Gear inventory and organization apps?

M

mcbob

Veteran
The stuff runneth over.

As I’m edging into getting larger jobs with more crew than me, I can tell I’m going to start losing or forgetting stuff if I don’t get a better handle on it all with some technomologiggly.

What (if anything) are people using?

Originally started trying “MyGearVault,” but gear input is a bit more manual than I’d like, and I’m not finding a way to reference gear to something like a barcode or QR label

What other decent options exist?
 
The scanning of sticker/adhesive codes is the best way if you can find a good system (they must exist). That's what Lensrentals uses.

Everything else is manual.
 
I know, largely what inspired me... it has to exist... label the gear, scan it as it goes into a kit, and that way if mostly peaceful Ruffians abscond with my wherewithall, I’ll have a solid list for insurance claim.

But does the app create the code? Just read the code? Create and read the code?

Hell, I might just try contacting LensRentals... they generally seem like good folk
 
NorBro said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxDWFOkOXmU

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/874608327/geareye-the-ultimate-gear-management-system

I imagine codes can be automatic and/or manual. Manual in terms of if you have a few very expensive lenses/etc, you can make sure the codes are recognizable and that you're making sure you're double-checking the whereabouts of that ultra important gear.

But I don't think it matters much if the system is very reliable and trustworthy.
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I was thinking of this(gear eye) and knew I had seen it before. It's been on Kickstarter for like 4 years... Great idea. But will it ever ship? Latest update claims they have received FCC approval and will start shipping in 3 months... Lemme know IF and when the actual product actually ships to actual people.

I've only backed one thing on KickStarter, but it was from an established company already manufacturing and shipping products for years(backed the Hive 100C).
 
I happened upon "Cheqroom," which appears absolutely perfect for what I had in mind... until I saw the pricing 8\

On the immediate plus side, their YouTube channel has an awful lot of helpful content on gear organization tactics that I'll be employing, regardless of software
 
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I've done a lot of case rejigging since covid. The items are now pretty "permanent" in each case. When wrapping it's now a matter of doing the visual inspection then once I know one is good I move on.

I know that sounds simple and not meant to patronize but before I'd load up a few cases as needed, each time with different items. By comparison the new system is much easier. It's more like yes/no vs. "is everything from this particular shoot back in the cases?".

Alternate to the scanning app systems, you could get a luggage scale and check for the same weight each time (below). Not as cool but also not as $100-$300 a month.

The inventory seems a lot easier in all of the promotional material but I doubt reality would match the perfect experiences we're shown.

image.jpg
 
In my other life as a web designer and developer I started working on something like this. Cheqroom looks great, but that pricing is cray cray for smaller operations.

So, here’s the operative question... how much WOULD you pay for something like Cheqroom? $50/mo? $20/mo? Nothing?

I’m thinking about dusting off the work I did and having a buddy wire up some of the stuff I got stuck on.
 
jbregar said:
In my other life as a web designer and developer I started working on something like this. Cheqroom looks great, but that pricing is cray cray for smaller operations.

So, here’s the operative question... how much WOULD you pay for something like Cheqroom? $50/mo? $20/mo? Nothing?

I’m thinking about dusting off the work I did and having a buddy wire up some of the stuff I got stuck on.
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It seems better suited for in-house equipment management than my needs as an owner/operator. I'd consider something like cheqroom if my business was overseeing an unruly amount of equipment, where different teams constantly remove and add from the inventory.

However, I'd spend an inordinate amount of time generating airtight contracts which should also greatly contribute to accountability, though it'd likely be a combination of both contracts and a good system.

To your pricing question, I'm personally a huge fan of buying things outright rather than ongoing subscriptions. But if my business was doing well enough and revenue came entirely from gear management then I don't think you could afford to NOT PAY the subscription i.e. $300/month is a no brainer.
 
