# Creating an inventory program...



## webmonk

Hi folks,

I'm new to turning (less than a year with a few hundred pens turned and a handful of bowls, etc) but what I'm running into already is a problem keeping track of the kits, blanks, etc that I have here in the shop. I'm a web developer/programmer by trade, so my solution to most problems I come across is to let the computer deal with it and I don't see why this should be any different.

As I'm sitting here in the planning stage I started thinking that others are probably having the same problem I am, but since you guys have WAY more experience than I, you'd know what kind of tools would actually make things better versus me just guessing at it and changing the system later. So if you're interested, here's the chance! Here are some of my initial thoughts just to get the idea rolling. Please add your own and/or ask questions!

  Track number kits, blanks, bushings, drill bits.
  Include attributes such as finish type, blank measurements, bushing diameters.

These two things alone would allow for some interesting tools. For instance, I'm a big fan of platinum finishes with very dark woods. I could simply ask the system what's avaiable and get a list of all possible combinations that fit that criteria. Or if you've got turner's block why not let the system randomly generate selections of kits and materials that it's sure you have the materials for and (if you want to go through with measuring blanks) that the blanks are actually the right size for the kits.

The system could also generate warnings for when you're getting low on certain supplies/kits/etc. And if it's doing that, why not have it check the various online shops and find the best deal on the combination of stuff you need to order?

Anyway, that's enough to get started with I think. All ideas/suggestions welcomed!


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## comben001

Do it and they will come...


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## melogic

Webmonk, first of all welcome to the IAP.
I have been trying out different ideas and playing around with excel and other programs for a while trying to come up with an inventory program. I was looking at something that I could put all of my wood inventory in with all of my different pen kit inventories in and then when I want to create a pen, take a pen kit and a piece of wood and have the program delete 1 pen kit from inventory and 1 wood blank from inventory and create an inventory number for the new completed pen. Each wood and pen kit specified by the type of wood and pen kit. For example: let's say I have 10 Europen TN pens in inventory and 100 pieces of Cocobolo wood. I select 1 Euro Tn and 1 piece of Cocobolo and it gives me a new inventory number of ETN 101 and deletes 1 Euro from inventory along with 1 piece of cocobolo.


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## OKLAHOMAN

If I ever got that organized and my wife found out how much inventory (dollars) I had invested (she knows how to work my computer) well I think you get the picture! That being said most of us either want a Web-Site or have one and we might have questions for you on that front. I do agree that when I get out to the shop and dig around for a certian kit or blank it would be nice to know if I still have it but the time to list these in a program would take the fun of the hunt away and turing time as well. Just IMHO. By the way welcome to the addiction, hope you know this was mostley tongue in cheek


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## alamocdc

I simply use Excel w/multiple worksheets for the things I need to track. For example, I have a tab for sales, one for current inventory, one for pen pricing, etc. It's still a work in progress, but it has served me quite well. I know there are inventory programs that can be purchased, but I'm cheap.[]


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## rpasto92

I'll add to melogic's wishlist and say why not also have the software spit out a printed information sheet for pen ETN 101 that tells about the wood, what kind of plating is used, how to care for it and what refills it takes.  Also, if this is an ordered pen rather than one you will be adding to your inventory, a place to enter who this pen is for, payment status, shipping info, ect. (pretty much a work order)...by doing this you can save customer information in another table for future orders and order history in yet another table so when they contact a year from now and forget all their specifics you can pull it up and say "Sure I remember the titanium Europen I made for you last year from cocobolo".  Since it's a wishlist, if it's not a pre ordered pen but one you are adding to inventory, how about printing a barcode on the info sheet so you can take this software on the road with you to craft shows and scan in your sales?  Assign values to everything and now you can add a small accounting package to track your cost of goods sold, revenue, sales tax collected, ect.

So Webmonk, are you done yet?  Let me know if you need a beta tester...I love finding flaws in software[]

Ryan P^2
http://www.writeturnpens.com

P.S.  typing my URL made me remember another thing...can this software help keep my webpage up to date with what is currently available in my inventory.  Ok...that's all for now.


