How We Track 290,000 Components with InvenTree

When you’re doing electronics R&D and small-scale manufacturing, knowing exactly what you have and where it is matters. A missing reel of 0402 capacitors or an out-of-stock GaN FET can stall a prototype run for days. So we built a proper inventory system early.

InvenTree

We run InvenTree as our inventory management platform — it’s open-source, self-hosted, and purpose-built for electronics. It handles part categorization, stock locations, supplier tracking, BOM management, and purchase orders. It’s exactly what we need and nothing we don’t.

Barcode-Driven Intake

The intake process is where we saved the most time. We have a dedicated machine running just for stock keeping. When a delivery arrives, the workflow is:

1. Unpack the shipment
2. Scan the barcode on each reel, bag, or tray with our Zebra scanner
3. The scanner decodes the barcode including GS1 separators to extract the manufacturer part number, quantity, lot number, and other metadata
4. Our tool automatically looks up the part on LCSC, Mouser, DigiKey, or other distributors and pulls in all the relevant data — description, package type, datasheet link, manufacturer info
5. A new stock entry is created in InvenTree with the correct part, quantity, and storage location

No manual data entry. No copy-pasting from distributor websites. Scan, confirm, shelve.

Built on inventree-part-import

We started with inventree-part-import — an existing open-source tool for importing parts into InvenTree from distributor APIs. We built on top of it to add barcode decoding, automatic distributor detection, and integration with our scanning workflow. The combination of the Zebra scanner’s GS1 parsing and the part import tool’s distributor lookups means a new part goes from sealed bag to fully catalogued in seconds.

The Numbers

As of now, we’re tracking:

• 833 unique parts — from 0201 passives to GaN FETs to custom PCBs
• 290,000+ total components in stock
• Every part has a known location, quantity, supplier history, and datasheet link

For a small R&D team, this is a serious advantage. When Janik needs to know if we have enough IGO60R070D1 GaN FETs for the next prototype batch, the answer is one search away — not a trip to the stockroom to count reels.

Why It Matters

Inventory management isn’t glamorous, but it’s the kind of infrastructure that separates teams that move fast from teams that waste time looking for parts. Combined with our BOM management in InvenTree, we can check stock against any design’s bill of materials instantly and know exactly what needs to be ordered before a build starts.

Open-source tools, a barcode scanner, and a bit of integration work — that’s all it takes to run a professional inventory system without paying for enterprise software.

We’re planning to release our barcode scanning and import tool as an open-source repository soon — stay tuned.