Will Boyle

Inventory & Equipment Management System

Project Type: Power Platform Solution
Tools: Power Apps (Canvas), SharePoint Online, Power Automate, Power BI
Status: Phase 1–3 Implemented

Project Overview

This project is a faculty-wide inventory, equipment booking, and analytics system built for the UNB Faculty of Kinesiology. The solution replaces multiple disconnected lab spreadsheets with a centralized, role-based platform that supports inventory tracking, equipment loan requests, administrative approvals, and data-driven insights.

The system was designed and implemented in three phases, each building on the same shared data foundation to ensure scalability and long-term maintainability .

Phase 1 — Inventory Management System

Phase 1 focused on establishing a single source of truth for inventory data across all teaching and research labs (CELLAB, PEADS, OPL, HPL, VR, and Teaching).

Key Capabilities

  • Centralized SharePoint-based inventory database supporting up to 10,000 items
  • Standardized tracking of:
    • Equipment, small tools, and consumables
    • Cost, count, required quantity, status, classification, location, and metadata
  • Role-based access control
    • Admin: full access, item creation/deletion, approvals
    • Lab Users: limited to their assigned lab, can update stock counts
    • Generic Users: view-only access
  • Automated alerts
    • Email notifications when item count falls below required levels
    • Admin approval required for inventory modifications

Outcome

Phase 1 eliminated fragmented spreadsheets, improved data consistency, and introduced governance around inventory changes and access control.

Phase 2 — Equipment Loan Management & Auditing

Phase 2 expanded the system to include equipment loan workflows and audit logging, allowing users to request access to equipment while maintaining centralized administrative oversight, and enabling the admin to get custom audit logs.

Key Capabilities

  • Loan Equipment interface
    • Users submit a loan using a Microsoft Form
    • Users can select multiple items and specify a check-out date
  • Request review workflow
    • Users submit loan or booking requests via Microsoft Forms
    • Item status automatically updated to Pending
    • Power Automate sends detailed request notifications to the Admin
  • Admin approval process
    • Admin reviews requests in a dedicated management screen
    • Approval or denial triggers automated confirmation emails
    • Approved items prepared for release at the scheduled time
  • Audit Logging
    • Changes to items in the inventory tracker would be logged into a Audit Log list via Power Automate
    • After every 3 months, a Power Automate flow would run to export the Audit Log to a CSV, save it in SharePoint, and email it to the admin
      • After this, the list would be cleared

Outcome

Phase 2 introduced structured, auditable equipment access while reducing manual coordination between users and lab technologists.

Phase 3 — Inventory Analytics Dashboard (Power BI)

Phase 3 delivered a Power BI dashboard that provides high-level visibility into inventory health, usage risks, and cost distribution across labs.

Dashboard Metrics

  • Total number of inventory items
  • Total cost of all items
  • Number of tools below required stock
  • Number of consumables below required stock
  • Number of overdue items

Visualizations

  • Pie chart: Total cost by lab
  • Pie chart: Number of items per lab
  • Table: Items overdue
  • Table: Items by status (Available, On-loan, Lost, Legacy, etc.)
  • Lab slicer for dynamic filtering across all visuals

Outcome

The dashboard enables administrators to quickly identify inventory risks, cost concentrations, and lab-level trends, supporting better planning and decision-making.

Overall Impact

  • Centralized inventory and equipment data across multiple labs
  • Reduced manual tracking and approval overhead
  • Improved accountability through structured workflows
  • Enabled data-driven insights through integrated analytics
  • Created a scalable foundation for future enhancements

Skills Demonstrated

  • Power Apps (Canvas App UX, forms, galleries, role-based logic)
  • SharePoint data modeling & scalability considerations
  • Power Automate (approval workflows, notifications, status updates)
  • Power BI (measures, dashboards, filtering, operational reporting)
  • Real-world requirements analysis
  • Multi-phase solution architecture