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## rpasto92

Billy B., sounds like we have been sharing the same spreadsheet all this time and didn't know it.





> _Originally posted by alamocdc_
> <br />I simply use Excel w/multiple worksheets for the things I need to track. For example, I have a tab for sales, one for current inventory, one for pen pricing, etc. It's still a work in progress, but it has served me quite well. I know there are inventory programs that can be purchased, but I'm cheap.[]


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## JimQ

I run 3 Excel spreadsheets.  One with pen kit inventory with a seperate page for each style of pen, one with bought pen blanks with a page for wood and a seperate page for each type of plastic or specialty like Dymondwood and one with multiple pages for pens.  

Page 1 is ordered & started pens, page 2 is completed pens that are available to sell, page 3 is completed ordered pens ready to deliver, and page 4 is sold pens.  I just cut and paste to transfer from one page to the next.  Each pen is assigned a number on the first page.  I also use barbell ring tags to label each pen with it's number and price.

JimQ


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## huntersilver

Welcome!

I keep all of my work in progress in Excel.  

For inventory and cost of goods sold I use
a product called PeachTree, works very nice.

Sounds like you want a Materials Requirement System,
for me I am not there yet[]


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## Jim15

Welcome Webmonk.I think a inventory program would be great.


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## JimGo

Welcome!  I use QuickBooks - certain versions can do a lot of whatyou want.


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## RonSchmitt

Welcome Webmonk,
Add me to your list of people knockin' at your door for the finished program!


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## webmonk

Let me say Wow! I wasn't expecting nearly this much input so fast! Thanks! Now to respond:

I had been thinking of ways to turn it into a completed inventory tracking system as well. Here we'd have pictures, descriptions, ad copy, care info, etc. All the stuff you'd need to dynamically generate a sales catalog, create an update for your website, or print out the info sheet for the customer as suggested. It's not so different from tracking materials so I can certainly see that happening soon after the initial phase.

I love the idea of keeping sales records and customer info too. I'm just now starting to sell my pens so feedback on exactly what we should track here is greatly appreciated. BTW, the barcode idea is wonderful!

Great suggestions folks! I'm going to start charting this stuff out and hopefully begin coding this week. I'll let you know as soon as I need some Alpha testers. 

@OKLAHOMAN - I'm happy to help with website questions. Feel free to email them (jon@centralridge.com) or put them somewhere on the forum here and point me to em. If you're looking for an easy way to show off pictures I use Coppermine (my site: www.jonbeard.com/pens ) though I see you folks already have an online gallery here, but this would be good for someone who wants a more exclusive showing I guess. If you're looking for an easy solution for selling online, I'd suggest OSCommerce (or one of the spin-offs. www.oscommerce.com is the site, and while it's more for developers, there's an area with live examples of people using it in their own store). Both are free to install and use. The only cost would be in having someone configure them for you and then to host it. 

Thanks again folks!
Jon


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## Dario

Here's wishing you luck!!!

I too am keeping mine organized at helps me keep track sufficiently...for now.

All I did and on an excel workshet is my pricing...again for now.

I wish I reach that point that I am producing enough pen that I will need such a program to keep track (not because of mental failure I hope).


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## wpenm

Let me add my welcome to IAP Jon. I would be very interested in your finished product. Please remember that some of us are, shall we say a little challenged when it comes to the use of programs like you are talking about so please make it simple to use.[] Oh, and some us are very cheap too![:0]


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## epson

I use Quickbooks Premier edition.  It can track the kits, and can track assembled pens after they are made.  You can assign a cost for the parts and a cost for the finished pen.  It automatically removes the pen kit from inventory and add the assembled pen to inventory.


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## webmonk

@wpenm - Cheap is okay! I've been known to barter from time to time. My bandsaw is a wimp so a pre-cut bowl blank would go a long way with me. 

Jon


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## swiftden

Hello and welcome. sounds like a great idea. i am only just starting in pen turning and buy stuff in so would be great to get something like that before i amass too many supplies to be bothered entering them all.


