Parts Inventory System

Is anyone aware of a free parts inventory management system? It'd be nice to be able to list all the resistors and other parts I have, categorize them, and view them whenever I need to. Then I can keep them all sorted and look up a part instead of buying it again.

I've looked around and not found anything - I can write a small little program if I need to, but I'd rather just download one.

Thanks!

Edit: This could be web-based (PHP/SQL) or Windows based.

Don't know about free, but Parts & Vendors is a terrific system and well worth the modest price. If it does the job and has the support you need it's hard to argue with the price.

It is not for everyone but since you know how to program you could use my system. I have a mysql database. One table for each major catagory. Because I am lazy I use a gp query browser to searh and modify the database. Powerful and free but you do not go down that road if you are not into database.

This is something I'm also trying to set up for myself, and I think we have the same basic ideas...

• Being able to "check in" new parts that we buy
• Being able to "check out" parts that are in use, or destroyed
• Being able to see the amount of parts in stock
• Being given a part location
• Having a parts search

Personally, I'm going to go the VB.2005 and SQL route. But I'm still in the tutorials if you know what I mean.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Parts & Vendors is a bit too involved and too much. I could use a database but I'd like an actual app.

I just went ahead and started my own to see if I could get anywhere with it. I'm writing it in Java for cross-platform usability. Here's a screen shot of how I've got it set up.

Our tech uses a spreadsheet that works well for me. A "sheet" for each type: (resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, inductors, etc). Columns are (house part no, vendor pn, description, reel, cabinet, lab, approx. quantity, comments).

We sort by whatever is important and select what we need.

I'm starting to use my own version at home. Great thing is if I consolidate boxes 8A and 8B into box 8A, I just sort that column, and replace all 8B's with 8A. I have a disgusting amount of old electronic junk.

mneary said:

Our tech uses a spreadsheet that works well for me. A "sheet" for each type: (resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, inductors, etc). Columns are (house part no, vendor pn, description, reel, cabinet, lab, approx. quantity, comments).

We sort by whatever is important and select what we need.

I'm starting to use my own version at home. Great thing is if I consolidate boxes 8A and 8B into box 8A, I just sort that column, and replace all 8B's with 8A. I have a disgusting amount of old electronic junk.

Click to expand...

I'm using an Excel spreadsheet in almost exactly the same way as Mneary describes, and it works great for me. (especially since I use Excel at work and it also came on my home PC, so nothing extra to buy or learn )

The entries can be as elaborate or simple as needed. I find a description column very useful when it comes to both discreet and IC semiconductors. That way I can tell right-a-way if a part I have, would make a good substitution for another part I don't have.

Another VERY USEFUL column is for data sheets. It's very simple to hyperlink them, either saved on the hard drive or from on-line. Anytime a data sheet is needed, it's only a mouse click away!

When I place an on-line order for parts, I copy and paste them into the spreadsheet, and then highlight their cells with another color so I know they're on order.

If you include price/vendor info, it also makes it easy to compare prices with different vendors.

I also have a "wish list" page for stuff I'm looking for.

Brian218 said:

I'm using an Excel spreadsheet in almost exactly the same way as Mneary describes, and it works great for me. (especially since I use Excel at work and it also came on my home PC, so nothing extra to buy or learn )

The entries can be as elaborate or simple as needed. I find a description column very useful when it comes to both discreet and IC semiconductors. That way I can tell right-a-way if a part I have, would make a good substitution for another part I don't have.

Another VERY USEFUL column is for data sheets. It's very simple to hyperlink them, either saved on the hard drive or from on-line. Anytime a data sheet is needed, it's only a mouse click away!

When I place an on-line order for parts, I copy and paste them into the spreadsheet, and then highlight their cells with another color so I know they're on order.

If you include price/vendor info, it also makes it easy to compare prices with different vendors.

I also have a "wish list" page for stuff I'm looking for.

Click to expand...

I second what Brian218 has to say. I've been in the same job since 1991. In all that time we created and expanded on an Excel spreadsheet for parts. It has slowly grown to include primary and secondary parts//manufactureres//suppliers. It is basically a flat data base. With careful layout and clever macros you can generate complete kitlists for every board you make. After pulling kit parts, I have a SHORTS column with the quantities of missing parts based on the total needed minus what I pulled. Using the Autofilter feature allows me to create a SHORTS list containing only the shorted parts. This data is then copied and pasted into an order sheet for DigiKey (or where ever). Excel is an excellent spreadsheet program, it is a staple at work. Try looking online (Ebay?) for discounted Excel packages. If this doesn't do it for you, think of using one of the open source office packages, like the one at https://www.openoffice.org/.

Goodluck with your sheet!
kenjj

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've got Excel, so no worries there. I'll keep working on my application (will post an update when I have a significant amount done). It's a good review of my Java skills anyways. If it falls through, I'll go with Excel.

