With more than 3.2 million food boxes delivered, in which each box equals 20 meals, and more than 1 million meals prepared, The Salvation Army has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with its usual herculean efforts. In addition to providing more than 1.5 million nights of shelter and caring for the emotional and spiritual needs of more than 813400 people, the Salvation Army continues to be a vital support system for people during crises.
Unsurprisingly, the increased demand has challenged the organization to level up its standard operating procedures (SOPs). In this article, we’ll discuss how the non-profit is streamlining operations with MaintainX’s connected workforce software. If you run a non-profit, the platform may work for you too.
The Salvation Army: “Doing the Most Good“
The essential services—homeless shelters, food pantries, disaster relief, veteran’s services, and others—that The Salvation Army provides year-round require tremendous leadership, organized infrastructure, and efficient procurement and outreach methods.
The Salvation Army has appropriately named its Website, “Doing The Most Good.” The motto represents:
- Assessing the needs of each community it serves,
- Building programs designed to offer immediate relief,
- Investing in the local communities, and
- Responding nationally to Coronavirus relief efforts.
“We have been collecting and giving out items for a few months now,” says Jacob Heiser, organizational operations manager in Rockford, Illinois. “We also are doing pop-up food markets every other week now.”
Local program divisions across the country continue to work closely with area government and health experts—including FEMA, CDC, DHS, and HHS—to prepare and respond to specific community needs. With the COVID-19 crisis, The Salvation Army has developed new hygiene and cleaning protocols to keep its beneficiaries safe.
According to Jacob Heiser, Operations Manager of The Salvation Army in Rockford, Illinois, “We have been collecting and giving out items for a few months now. We also are doing pop-up food markets every other week now.”
The Salvation Army Finds Support with Connected Workforce Software
Unsurprisingly, with so many Americans seeking help during the pandemic, The Salvation Army’s food pantries are close to capacity. One of the ways Heiser, colleagues, and volunteers have been so successful is by integrating a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), and connected workforce software app, called MaintainX into daily operations.
MaintainX is software that centralizes maintenance information and facilitates maintenance operations. The core of a CMMS is its database. CMMS helps organize work management and physical assets and jobs.
MaintainX Inventory Management
A feature Heiser finds especially useful is MaintainX’s parts inventory module. Initially, the organization signed up to use MaintainX’s freemium plan, which does not include this module. However, when MaintainX realized that Heiser could benefit from the location and quantity details of the inventory module, the company gifted him with a premium membership free of charge.
In collaboration with Heiser, MaintainX drew up Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for The Salvation Army Winnebago County Covid-19 Response Collection Center.
SOPs detailed how volunteers could label donations through the app’s Parts Inventory. The module allowed Heiser and colleagues to label donations by quantity, bar code or scan, type, warehouse location, and even by vendor. This digital inventory of donations provides the organization with real-time data on supplies, where donations were meeting demand, and where donations were still needed.
In warehousing and facilities management, which includes much of the work The Salvation Army does when responding to disasters, modern CMMS combines supply-chain processes and technology to increase efficiency and productivity. Such technology manages efficient warehouse processes by organizing inventory and storage information digitally throughout such large-scale and time-sensitive operations. Salvation Army team members can also chat with one another throughout the day using the connected workforce software platform’s instant messaging feature—this prevents time-sensitive information from falling through the cracks.
Simplifying Supply-Side Inventory Management with MaintainX
Heiser and his team no longer spend precious time digging up paperwork, scanning spreadsheets, and tracking down supplies. MaintainX’s real-time dashboard and asset management system allows volunteers to spend their crucial time and energy taking care of people rather than running around trying to find donations that may or may not be on hand. In this new era of mobile and cloud technologies, more opportunities than ever exist for companies like MaintainX to support world-class non-profit organizations with connected workforce software and supply-side inventory management.
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Caroline Eisner
Caroline Eisner is a writer and editor with experience across the profit and nonprofit sectors, government, education, and financial organizations. She has held leadership positions in K16 institutions and has led large-scale digital projects, interactive websites, and a business writing consultancy.