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## woodmarc

Greeting and welcome fellow Geek.(wood and digital) []
Quickbooks Premiere is a good piece of software for accounting and inventory,  But it does nothing for the web site. 

Now, here is some food for thought WebMonk;  Quickbooks has programming API's that will allow you to access certain stuff for integration.  there is a site called Commercestarterkit.org that has a fully finctional web commercer site, based on asp.net 2.0 and contains all of the programming and API's for linking to paypal and is fully endoresed by them.  Creating a link between the two would save a ton of time in the inventory management, and the links to payment acceptance.  
I just downloaded the demo to quickbooks to see what kind of API's I could use.  Care to start a collaboration.  I appears that we may have a few guinnie pigs who may help with debugging and testing.

BTW, I am a former systems integrator who went to network administration.  Thought the pressure was less.  [}]  The grass is always greener......


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## webmonk

Heya Marc! There are geeks hiding everywhere! 

I'd certainly be interested in exploring the QB avenue since a few people here have mentioned it, but my primary goal is to make this program free to use and as widely available as possible so I think I'm headed down the road of a LAMP-based system with everything accessible online. I really like the idea of a module that would sync your data between this system and QB so if you're interested in working on that segment let's talk!

Network admin is tough! I'm lucky enough to be an e-commerce programmer for an ISP so for the most part I get to schedule the problems for everyone else. 

Anyway, thanks for the interest and input!
(and the geek shall inherit the earth...)


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## kf4knf

Program it!  I will beta test for ya!  HEHE I am in IT with a bit of programing under my belt.  [][]


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## webmonk

Hehe! Well it'll be in Perl and MySQL, so if you have any experience with either of those you might get drafted.


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## melogic

Thanks for taking this on webmonk. I would dearly love to be on your list of testers and I have a couple of bowl blanks and pen blanks I can and will trade. I love the barter system as well.[][][]


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## alamocdc

Add me to the beta testing list, Jon. Best of luck to you on this.


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## webmonk

Okay gents. I'm looking for a handful of ALPHA testers. For those who don't speak geek ALPHA testing is when you're testing a system that's in the extremely early stages of being built. Many of the features don't yet work and there are bugs galore (that could cause data loss), but the nice part is you get the opportunity to really have a say in how things work so when it gets to a stable form it's like it was designed for you. BETA testing is different because you're pounding on a product that we're pretty sure is good to go in the hopes of finding a few of the straggler bugs before things go to the general public.

I'm thinking about 3 or 4 people using it at this point would be about right. Preferred users should be able to use a browser with ease and be full of good ideas about how the system should work. Most of all, the attitude needed is one of building a system, not using one for production. 

If you're interested, email me at jon@centralridge.com with your name and just a little background on your experience with anything pertinent to the project. If you're not part of the first wave of testers, please don't be discouraged. I hope to have everyone a place in here very soon.

Thanks!
Jon


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## thewishman

Wow, when a few skilled people get together, things start to happen quickly! I'll volunteer to be a gamma or delta tester.


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## Draken

Make sure your program can handle photos.  It would be nice to be able to keep inventory of completed pens as well, and once they sell, they can be moved to the "portfolio" to help new customers get a feel for your craftsmanship as well as other materials and platings.

Cheers,
Draken


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## webmonk

Definitely! Great suggestion!

Jon


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## Dario

email sent


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## Dario

How about adding a column for manufacturer/supplier (i.e. Cigar, Euro, slimline, etc. can come from different manufacturers)


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## webmonk

Can do. These would be people like PSI? Who else should be on the main list?

Jon


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## Dario

CSUSA, Berea, and PSI are are the only ones I can think of


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## Dario

Finish can be more.

TN should be broken into 2: Titanium Gold and Black Titanium

Chrome also have regular and black

How about the solid silver?

Rhodium

Satin finish (there are also several colors on these)

etc.


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## Dario

How about adding size column on the blanks?  knowing it will help a lot what kit you can use.

3 tier group should be sufficient like slimline (less than 3/4"), regular (3/4" - 13/16"), Jumbo (7/8" and bigger)


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## webmonk

I'm adding a tool that will let you create your own material to add to the list. Once added, it's available in everyone else's pulldown. Kind of making it a group effort. 

