u/Direct-Cut777

At what point did spreadsheets stop working for your component inventory?

I am curious how people here manage things like:

• SMD reels
• resistor and capacitor drawers
• loose ICs
• connectors
• prototype parts
• duplicate components
• low stock tracking

Do you use spreadsheets, labels only, barcode systems, inventory software, or something custom?

Also interested in:

• how you label drawers, cabinets, and bins,
• how you search for parts quickly,
• and how you keep physical storage synchronized with inventory tracking over time.

I am curious how different engineers, workshops, and small manufacturing teams organize components across drawers, cabinets, and bins.

Some questions I have:

• Do you use spreadsheets or inventory software?
• How do you track quantities?
• How do you label your drawers and storage locations?
• Do you use printed labels, handwritten labels, QR codes, or barcodes?
• How do you search for parts quickly?
• How do you handle low stock alerts?
• Do multiple people access the same inventory?
• What problems or frustrations do you face with your current setup?

I would really like to understand real workflows and pain points people experience when managing hardware inventory and physical storage systems.