A Master Class in Campus Inventory Management

A master class in campus inventory management

August 27, 2026
By the Blue Print Editorial Team

The flagship University of South Carolina campus is a bustling city within a city – 155 buildings and 45,000 students, staff, faculty, and researchers, all situated within the capital city of Columbia.

Day in and day out, a team of 140-plus custodians and tradespeople work around the clock to ensure all those spaces are clean, safe, and reliable. The university takes pride in providing a world-class educational experience. It wouldn’t be possible without a great facilities team behind the scenes.

Their challenges are familiar to anyone working in a campus facilities role.

“Like just about every other university, we have limited resources,” said Daniel Rabon, director of business intelligence. “So we’re always looking for ways to stretch that to enhance our campus environment.”

One way is to make it easier for employees to manage and access the tools, parts, and supplies needed for the job. But that’s no easy task when you’re talking about 12 million square feet of space with constantly changing schedules, events, and traffic patterns.

“Before Fastenal, getting supplies was quite the chore,” recalled Leroy Sims, assistant director of facilities custodial services. “There was a lot of windshield time involved, meaning our supervisors had to be in vehicles hauling stuff from a centralized warehouse to buildings all over the campus. So, one of the biggest challenges was being able to keep supervisors in their space to train and clean, rather than out chasing down supplies.”

Want consistent results? Use consistent products.

According to Sims, another challenge was a lack of standardization, in just about every sense of the word. As he recounts, “It created quite a headache for us in the fact that, number one, there was no accountability for what was being used, when it was being used, and who was using it.”

Yes, they had to standardize the process, but first they needed to standardize the products. “We needed to make sure that across this campus everyone is doing the same things, in the same way, using the same chemicals and supplies,” said Sims.

Why was this a priority? Having a core mix of preferred products would simplify employee training – everyone could be trained the same way to achieve the same high standard. It would lower inventory costs and boost buying power. And if they could standardize with eco-friendly products, it would help protect students, faculty, and the custodial staff, while supporting the university’s sustainability goals.

They knew what they wanted to achieve: access, control, and standardization.

Now they just had to figure out how.

Daniel Rabon | Director of Business Intelligence
"All of our specialized teams have access to the right products, right where they need them."

Moving products to the point of use

They’d been working with Fastenal for several years, so the trust was there. As the administrator responsible for bringing technology into the department, Daniel Rabon knew it was time to take the partnership to another level. The challenge wasn’t to marginally improve what they were already doing. It was to completely rethink their process for parts and supplies.

After a lot of listening, learning, and collaboration, they came up with a vision for change. It centered on three objectives.

Standardize cleaning supplies campus-wide, with a focus on green products.
Offload the daily work of inventory management to an on-campus Fastenal team.
Add technology to improve access to products and understand how inventory is moving in different locations.

A key step was moving products from a centralized warehouse to 85-plus Fastenal vending machines spread across their six campus zones for custodial and maintenance. The machines are stocked with preferred products, and each item has min-max inventory levels, which are continually adjusted based on activity. The Fastenal team is able to monitor the inventory online and plan their schedule to ensure continuous supply.

Around 65 of the machines are stocked with standardized green products for custodial staff, but there are also specialized machines for locksmithing, energy controls, hazmat, and other needs.

“That’s the beauty of the vending solution,” said Rabon. “The machines are customized for the staff and trades we want to serve. So, for example, a maintenance staff member doesn’t have to sift through custodial products. All of our specialized teams have access to the right products, right where they need them.”

To access a machine, a worker scans their employee ID card (tying the product to a person), then they’re prompted to scan a work order (tying the product to a job). Thanks to Fastenal’s reporting tools and a standard data connection with the university’s asset management system (Assetworks Facilities), those two simple steps tell supervisors everything they need to know about the vended product – not only what’s being used, but who’s using it where and why.

What has this meant for the facilities team?

“We're not spending our time driving or stocking or searching for any of those things,” said Leroy Sims. “Having uniform products across this campus means we can ensure that our cleaning standards are being upheld, because we know what our team is cleaning with and how they’re cleaning. And the technology gives us a host of information – what is being used in each building, what it’s costing us to clean that space, changes in traffic. All of that helps us to plan and improve.”

“Buying all of this through Fastenal, a state MRO contractor, saved us cost,” added Daniel Rabon. “We were averaging 8.5 to 9 cents per square foot; now we’re down to 6 cents. So, a tremendous savings not only with our efficiencies across campus, but also actual dollars in our budget.”

That’s the bottom line. But he opted to close with a high-level thought.

“Bringing technology to a department that typically doesn’t have technology is always a good story – Fastenal has done that. We boast as the flagship University of South Carolina campus. Having this partnership with Fastenal helps make that a reality.”

Leroy Sims | Assistant Director of Facilities Custodial Services
"We're not spending our time driving or stocking or searching for any of those things."

Summary

Campus inventory management improves when products are standardized, easily accessible, and tracked at the point of use.
Inventory vending technology increases accountability by linking supplies to specific employees, work orders, and locations.
Real-time inventory visibility helps facilities teams reduce waste, control costs, and make better operational decisions.
Moving products closer to employees reduces travel time, improves efficiency, and allows staff to focus on maintenance and custodial work.
The University of South Carolina reduced costs, improved consistency, and strengthened campus operations through a combination of technology, standardization, and strategic partnership.