Jon


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## Dario

> _Originally posted by webmonk_
> <br />I'm adding a tool that will let you create your own material to add to the list. Once added, it's available in everyone else's pulldown. Kind of making it a group effort.
> 
> Jon



GREAT!!!

BTW, got this

Software error:
Unable to insert new pen with: INSERT INTO pens
                SET 
                kitname='Jr Gent II',
                finish='Titanium',
                tip=NULL,
                material='wood',
                materialtype='Amboyna',
                userid='4'
                at inv.pl line 433.
For help, please send mail to the webmaster (webmaster@centralridge.net), giving this error message and the time and date of the error.


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## webmonk

So as not to scare off anyone who just wants to talk generally about this idea I'd like to move the TECHNICAL discussions to a new thread I've started: http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16224

The new thread is where actual implementaion and debugging talk should go. Here, we'll stick to ideas, questions, etc.

Thanks!
Jon


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## JimGo

> _Originally posted by webmonk_
> <br />Who else should be on the main list?



Craft Supplies UK
Home-built


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## baldysm

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not opposed to this program in the least.

My question is, how much are the features everyone is talking about really going to be used? Remember, in order for the information coming out of the program to be of value, someone has to consistently enter all the information into it. 

My record keeping is not perfect, but it does fit my needs fairly well. I have a little piece of paper with every kit. I write down the cost ot the kit, the blank, and the finish of the kit. I have a spreadsheet that I have all the pens I have made - kit type, where I got the kit, the blank, where I got it, the cost of the pen and my sale price. 

I have little piles of kits on shelves, spread out all over hell, little piles of blanks (spread out all over the place, in drawers, in cabinets, on top of boxes, etc). Under each pile of blanks/kits, there is a piece of paper with what it is, what it costs, and in some cases where I got it. 

You can make the program very complex to do anything you want, but it becomes daunting to put all that information into it. For something as simple as the cost of the pen kit, for example. I get my kits from different sources at times, on sale at times, etc. How to track cost of the pen kits when the prices vary? FIFO? LIFO? Average cost? Weighted average cost?

I spent the time awhile ago to take inventory of all my kits. Printed out all the results and have it on the counter in my shop, totally out of date and useless. Aside from the fact I have too many kits, it's a hassle to try to keep everything up to date, more so than the relatively minor hassle of occasionally ordering something I really dont need or running out of something. If I forget to update the inventory a couple times, then it becomes a liability when I can't rely on it. 

So good idea, been talked about in the past I seem to recall. I would vote for something more simple than something that can handle everything in every way you want, making it a complex beast with many features seldom used. (Like Microsoft's Office products).


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## webmonk

Hi Scott,

Those are all valid points. The main reason I'm doing it is because there's atleast one person who is going to use it - me.  But more to your point, it's easier to make one big monster than it is to make 10 little ones because it's a building block approach. If you've got a system that tracks your kits, it's easy to add functionality to make it track blanks too. If you're tracking those it's easy enough to do something else with that data and so on and so on.

That said, the other thing I want to do is make it so that you can more or less just use the parts you find useful. If you only want to use the pen tracking/order history functionality and could care less about your inventory you need only enter the pens you've made and you're there. If you need help organizing the supplies but already have a solution for tracking the finished product, you can do that too. Or, if you're like me and need both, then you're still good to go. I'm not a fan of busywork.

And no, I'm not taking it the wrong way. I appreciate any and all feedback. Believe me, there have been plenty of times in my life where someone should have said, "Snap out of it boy! You're on a fool's errand!" Though, I probably would have gone ahead and done it anyway... 

Jon


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## Daniel

Webmonk,
 here is my present situation. I sell pretty much anythign from P.S.I. and CSUSA. Customers are able to order the kit they like in a selection of materials limited by me. 
as sales have progressed my inventory has grown in a nonsensical manor determined by what my customers have ordered.
my needs are to be able to kep track of what I have on hand as opposed to what I will have to order. both in pen kits and blanks. being able to inter a pen that was just ordered and havong a program tell me if I should have it would be my biggest interest.
care sheets and info sheets that I could send along with the pen would be nice. but inventory period is my primary concern.
cost of inventory would be a big second. the rest of the frills are just that frills. they woudl be nice but not a necesity. thanks for putting your time to this.


