How I manage inventory in a busy shop

Organizing your shop isn’t just about where things go. It’s about knowing what you have and what you don’t.

An updated inventory will, in theory, prevent work from screeching to a halt because you’re out of something. Setting up an inventory system may seem daunting at fir…

Read the rest of the story

That's...... a really good idea. 

In reply to BA5 :

I know, right? (Goes back to tossing everything in a big pile on the bench.)

Is this for a home shop?  What inventory are you managing?

I appreciate the concept, but just having a semblance of organization goes a long long LONG way. Perhaps the closest thing I get to an inventory system is labeling the contents of bins, and if I'm being conscientious, marking out whatever I remove from the bin. If only I were more consistent about it. Hell, knowing you have something is only half the battle in a shop where storing and accessing stuff is a huge challenge altogether. I honestly think it would take me longer to inventory and document everything I have than to just dig through the bins and/or just order whatever it is I need.

Shop i worked at had bright pink binder clips on all the shelving. 

As you pull stock from a bin containing non-stock items and notice the bin is almost empty you put a clip on the front of the bin.

Fridays you go around and reorder.

Worked surprisingly well for such a chaotic and disorganized process

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to BA5 :

I know, right? (Goes back to tossing everything in a big pile on the bench.)

But if I have an excel file that tells me what's in the pile, it's properly inventoried.

I watch videos on YouTube from Retropower in the UK, they're a high end restomod shop.  They use a software package specifically designed for shops like theirs, that has multiple functions - it tracks parts and supplies inventory, labor hours, invoices, photos, and more.  They can share progress information with their clients as well.  It's called Global Workshop:  https://www.globalworkshop.com  No idea what it costs, but it looks like it would be a great thing for a restoration or fab shop.

I've had a couple cars restored at different shops, they would send me a weekly update with a brief summary of work that week along with a few photos.  I appreciated being kept in the loop but it was pretty basic, something like the software mentioned above would have been much better.

Mr_Asa said:

Shop i worked at had bright pink binder clips on all the shelving. 

As you pull stock from a bin containing non-stock items and notice the bin is almost empty you put a clip on the front of the bin.

Fridays you go around and reorder.

Worked surprisingly well for such a chaotic and disorganized process

A translation for "kanban" is something like "visual signal card".  The binder clips are the fundamental basic core essence of a kanban system.

Remember that Toyota was developing their system long before computers, and a major factor was that they couldn't keep huge amounts of inventory on hand.

Many of the basic ideas can be scaled down and will work without too much overhead.

When I grab the last roll of paper towels, I toss the plastic wrapper on "the place where grocery lists are made".  That is also kanban.

I can go on a very good rant about cycle counting if y'all want...

Instead of that, I really need to go out to the Gemba.  I mean, garage.

["gemba" means something like "the place where the real work is done (or the value is added)".  The orthodox TPS (Toyota Production System, a.k.a. Lean) saying is "go to the gemba", as a reminder that engineers/management need to GTFO of their office or conference room and go actually see how the workers are doing everything]

BA5 said:

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to BA5 :

I know, right? (Goes back to tossing everything in a big pile on the bench.)

But if I have an excel file that tells me what's in the pile, it's properly inventoried.

See, it works. 

Seriously, the GRM staff shops are big enough to need inventory systems. 

I've been around purchasing and warehousing long enough to have worked with both bin cards and fully automated systems.

The key is simply having a system and using it.

Now as for the article; you know I love GRM but "inventory journey". 

I know I'm old but can we stop with everything being a journey.

I do the opposite, much closer to kanban/lean... When I notice I'm low on, say, brake cleaner, I add it to a list to reorder.  I use Google Keep Notes.  We have multiple lists (grocery store, Costco, hardware store, auto parts store, etc. ) so when you're going somewhere, check the list.  

In reply to Tom1200 :

So you're saying you're done with your journey journey?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Yes, but had you read my book "Lord Of The Piston Rings" you would have known that.

I don't bother to inventory anything.  If its important, I have a place for it, which means its very easy to see if its missing/low.  Its not many items in my shop, so it doesn't require a system any more than my refrigerator does.