I could even write the program to read in .csv files if they were formatted right.

One more thing about Excel

I have a number of part drawers for components. I print labels for each drawer by simply printing the appropriate sheet, cutting out the description with a pair of scissors and taping it to the drawer with scotch tape.


I haven't tried it yet, but you could also import and print the schematic symbol, or even the pin layout of ICs (why didn't I think of this earlier???), and incorporating into the label.

Here's kind of concept form for the one I'm trying to put together. Basically you search by characteristics or by keywords. If anything comes up, you get an image preview, detailed description, and the amount inventory. It would also be helpful to come up with a location cataloging system that tells where the part is on a Warehouse/Section/Cabinet/Bin basis.

I print labels for each drawer.......

Click to expand...

Awesome! Most of my stuff is in those 20-gallon plastic storage boxes (197 of them). Plenty of room to post an individual inventory on each box!

[edit] Do I really have 4000 gallons of electronic junk? [/edit]

Brian218 said:

One more thing about Excel

I have a number of part drawers for components. I print labels for each drawer by simply printing the appropriate sheet, cutting out the description with a pair of scissors and taping it to the drawer with scotch tape.

Click to expand...

That may sound fun but it can run into work.

This is how I deal with storing parts.
Cabinets are name as C1, C2, C3. Boxes as B1, B2.
The location which is the 4th drawer in the 2nd row of cabinet 4 is C4-B4.

The upside is you never have to make or change labels other then the cabinet or box label. The down side is if you can not recall where something is you need to consult the inventory. In a short while you will learn where common parts are. Not a real problem.

What is good about this is you can move parts around without changing labels. You just change the location of the parts in the database with a query that says find all the parts in location X and change their location to Y. I think someone else touched on this.

I do not keep resistors in the database. They are used in such quantity that it is a pain to keep the database up to date. I keep 1/4 and 1/8 watt resistors in a stack of compartmentalized trays. Each tray is a decade. Each tray has identical resistor values in each location execpt for the multipler. If I notice I am getting short I add it to the next order.

Capacitors are in inventory because there are so many different types. Not nearly so generic as resistors.

I put the .jar file for my program up if anyone's interested. It's just a few basic display options for now, but I plan on moving forward with this. Just unzip the file and double click the .jar file. There are some .txt files the program uses as it's "database".

Yeah, even with resistors though, you've got metal film, wire-wound, foil, and dozens of surface mount packages, and so many wattage and thermal possibilities. I think it would be time-effective to maybe track them by type.

One thing to add: since it looks like Excel is so popular, it would be pretty cool to have a program that also helps migrate from Excel to a database. Or even the reverse.

Right, and it looks like your idea for a program would handle that. However, I'm more interested in just knowing if I've got a certain part or not. I can add filters or sort-by options later if I need to.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions guys.

Please do not think that I feel you need to do it my way. This is much longer then I intended. Also I am not an EE so I do not have as wide an assortment as you will. But I think the problem is the same. Take it for what it is worth.

DigiTan said:

Yeah, even with resistors though, you've got metal film, wire-wound, foil, and dozens of surface mount packages, and so many wattage and thermal possibilities. I think it would be time-effective to maybe track them by type.

Click to expand...

It does expect in the case where you have a full set of anything.

I use three types of storage. The first one is for more or less random items. I may keep items of the same general type together in a single cabinet but make no attempt to order them by value, except in the data base. Items in this class include transistors, all ICs, and connectors. All my 16F PICs live in one drawer and the 18F in another. Discrete leds have their own drawer. Bun none have or need labels. If you use them often you know where they are. If not it is faster to find an item by looking in the database. When you use an item you need to update the quantity in the database to there is no down side in using the database to find the item. Labels while nice looking are not needed.

The second class is where items have an order but come in various sizes and shapes. These I keep in a cabinet in order. Electrolytic caps are a good example. Each cap is in the database with all its parameters. They are in sequential order within the drawers. One drawer may contain several values, or a single value may span several drawers. Each zip lock contains a single item from the database. So the database will get me to the right drawer but I may have to dump it to find the zip-lock with the part I want. Most parts drawers are small with only a few ziplocks.

The last class of storage is where I have a complete set of anything. Resistors are a good example of that. Because there is a method to how resistors are sized (ohms) you can group them by decade and quickly locate any value within a decade. For my through hole parts I have a set of trays. The 1, 10, 100, 1K etc, resistors are all in the same spot but in different trays. The trays are larger then they could be (anti-static off assembly line) so I can keep mixed tolerances and wattages. Mixture of loose, tape, and bagged resistors live in the same compartment but it is quite fast. My one and set of surface mount resistors are keep in 6 smaller single compartment trays. Each tray contains a decade. Each value is in a zip lock bag.

I used to use divided drawers but switched to zip lock bags. The bags are much easier to sort after a spill.