Hey guys,
In the past year, my team had quite a few issues with inventory. Either not being able to find parts/tools efficiently or simply running out. Currently, we don’t have an extensive inventory system in place, just an order form that is filled out by a director when something’s noticeably running out or direly needed.
Recently, I’ve started looking into database software and inventory tracking systems. One system that interested me was RFID tracking. This is normally used in bigger applications and I’m not sure if they can be applied to our single workspace robotics teams. Is this worth it? Any thoughts?
Tags arent free, and take up space.
Bar codes are a lot cheaper to implement.
We are using RFID for a work application where we take 10 samples (that look identical) at once.
A good parts management system will give you some very good, actionable information. However, it will also push overhead onto the work of each individual on your team. A tradeoff, like anything else in engineering.
The question ultimately is… is the system going to be better than one smart person spending time reviewing inventory and re-ordering as needed? If yes, it’s worth it.
In my experience, as a rule of thumb, that number is right around the ~50 person mark. If more than 50 people are consuming parts, you might want to have a standardized process for inventory tracking and reordering. Less than 50 people taking parts, you’re better just assigning someone the responsibility of checking parts bins and asking around every few meetings, and clicking the amazon order button when things get low.
CheesyParts is a solid system you might want to take a look at to see what level of overhead you might incur to get the “when to reorder” information you desire.
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