What'd you forget in your order?

vigilante398 said:
I took about 4 hours last month and programmed a "smart" spreadsheet for my ordering. I have a list of the different builds I do each month, and I put in how many of each I'm building, and the BOM auto-populates based on how many of each part I need per board, with the parts split up by where I order them from. I had told myself for a couple years I would do this and glad I finally took the time.
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I've always wanted to do this
 
My spreadsheet tracks my offboard wiring stuff--jacks, pots, white washers, etc.
For caps/resistors/diodes my system is more adhoc, and those are the things I'm more likely to forget to order.
 
I've learned to live with the fact that I will forget something in an order. I can try to counter this by having my cart ready to go and then think about it for a day or two. If I'm really antsy I'll visually check my workstation to see if I'm running low on anything. Spreadsheet were nice at first to plan out each build, but since I buy extras of everything I don't need to worry about them anymore. I'll usually just check the build doc to make sure I have the right values on hand.
 
BuddytheReow said:
Spreadsheet were nice at first to plan out each build, but since I buy extras of everything I don't need to worry about them anymore. I'll usually just check the build doc to make sure I have the right values on hand.
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I don't use my spreadsheet as a direct order form, I treat it as the master BOM for the month so I don't have to deal with the dozen individual BOMs of what I'm building. I check the total quantities needed against parts on hand then decide how many of each to order, and I also order extras in case I feel like building extras of anything.

If I was really cool I'd keep track of my current stock of each component in the spreadsheet so I don't need to take the few minutes checking through all the bins, but that would take a lot more than 4 hours to do and would only save me maybe 3-5 minutes a month.
 
I use spreadsheets to itemize each build and then combine them into one master sheet for each order. The problem with buying for multiple builds at once is that I’m much more likely to make a mistake when filling up the cart.

My last large Tayda order had parts for nine builds, and I mistyped the quantity for one of the caps and ended up a few short.
 
wintercept said:
I use spreadsheets to itemize each build and then combine them into one master sheet for each order. The problem with buying for multiple builds at once is that I’m much more likely to make a mistake when filling up the cart.

My last large Tayda order had parts for nine builds, and I mistyped the quantity for one of the caps and ended up a few short.
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That's a much better method than I use, which is to build what I can and then make a note of what I'm missing.
 
fig said:
I'd use a DB if I were actually going to run a working inventory. Mostly because it's well inside my wheelhouse. Too much like work though, and I'm on the slide-side of that I hope.
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Yeah there are a few steps of my process that feel like I'm doing an actual job. Namely organizing orders, inventory/ordering parts and packing/shipping. I mean pretty much any time I'm on the computer instead of at the workbench.
 
vigilante398 said:
Yeah there are a few steps of my process that feel like I'm doing an actual job. Namely organizing orders, inventory/ordering parts and packing/shipping. I mean pretty much any time I'm on the computer instead of at the workbench.
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But if you enjoy that aspect of it then it works out great! I did when I was first learning. DBIII and/or Alpha4 on MS-DOS were my learning tools. Many flavors and OSs' later I finally hired it out. I've used the same fellow now for 17 years. He's changed companies a few times. I've never met him in person. Nice dude.
 
I have excel spreadsheets going back to 2017. I still use that for small parts to check against current stock and buy blank 1590n1 from a electronic supply house in Illinois.
 
Mentaltossflycoon said:
I do this stuff entirely for pleasure. For me, involving Excel would endanger that pleasure.
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It's a balancing act for me, selling pedals allows me to build more pedals, and the more organized I am the more efficiently I can build. I think I'm off balance a bit though, looking at numbers only about 5% of the builds I did in the last year were for me 😕 I guess I got a couple new guitars and amps though (not to mention an absurd amount of workshop tools), so maybe it still balances out?
 
vigilante398 said:
It's a balancing act for me, selling pedals allows me to build more pedals, and the more organized I am the more efficiently I can build. I think I'm off balance a bit though, looking at numbers only about 5% of the builds I did in the last year were for me 😕 I guess I got a couple new guitars and amps though (not to mention an absurd amount of workshop tools), so maybe it still balances out?
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That all sounds good to me. I fully acknowledge the privilege of being able to justify building just for me. I'm also still too attached to each one to sell it to a stranger. How will I know they won't use it for evil? So yeah, 100% are for me and those I fall out of love with go to people that I love.
 
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