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## webmonk

Let me make sure I have this right... You want to enter a completed pen you have an order for (for example, Platinum Slimline Twist Cocabola). The program would then say something like "You have 10 Platinum Slimline Twists in stock, but you're out of Cocabola." And looking more at the dynamic view, it would give you advanced notice saying "You're down to 3 cocabola blanks. Time to re-order!" 

With the base inventory system as it is, I'm pretty sure I could add that functionality. I'll keep it in mind when the time comes.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Jon


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## webmonk

Hey folks!

We're getting closer - close enough to need a name! Any suggestions for what you'd call such a program?

Thanks for the support!
Jon


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## baldysm

It would be a good idea to add functionality that allows you to keep track of where your inventory is. I have several consignment agreements with retailers. As inventory moves around, to me, to them, and back and forth, I use a colored background on the spreadsheet to designate where the pen is currently.


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## webmonk

I can certainly see that being useful. Any suggestions on everything you'd need to keep track of to make it useful? Would it be enough to just have a location tag like "Brand X Antique Shop" or would you want to keep more information about each location?

Along those same lines, would anyone have a need to track kits/blanks like that? I don't think it would work for me because my stock is small enough that I have a massive drawer with a pile of kits and a shelf full of blanks. However, folks with thousands of parts may have use for location tracking of specific parts. Just a thought... If anyone actually thinks they'd use that let me know and I'll throw it in.

Jon


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## webmonk

I've gotten some great suggestions on making a "Description/Info Sheet" and need some ideas on the types of things we'll be tracking. 

First, here's the concept: 
You should be able give your customer a printed sheet with information such as a description of the materials and finish used, care/cleaning instructions, getting and changing refills, seller info and thankyous.

What I need is suggestions on what else would be useful to have on a sheet like that.

Thanks!
Jon


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## webmonk

Quick note: The system has moved into open beta - www.penventory.com


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## webmonk

The system now features image support for completed pens by way of external links. I decided an quick and easy solution is to store a URL along with the pen allowing you to link to a gallery image or your online store page for a specific pen or anything else really. I see more advanced features coming for it, but right now I think it's a good solution for the current system.


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## swiftden

I thought this was going to be a program you downloaded. Not one that was part of a web page ?


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## webmonk

Nope. Web applications are much easier to provide to a wide variety of users for much less work. This way, I can write it once and maintain it in one location. A stand-alone program would need to be much larger, infinitely more complicated, and have to be compiled many times in various ways to allow very many people to use it. So now not only can you use it from just about any platform/OS (i'm using Linux this morning) but you get the benefit of sharing the workload with other users.


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## kenwc

Jon,

I'm not sure if this has been brought up yet.  But would it be possible to create a function within the application that would allow a user to extract their inventory data to their local machine either directly into Excel format or into a text delimited file that could be opened with Excel and parsed?


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## webmonk

Certainly. I'll add that to the to-do list.


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## thewishman

What a fun and easy-to-use inventory program! Thank you for the idea and the execution - what an amazing turn-around time!

My wife's company could use your talents, do you consult? Seriously.

Chris


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## webmonk

Thanks for the nice compliment, Chris! I'm glad you like it.

Yes, sir. I'm available for consultation. Feel free to email me at jon@centralridge.com if you'd like to discuss.

If you can think of anything this program could do to make your operation run smoother, just let me know and I'll sneak it in there.


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## Papabear

Jon, just discovered your program and its a heck of a nice start.  Any chance of getting accounting going?  Perhaps paypal invoicing?  Virtuemart integration?


