Without clear allocation, it remains unclear which location incurs which costs. Cost centers create transparency but should be designed simply enough to be consistently used in everyday operations.

Which data is helpful?

• Location or facility
• Department or cost center
• Item group
• Order value and number of orders
• Shipping and ancillary costs
• Share outside of the core assortment

Fairly compare locations

Absolute costs alone are not enough. Meaningful metrics per employee, workstation, resident, student, patient, or order are useful – depending on the respective operation.

Typical anomalies

Many small orders, high shipping costs, widely varying item prices, or numerous similar product variants indicate optimization potential.

From report to improvement

Evaluations should trigger concrete measures: consolidate orders, adjust the core assortment, change approval limits, or improve minimum stock levels.

You can find basics and organizational models on the page Organizing office supplies centrally for multiple locations.