Inventory

[alanp]

Is anyone aware of a good database program to keep track of component inventory, meaning various resistors, capacitors, jacks, etc etc etc?

Spreadsheets are not a clean and elegant solution, to my mind 

[nzCdog]

Parts drawers/partitioned containers is the way I reckon.  Sort em once, label clearly and you can always see how much you have of what.

[gtr2]

I do the same as Corey.

I have a revolving tally.  When I'm building, if I see something low I add it to the running list and place an order once it get's big enough.

The only problems arise when I forget to put away the last order 

Josh

[jkokura]

I have tried multiple solutions.

The problem has always been the time and energy taken to subtract parts as I use them. I build circuits, prototype, and breadboard - all of which means I'm using up parts, removing them from old boards, and putting the back in their drawers eventually. All of that is time consuming, and I have so little time to actually do that work, if I had to spend time counting each and every part I used...

I do keep an inventory spread sheet of somethings, but not resistors and caps, nor transistors or ICs or diodes. I keep a list of my pots, my enclosures, my PCBs and the projects I am in process on.

I also keep a sticky note pad on my work bench. When I open up a drawer and see the amount is low, I consider how often I use something, I then consider writing a note to add it to my 'spreadsheet list' of needed parts.

When that list is long enough, I then go through the projects I'm planning on, get out all the BOMs and start checking that against what I have. If I open up a drawer and there's not enough, it gets added to the list. If I don't have a particular IC or diode or whatever, I order a few of them (or several dozen).

That's what's working for me. A spreadsheet of some stuff, and sticky note pads.

Jacob

[eldanko]

Call me anal... or maybe it's the math major coming out in me...

...but I actually keep a spreadsheet of all parts.  The columns are set up as individual pedals, so I can input the BOM into the spreadsheet and it will automatically subtract those parts from the running totals.  If I build more than one of a given pedal, I just duplicate that column.

Probably not the most efficient way, but it's working!   

[jtn191]

I tried spreadsheets, but it's a pain to update everything when you use it.
Maybe there's some kind of inventory app?

[culturejam]

You should use my system:

• Make a parts order while at work, based on what you recall needing last week, and based on what might be cool to work with at some point in the future
• Don't put the order away when you get it
• Make another parts order, forgetting you have stuff that's not put away.
• Put both orders away finally, realizing you now have several hundred of some part you'll almost certainly only use 3 of.

Repeat! 

[DutchMF]

Call me anal... or maybe it's the math major coming out in me...

...but I actually keep a spreadsheet of all parts.  The columns are set up as individual pedals, so I can input the BOM into the spreadsheet and it will automatically subtract those parts from the running totals.  If I build more than one of a given pedal, I just duplicate that column.

Probably not the most efficient way, but it's working!   

Same here, we should compare spreadsheets some time!! This is one of the reasons I spend to little time actually building pedals, there's to much planning to be done! 

Paul

[eldanko]

Call me anal... or maybe it's the math major coming out in me...

...but I actually keep a spreadsheet of all parts.  The columns are set up as individual pedals, so I can input the BOM into the spreadsheet and it will automatically subtract those parts from the running totals.  If I build more than one of a given pedal, I just duplicate that column.

Probably not the most efficient way, but it's working!   

Same here, we should compare spreadsheets some time!! This is one of the reasons I spend to little time actually building pedals, there's to much planning to be done! 

Paul

You might need a Mac to read it... but here's mine! 

Despite the amount of planning I do, I still end up doing what CJ just described... I'll forget to log new parts into the spreadsheet, and suddenly I end up with 30 5kB pots for no reason.

[CRBMoA]

You should use my system:

• Make a parts order while at work, based on what you recall needing last week, and based on what might be cool to work with at some point in the future
• Don't put the order away when you get it
• Make another parts order, forgetting you have stuff that's not put away.
• Put both orders away finally, realizing you now have several hundred of some part you'll almost certainly only use 3 of.

Repeat! 

CJ taught me a lot of what I know, so it is no surprise we use the same system.

Although, to be honest, as far as managing inventory, I keep everything in clear containers, and when the little bins start looking light, I order 3-4 times as much as I think I will need.

I also keep a clip board on my wall. Whenever I run a particular part down so low that I think I will need to order it, I diligently write down the part value and quantity on the pad on my clipboard.

My clipboard is always at home - I always order parts from the office.

[Jack Deville]

Quickbooks works quite well, if you do your part.

[Om_Audio]

SpiceWorks is a monster network, asset, trouble ticket, etc manager I use in my IT work.
http://www.spiceworks.com/

Some cool things are:
-free
-strong user community
-supports user written plugins
-interaction via emails possible (ie, modifying inventory, opening, modding, closing trouble tickets, etc.)
-etc.

Might be worth looking into. You can also make your own categories and groups and rules that get auto applied. So if you sent an email with a string like "47K -1" or "47K set status -1" or whatever you could modify your inventory. Those examples are pure fiction but in practice it works exactly that way.

C

[alanp]

This is my sheet for my latest batch of builds -- I go through the BOM for each project and list how much I need of what (I sort the resistors by value, count as I go, sort the caps, count...) then I manually count up how much I have in the icecream containers. Not flash, and fails a bit sometimes -- I've got a couple bags of 100K resistors.

[GrindCustoms]

I've also tried many manner of getting this straitght...........but none have worked efficiently...so i end up doing this....

Always have my mini laptop with me with Mouser, Mammoth, Digikey, Banzai and Ebay pages open.....when i build and see something that will be missing in a near future..or that i have an idea for a specific built but don't have the part needed(mostly hardware in that case), i just add the item to one of those forever existing cart.....

Since i've been doing it like that, i've never got short on any parts and it keeps the inventory growing bigger and bigger just like the «Blob»!

[DutchMF]

You might need a Mac to read it... but here's mine! 

Yup, need a Mac to open it, and I don't have access to one.... But I'll take your word for it that it's impressive  I actually shrunk mine down over the weekend, to cut back on the time spent planning, and I think it'll work faster (a little......  )

Paul