is the most important step to ensure that the product can be reused easily in the next phase. Be thorough and take several photos that clearly show the model. If the item has a label or marking, it’s helpful to photograph that too. Make sure to also capture any visible damage or deviations.

Things to keep in mind when taking photos:

  • Make sure the article  is complete and clean
  • Clean if necessary
  • Check functionality and safety 
  • Take detailed photos of the article from multiple angles, tips to take the photos against a neutral background
  • Ensure the photos are sharp and clear
  • Assess the condition of the article in a clear and honset way. It can be helpful to establish internal guidelines for condition assessment 
  • In case of damage or markings : document it with both additional photos and a short comment describing the issue

🔗Label with QR code

This step isn’t always required, but it has three key benefits:

  1. You can immediately see which article have already been inventoried (as it has a QR code), which is helpful if furniture has been moved for example.

  2. It makes it easier to update information about the article later on, for example when the article should be moved from one Location to another.

  3. It ensures the correct item is retrieved – especially useful if your organisation uses a reuse hub or marketplace.

Things to keep in mind when using QR codes:

  • Place the codes consistently on each furniture category. Examples:
    Desks: Underside of the right corner
    Chairs: Underside of the seat
    Cabinets: Inside of the door, upper right corner

  • Choose a clean and smooth surface for optimal adhesion and durability. Apply QR codes to clean, dry and smooth surfaces. Avoid textured or dirty surfaces.

  • Use the correct type of QR-codes for textiles or soft surfaces. Ase Palats special textile QR-kodes, which are designed for fabric and can bend without being damaged.


💼 Choose the correct category

Avoid selecting generic categories like "Other chair" or "Other door," as these won’t generate any economic or climate savings. Make sure to gather relevant information based on the selected category, and remember to do a condition assessment. This makes it easier in the next step to identify which products should be reused.
If you’re working with a marketplace, it's also important to enter the correct condition so the buyer knows what to expect.


💲Add your own purchase value

Under Item-specific info, there’s a field for purchase price that is pre-filled with a default value. If the category you've selected doesn’t have a default value, or if you know the actual price is different to the suggested one, you can update it for more accurate statistics.


🏳️ Create your models in advance

If you have a standard range of products in your organization, you can preferably create your models before heading out to inventory. In that way, your models will be ready to select from your model library when you're out and about. Learn how to in the section Model Library.

👫If you take inventory together as a team

If several people are doing the inventory at the same time, it can be helpful to divide the work by category. For example, one person takes inventory of all chairs, another one takes all tables etc. This avoids duplicate entries and also makes it easier to recognize your items in the model library.

Some people prefer working in pairs during inventory – with one person measuring while the other enters data into the app.

📱Good things to bring along

Examples of useful equipment to bring with you:

  • Laser measurer

  • Folding ruler

  • Phone charger

  • Flashlight

Good luck with your inventory in Palats! 🏰

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