Saw a bunch of recommendations in a search for this https://snipeitapp.com/

If you self host it, then it costs you nothing. I didn't look any farther than that. Odoo is another that I saw suggestions on, might be worth looking into. I can tell you that there is definitely a FOSS application out there that will do what you want, but it might be a bit of a challenge to get running.
 
rob norton said:
It seems better suited for in-house equipment management than my needs as an owner/operator. I'd consider something like cheqroom if my business was overseeing an unruly amount of equipment, where different teams constantly remove and add from the inventory.

However, I'd spend an inordinate amount of time generating airtight contracts which should also greatly contribute to accountability, though it'd likely be a combination of both contracts and a good system.

To your pricing question, I'm personally a huge fan of buying things outright rather than ongoing subscriptions. But if my business was doing well enough and revenue came entirely from gear management then I don't think you could afford to NOT PAY the subscription i.e. $300/month is a no brainer.
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The biggest problem with "outright buy" with web-based software is keeping a hold of the licensing and not everyone wants to set up their own web server to get something like this running. Subscriptions are basically just paying for keeping the thing hosted and running.

The main driver behind the work I did previously was the gear checkout at the university I adjunct for. It's pretty hodgepodge and stuff does get lost.

I also rent out some of my non-camera gear (lighting, grip, etc.) and it'd be very nice to know exactly where it was and who had it.

Some of the stuff I designed into it was scheduling (so you couldn't double-book a piece of gear on two jobs... and could immediately tell someone who borrowed it when they needed to have it back), email/text notifications for "please bring this back," repair and damage tracking... it was a pretty slick little system.

If you're LensRentals, I can see paying thousands for your asset management... but I'd be aiming more for the small owner/operators and education markets... so the idea would be to start it at a lower price point and scale up to larger dollar amounts for the big shops if they find it something they're interested in. Cheqroom is a pretty nice system to be honest... but $100/mo is definitely not aimed at smaller operations. Especially since that tier doesn't even include reservations or kits.

I've also seen SnipeIT... but that's really designed far more for IT resources than camera gear. You could probably shoehorn camera gear in there, but I don't think it has the stuff you'd need to track lent gear.
 
Actually, I just found RefTab. It seems to be a slightly more clunky version of what I'd build, so I'm going to give it a try.

reftab.com

It's reasonably priced and free for up to 50 assets.
 
jbregar said:
The biggest problem with "outright buy" with web-based software is keeping a hold of the licensing and not everyone wants to set up their own web server to get something like this running. Subscriptions are basically just paying for keeping the thing hosted and running.

The main driver behind the work I did previously was the gear checkout at the university I adjunct for. It's pretty hodgepodge and stuff does get lost.

I also rent out some of my non-camera gear (lighting, grip, etc.) and it'd be very nice to know exactly where it was and who had it.

Some of the stuff I designed into it was scheduling (so you couldn't double-book a piece of gear on two jobs... and could immediately tell someone who borrowed it when they needed to have it back), email/text notifications for "please bring this back," repair and damage tracking... it was a pretty slick little system.

If you're LensRentals, I can see paying thousands for your asset management... but I'd be aiming more for the small owner/operators and education markets... so the idea would be to start it at a lower price point and scale up to larger dollar amounts for the big shops if they find it something they're interested in. Cheqroom is a pretty nice system to be honest... but $100/mo is definitely not aimed at smaller operations. Especially since that tier doesn't even include reservations or kits.

I've also seen SnipeIT... but that's really designed far more for IT resources than camera gear. You could probably shoehorn camera gear in there, but I don't think it has the stuff you'd need to track lent gear.
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Fair enough, plus doesn't the subscription model make more money if you can convince people?

I think education markets could take advantage. Students checking out equipment is a complete mess.
 
Yeah, I’ve seen Booked. It’s great for scheduling (and free)... but it’s kind of weak on some of the asset management stuff (knowing when somethings out for repair, when it was put in service, etc.). Reftab is better at that.

I’ve been playing with Reftab since I found it. It’s pretty nice. If I outgrow the 50 asset size, I may actually pay for it for my own gear to keep track. $360/yr seems reasonable to keep track of five figures worth of gear.
 
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