How to [over] organize electronics storage…
The files to replicate these labels are on GitHub
At research lab that I work in, the electronics bins always seem to end up out of stock and disorganized. Of course this comes with the research landscape where most of the lab members will spend a few minutes soldering a small circuit board once a month. For them, the inconvenience of regular restocking vastly outstrips the inconvenience of having to order two out of stock parts on DigiKey for their project.
However, for someone who spends more time working on electronics projects that are more complex and require more parts I’d prefer it to be stocked up. So when Jean-michel decided to stock most of the FabLab electronics inventory I decided we needed a new system that would make it easy for me and my colleges to keep standard items stocked.
The solution
At most labs/makerspaces I’ve visited, the “best practice” is to cut the vendor labels off of the part bags and tape or slide them into the drawers. I’ve come to dislike this approach for a few basic reasons:
- Different vendors have different shaped labels with different information on various pages
- Using the bags as labels doesn’t help with stock keeping (No digital records except order forms)
- The data from the orders is already digital on the FabLab or research lab inventory
- Cutting and gluing is time consuming and sucks
While some products have looked into addressing these issues, I figured that a better labeling system was probably all that was needed.
I ordered some Avery 5520 weatherproof labels and began experimenting. I figured I was going to have to write a LaTeX template to even test the labels. However, unlike the Avery tool I tried to use half a decade ago, the new web app worked. Avery’s tool supported CSV import and Mail Merge along with QR Code generation from the CSV.
I initially flirted with the idea of some enterprise grade inventory web app that integrated with my ordering Chrome extension. However, after discussing the system with my colleagues I quickly scaled back to something more resonable.
My first two iterations had the QR Code act as a full replacement of the label, encoding all of the label data into the barcode as text. After an embarrassingly long amount of time, I realized that no one would ever be bothered to scan the barcode if they could read the damn label! One of my labmates suggested I link to the datasheets which was a great idea except I’m unaware of any central repository for all electronics datasheets. Finally, it dawned on me to include the vendor’s URL with the SKU prefilled in. This allowed anyone to scan the barcodes and be brought the the vendors page with datasheets and all!
Once I got the labels fitting the way I wanted, I printed them out on the laser printer and stuck them onto bin cabinets. I then sat down for a hour and a half and sorted all the parts into each drawer.
The Result
Future iterations
Even though I was impressed with Avery’s tool I am working on a more flexible LaTeX file that can be used to generate the labels programatically. When I get around to documenting the process, I’ll push it to the GitHub Repo.
Finally, I might install a computer next to the electronics benches to enable scanning and viewing of the datasheets while working.
