Parts / Assembly Inventory tracking

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ApprenticeWizard
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:22 pm

Parts / Assembly Inventory tracking

Post by ApprenticeWizard »

Greetings,

This looks like it has been asked a few times, but never really answered. Can I put this to Adafruit directly, then?

Adafruit, what software / combo of software do you use to track, kit, and/or re-order components? Does it track inventory? Do you forecast with it?

(anyone else that wants to tell what they use once you're beyond spreadsheets, I'd also like to hear)


Thanks,

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george_graves
 
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:10 am

Re: Parts / Assembly Inventory tracking

Post by george_graves »

That's an interesting question. As a "small" kit builder, I was once interested in this too. I found my problem wasn't big enough to warrant a real software solution. Rather, the solution was to keep more parts on hand then I needed. For example, one kit I build, takes a 63 resistors. That's a lot of resistors in one product (it's a resistor substitution box). OS ordering 1000's of them was a no-brainer.

To make a long story short, it wasn't worth my time to track the inventory. Insead, I spent the "human hours worth of time" to order 1000's of parts that would last months.

But to your point. I do know that Adafuit does use some predictive order modeling software. PT and Limor have talked about it. I don't think it's out in the public. My best guess is that it's tracking orders, and more of a "P" of a PID type loop. that would be a great question to ask on "Ask an Engineer" - It's always fun to pick PT's brain on subjects of business.

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