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## Mikey

Wow, thanks for bumping this up. I just created a password and added a few pens. That is really sweet and as long as one inputs the supplies and such when they get them in, the tracking and inventory works pretty cool.[8D]


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## toolcrazy

What a very cool program, I also noticed you wrote it in perl. Why not PHP? [][]I can't say that I would ever use it as I don't have web access in my shop so using your program would be, at the least inconvinent. Especially when my shop is on the other side of my property. I may take your design and recreate it in Access and use my laptop. Well, maybe not. We will see.


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## schaf

Hi Jon,
Just signed on to your peninventory.com and it looks great,I will certainly use it.Thank you.
In the add new pen section,I was looking for a spot to record ,mandrel type ,bush number and drill size. Is this possible at present,or would a new field have to be added.
Regards Terry.


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## schaf

Sorry,I take it all back.I just read the help page.
What a dill I am.
Regards Terry


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## Mikey

Quick question for those using the system.

When entering in your costs, are you adding the retail price of each thing like a kit or blank, or using what you paid? 

For example, if you got in on a CSUSA group buy, are you figureing the actual cost with the 25% discount, or just putting in the published price of a kit? (or blank or whatever)

Do you do the same with blanks?

What do you all do when you get the same kit from different suppliers? Do you just use the most used supplier, or do you create something new with each supplier? (Cigar pens for example)


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## DCBluesman

As a CPA, cost is cost ... what you paid for something or else the fair market value if obtained in trade.  As for inventorying kits like slimlines and cigar pens from different manufacturers, most accountants prefer to see them separated as their may be subtle differences...like if you only by 24k from Woodturningz but buy platinum from Arizona Silhouette.


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## Mikey

> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />As a CPA, cost is cost ... what you paid for something or else the fair market value if obtained in trade. So, You would put the same kit into the system 4 times if you bought for different pricing? (as an example, a Gent kit from CSUSA- Bought for full price on a small order, bought for another price using an e-mail special, and a third or evn fourth from a group buy As for inventorying kits like slimlines and cigar pens from different manufacturers, most accountants prefer to see them separated as their may be subtle differences...like if you only by 24k from Woodturningz but buy platinum from Arizona Silhouette.What I meant by that was if the kits are the same. For example, if I buy a Cigar kit from Berea, it could be the same thing as a Cigar kit from AS or the same kit from WPP with the only difference being price paid and company you bought from. There is no difference in the actual kit itself. IMO, it would be kind of foolish to keep a listing going of 3 cigar pens all being the same. (plus, you would probably have them all in one bin, which would suck when trying to figure out which one you just made into a pen.)


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## DCBluesman

I haven't reviewed the system you are using thoroughly, but most inventory systems I've worked with can be set up for either specific part inventorying (usually for the big stuff like engines for a car repair business) or for average cost inventorying (like the assorted belts, bolts, etc.)  There are other methods which are too numerous and detailed to put on a site like this.  I would tend to use the latter...all of my cigar kits of one plating are in one data element that increments the quantity and price I paid for the items, then decrements by the quantity and average cost when I use an item.  Much like websites, you can make your accounting as simple or as complex as you wish.  I even received an email offerring me a crafters accounting system in the mail a few weeks ago.  The price?  A mere thousand dollars!  It will track everything.  I figure that if I spend all of my pen making time keeping the books, I can just about keep the system current. [8D]


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## American_and_Proud

I was basically wondering the same exact thing myself, I have a very tiny inventory as i'm just starting to collect kits and wood on sale. but I put in the full retail price for eack kit that way i'd know how much the kit would cost me if I had to get that one kit when it was not on sale, or the little program here would get awful confusing, did I give a pen away from things on sale,or parts of it on sale? I just figured adding full retail costs would keep me more stremlined for now. some things I got on sale , most actually, but some I just bought to give it a try, I have only made 9 pens tho so far, waiting on a Beall Buffer to arrive bought used, do I inventory it at the used price or what it would cost me to replace it? To me it would seem logical to add them all at full retail because getting it next time it might not be on sale to replace it, its not like gasoline pricing were if your selling pens that your going to raise or lower prices accordingly on a daily basis? I bought 112 dark walnut pen blanks on ebay, for 20.60 shipped to me,( basically for practice turning , i'm new to turning) do I divide that 20.60 by 112? I left that ones cost blank, but was thinking putting them in at 1.00 each as thats what they would cost to go buy at Rockler or Woodcrafyt on any given day. I'm not a pen Business though so doing it for "BUSINESS" purposes might be totally different for tax reasons? Maybe then you NEED to keep it 100% accurate. I'll watch this thread closely and see what others are doing. 





