Managing our inventory is not an easy task. As the first in the nation non-profit furniture repair bank, there isn’t an existing inventory management system that exactly aligns with our process. When receiving donated items, we need to track more than just what the item is, like “dining chair” or “couch.” Every item we accept has different issues requiring various refinishing processes to bring it back to life. Is it wood? Composite? Stained? Painted? Upholstered? Requires repair first? On top of that, some items we track are individual and some might be a set. Each option added a new element to track, making inventory management a big headache that we had to solve. 

Enter Seattle GiveCamp! This nonprofit organization hosts an annual event each October that brings together technology, marketing, and social media professionals to provide solutions for non-profit organizations. With the help of their talented volunteers, we were able to tackle our inventory management dilemma and come up with a solution that worked for our unique situation. 

The hackathon event took place over one jam-packed weekend beginning on a Friday evening. First, volunteers were recruited to our cause to solve our issue:

• Carmin Atrops - Software Engineer & longstanding volunteer Product Manager 

• Adhaar Gupta - Program Manager at Microsoft

• Ramesh Emarajan - Program Manager at Monolithic Power Systems

• Leo Kukharau - Software Engineer at Microsoft

• Sergii Otryshko - Software Engineer at Retrocasual

• Juan Carlos Toledo - Sr. Supply Chain Manager at Amazon

As our space is essentially a small furniture warehouse, Juan’s expertise in warehouse management was equally vital to the process as the technical acumen provided by our other team members. Once the team was assembled, brainstorming began on warehouse management, space setup, and the flow of items through the process. Our team of experts helped us prioritize what should be included in our inventory management system while also integrating our current processes.

Our hardworking team devoted their Friday night, entire Saturday, and most of Sunday to our project. We were truly honored to have them donate their time and skill to our organization and were lucky to share many jokes and laughs along the way. The entire experience was so positive and uplifting that it did not even feel like work. Thanks to their hard work, skill, and expertise the Furniture Repair Bank now has a solution to our inventory management puzzle. 

Our new system will now track each donated piece of furniture we receive from the initial donation request form, through each step of the refurbishment process, and finally to a request from one of our partner agencies to support a family. This streamlined process not only tracks the lifecycle of each item within our space but also helps us tell the story of the circularity of furniture and the impact our work has on those we help.

We are so incredibly appreciative of the Seattle GiveCamp organization and the creative, hardworking team of volunteers who gave up their weekend in support of our cause. We could not achieve our goals and provide these services to our community without all of our mighty and generous volunteers!

For those interested in joining our mighty volunteer team either as an individual, group, or for team-building events, please visit our volunteer page or reach out to xenia@zerowastewashington.org.

See you at Furniture Repair Bank!

Follow us!

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date!