FYI, I stumbled upon InvenTree. Per its GitHub page:
is an open-source Inventory Management System which provides powerful low-level stock control and part tracking. The core of the InvenTree system is a Python/Django database backend which provides an admin interface (web-based) and a REST API for interaction with external interfaces and applications.
InvenTree is designed to be lightweight and easy to use for SME or hobbyist applications, where many existing stock management solutions are bloated and cumbersome to use. Updating stock is a single-action process and does not require a complex system of work orders or stock transactions.
That is really really neat. Thanks for sharing! I could definitely imagine using that for usā¦ right now we just have a big spreadsheet (as most at our level have)ā¦ it works but this would work better.
FabAccess, open-source access and machine control system for open workspaces, hardware and FabLabs (GitLab, English, German)
CommonsBooking, open-source tool and API for booking, sharing and commoning of common goods like lab infrastructure or mobile equipment (GitHub, German)
This is a little off-course but seeing commons booking, wanted to share this also (my neighbor is the maintainer, and we use it in our cohousing community) ā
Itās basically a way to manage meals, things, spaces, and shared stuff within a community. Built in Ruby on a modern framework, and (knowing Tom) probably well organized and documented code.
We use it for all our meals and our whole work system (which is quite complex), as do the two neighboring communities. @nanocastro maybe useful for you guys if you have a community. Fully open source, host yourself or use the hosted version.
I think thereās a theme forming around this thread, kind of sympatric to this long thread, though not exactly sure what. āCommunity management toolsā? Really feel like we should gather all this input somewhereā¦
With Shelf, you can take a picture of any item you own and store it in your own database. From there, you can generate a printable code (QR) that you can tag onto the item, making it easy to identify and locate in the future. Shelf has a handy code printing area where you can add as many QR codes as you can on an A4 sticker paper sheet. You can also add detailed information about the item, including its purchase date, purchase price, warranty information, and more.
Once your assets are online, you will be able to:
Generate printable PDFs sheets from assets you select, so you can stick them onto anything
Check the last known location of your assets
Instant Search through your assets database
Use ālost modeā for emergencies (offer a bounty for a return of an item)
Get notified of assets you are not using
Share your asset vault with other users
Use Shelf alone, or as a team. And, these questions will be a thing of the past.
Who was the last person that took X,Y or Z?
What gear does X have currently?
Which assets did we appoint to our team member abroad?
I once thought that being able to move from a BOM to an inventory (and build order) management system was nice when thinking about scaling up from DIY to business.
I would love to find a way to have inventory management coupled with GitBuilding. I can see this happening two ways.
You are writing instructions and you want to pull in the specs of what you used from your existing inventory.
You want to build/manufacture something and you need to check or restock your inventory.
I suppose the question is what is the best way to interface them?
GitBuilding is very much still written with prototype development and one-off prototype production in mind. In the long term it needs to support things such as:
Batch production
Generating material for device-specific recording:
Unique device IDs
QR code stickers?
Printable checklists/forms for manual recording during assembly/calibration
and/or Digital checklists/forms for recording on a device during assembly/calibration (where does the data get sent? A GitBuilding database, Survey stack, customisable locations, a local file?!?)
I would see inventory management as falling in this category of instructions for production. We are a long way off this, but it is certainly something that should be thought of long term.
Iām not sure (1) would be the widest use case, and (2) is already implemented by InvenTree.
IMHO a bidirectional converter for part libraries would be perfect, but Iād start with GitBuilding ā InvenTree. This sounds more useful for the DIY audience, in case they want to ālevel upā to production, which would be at least my case.
I may have misunderstood that part but, just in case, my initial suggestion would have been to take advantage of the the existing features in InvenTree (build orders, purchases, QR codes, etc.) by implementing the GitBuilding ā InvenTree converter; which would allow importing part libraries (and āassembled outputsā) from GitBuilding.
This is a shorter-term objective that would allow GB users to start using InvenTree (et al) with far less friction.
You are entirely correct. That is my wish list for thing we should be able to do with out GitBuilding instructions. If there are existing open tools that perform these roles GitBuilding should interface with them rather than grow into a behemoth.
I have actually never used InvenTree so I donāt actually know its functionality