> _Originally posted by Mikey_
> <br />Quick question for those using the system.
> 
> When entering in your costs, are you adding the retail price of each thing like a kit or blank, or using what you paid?
> 
> For example, if you got in on a CSUSA group buy, are you figureing the actual cost with the 25% discount, or just putting in the published price of a kit? (or blank or whatever)
> 
> Do you do the same with blanks?
> 
> What do you all do when you get the same kit from different suppliers? Do you just use the most used supplier, or do you create something new with each supplier? (Cigar pens for example)


<b></b>


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## Mikey

Lou, may I ask what system you are using that will average the costs paid when you enter more kits? (or are you just using an Excel spreadsheet?)

That would be a great system if it would keep a running total of all costs and average and yet still remove the stuff from inventory and allow yo to only enter a kit once and still make changes. Better yet if it costs less than a grand.[8D]


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## webmonk

Hi Gents! Sorry I haven't replied - apparently something happened to my subscription to this topic so I didn't know anything was going on! 

@Papabear: Thanks! I would love to look into that in the future, but there is yet still quite a bit I want to do focused around inventory tracking.

@toolcrazy: My day job is as a perl programmer, so I wrote it in perl because that's what I'm best at and can tackle large chunks of the system quickly in my spare time. I don't have internet in my shop either (well, technically I have wireless in there but I wouldn't want to expose my laptop to that kind of dust! ) but so far I haven't really found it to be a problem. I do inventory check-in and finished pen entry in my office where I do the photos and billing from anyway. For me the shop is just where I store parts and make the product. Whenever I take inventory I just use the printable list function and take a hardcopy out to the shop.

@schaf: Good idea about the bit size! I'll put that on the to-do list.  I've got a bushing tracking system down on paper that I've been planning to knock out when the weather gets bad and I'm not able to do all the house remodeling I've been tasked with. Unfortunately, the winter has been extremely mild so far this year so I haven't had an excuse to laze infront of my PC! 

@Mikey: The way I use it is with average cost per kit type. For instance, to me a 24K slimline is a 24K slimline regardless of where I get it (as long as the kits are identical) but a 10K slimline, etc. slimline are all different entries in the kit section. I'm not so concerned with tracking cost to the penny, so I just average them out. If I buy 5 kits somewhere for $1.00 and 5 more from somewhere else for $1.50 I just call it $1.25. Later, if I buy 10 more for $1.00 again I just bump down the kit cost until it feels about right.


Thanks for the feedback guys and let me know if there are any specifics that would make it better for you.

Best,


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## webmonk

Heya folks!

Just wanted to put out the word that we could still use a few more data entry volunteers. We're covering good ground, but a few more hands could get us done in no time. There are currently 166 pen kits (unique part numbers) entered into the master list and lots more to be entered. Contact me through the board or email me at jon@centralridge.com if you're interested.

What's the use of putting that stuff into a database? The list of reasons to do it is long and distinguished, but for me the main reason is efficiency (read saving time and money). Here's a glimpse of how it helps me:

I'm still new to turning (started maybe 9 months ago) so it's not really second nature yet on which kits are out there and which bits/bushings I need, etc. Using this resource I'm now able to get Penventory to instantly tell me which kits are out there for me to turn (less time searching, more time turning). It even knows which bits I have and can show me only the kits that I won't have to buy any extras in order to turn (helps me find variety without spending extra dough). Plus I can filter the results to, for instance, see only the platinum fountain pens or the entire line of Gentleman's kits.

So even if you're are unable to volunteer to do data entry, come on over and try out the search/suggestion system (go to www.penventory.com and look for the news bullet). As always, we appreciate the feedback and any suggestions on how Penventory can be improved to make your turning life easier!


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