How do you not lose your mind?

Re: How do you not lose your mind?

My primary job is programming, database design and such.

For my .02, if you're considering rolling your own, I wouldn't. The time you spend learning and developing your own solution could be put to better use finding new clients, getting more work etc.

I would highly recommend using an off the shelf product.

If I got to the next level where I needed inventory management, that is what I would do.

Andrew
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Phil Graham said:
This, or generated pull sheets that are hand verified as each trunk is prepped.

My local large lighting house does the latter, and are in the market for an inventory system that will let them do a mixture of both barcodes and pull sheets, including perhaps a tablet solution for checking off pull sheets.
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We do this with HireTrack. We generally use the barcodes on "larger" items only (consoles, speakers, chain motors etc). This way if a big ticket item is missing we'll know what show it was lost on. We don't use tablets at this point, and I'm not sure it would be worth it for us with this software.
Individual items (cables, mics, stands etc.) get checked off the paper list as they go into the box, the box number is written on the list, when the box goes into the truck, it gets checked off. All larger items are scanned as they go on the truck. When it comes back the process is reversed. Any items that are needed immediately for another show are notated on the paperwork for both shows.
We use the same software for rentals and to generate quotes. There is a separate "list" for items that need repair.
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Just thinking in general terms about this the last couple of days.

Most small companies work their way up with the "all in the brain" approach. That can be very effective, depending on the amount of detail the owner's brain can accurately keep. Eventually as a company grows there will be a need to have more than one brain involved, and that's where some kind of system (paper, software, or whatever) is going to be necessary.

You can also go a long ways by packaging things and not breaking up the packages. Having a standard system that lives in the van or truck full time would be a good example, or the "four pack of wireless" maybe. But that cuts into possible smaller rentals or custom setups.
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

...and one other point. Back ten years ago I was working as a software developer, working at a small company that did warehouse inventory systems w/ barcodes and such. Not too different from HireTrack (but my software wasn't as clunky!), though we customized the base system for just about every single customer. Our system, with the barcode hardware and computers and our licensing and fees, usually cost from $25,000 to $100,000. The business case for going from say 70-80% accuracy to 99%+ meant that the system would usually pay for itself in less than a year.
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Scott Helmke said:
Just thinking in general terms about this the last couple of days.

Most small companies work their way up with the "all in the brain" approach. That can be very effective, depending on the amount of detail the owner's brain can accurately keep. Eventually as a company grows there will be a need to have more than one brain involved, and that's where some kind of system (paper, software, or whatever) is going to be necessary.

You can also go a long ways by packaging things and not breaking up the packages. Having a standard system that lives in the van or truck full time would be a good example, or the "four pack of wireless" maybe. But that cuts into possible smaller rentals or custom setups.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much how our system has developed over the last several years. I was able to keep up with everything in my head for 1-2 shows a weekend, but 10 years ago, it began to grow into 3-4-5 shows a weekend, plus more dry rentals. Not to mention cross-renting a fair amount. So I came up with the spreadsheets that I'm still using. I do have a lot of packages already made up that I seldom have to change, but there's still a fair amount of piecemeal assembling of a load depending on the event.

We've gotten good at verifying a case pack (mic cables, power cables, speaker cables, etc) on the pick sheets and then loading those cases with the pick sheets. What I run into is the guys NOT checking off something that has been loaded, so the process has to stop until we verify that the item in question is indeed on the truck. Very, very seldom does something get left off a load.

It seems to me that the easy part is the loading and verifying the truck load. But assembling a show package still is the time-consuming part of this and I don't see where another inventory system (aside from my spreadsheets) will speed the process up much, aside from telling me what gear is booked and what is available (and I have a spreadsheet that I use for just that). Nonetheless, I'm still looking for a better way...

Geri O
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Geri O'Neil said:
This is pretty much how our system has developed over the last several years. I was able to keep up with everything in my head for 1-2 shows a weekend, but 10 years ago, it began to grow into 3-4-5 shows a weekend, plus more dry rentals. Not to mention cross-renting a fair amount. So I came up with the spreadsheets that I'm still using. I do have a lot of packages already made up that I seldom have to change, but there's still a fair amount of piecemeal assembling of a load depending on the event.

We've gotten good at verifying a case pack (mic cables, power cables, speaker cables, etc) on the pick sheets and then loading those cases with the pick sheets. What I run into is the guys NOT checking off something that has been loaded, so the process has to stop until we verify that the item in question is indeed on the truck. Very, very seldom does something get left off a load.

It seems to me that the easy part is the loading and verifying the truck load. But assembling a show package still is the time-consuming part of this and I don't see where another inventory system (aside from my spreadsheets) will speed the process up much, aside from telling me what gear is booked and what is available (and I have a spreadsheet that I use for just that). Nonetheless, I'm still looking for a better way...

Geri O
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Having a "real" system will pay of when you have a years worth of data and you can start to just copy last years jobs in the booking when people call. "Oh you want the package for the yearly musical, 28 ch of wireles this years" clikty click "this will cost you XX, and remember to book this and that, that was added last year after rehersals."

Another reallys useful things is the "am i making any money" window:
costs.jpg
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Jens Bacher said:
Having a "real" system will pay of when you have a years worth of data and you can start to just copy last years jobs in the booking when people call. "Oh you want the package for the yearly musical, 28 ch of wireles this years" clikty click "this will cost you XX, and remember to book this and that, that was added last year after rehersals."

Another reallys useful things is the "am i making any money" window:
View attachment 7141
Click to expand...

Good point. I have 9 years' worth of Excel files for that. No doubt, they come in handy.

The Boss saves his Quickbooks files in the same manner. Whether or not he's making money is for him to figure out...:o))

Nonetheless, I'm looking...

Geri O
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Hello Silas,

I use ABC software, its a good MRP that you can customize. Its a bit complex when you start but get easy to work with by time. I use a barcodes on large items such speakers, boards, movings cases ... and group the small stuff with grouped barcodes. I maintain the inventory, use it for in and outs. It gets usefull when Ihave more than 2 events back to back or in the same time. I know at 85% what I have stock and not.
Free ABC Inventory Software Features

I also use it to provide quotes and P.O's too,

regards,
Othmane
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

When I looked into this a few years ago I was ready to pull the trigger on Flex Rental Solutions (then this and that happened and I crawled back into my cave). Award Winning Web Based Rental Software For The Live Event Industry | Flex Rental Solutions
They have a monthly plan so you don't have to shell out big bucks at the beginning. But there can be some costs involved in getting it customized for your specific company. I'm curious what some of you other fellahs think of their scheme.
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Evan Kirkendall said:
Wait, you haven't lost your mind yet? How are you even in this business? :lol:

4. Sales! I was smart & hired someone else to handle this aspect. And I'm just getting into it, so we'll see how it goes. :)
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I would be really curious to hear how this is going. What kind of person did you hire? How did you get them familiarized with your inventory?
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

Silas Pradetto said:
Business has been extremely good lately, perhaps that's why I barely get around to posting anymore (who's complaining about that, anyway :lol:). With business being so good, I have a new problem: organization. This weekend, we had 6 shows, plus some rentals coming in and going out, and it's getting to be a major task just to keep track of what is where and when.

How do the big shops handle this, beyond some fancy barcode inventory system? Especially when two shows come back Friday night at 2am, and that gear has to be reloaded into other trucks for different shows the next day?

So far I just make out 'pack lists' and identify what loads will be incomplete until the trucks come back and everything switches, but I know there's gotta be an established way to do this. It's just a matter of time before I forget to load something important, like a console.
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They probably start by focusing on sound and not fixing trucks. I remember my dad lecturing me for doing a remodel at my business. He told me I should have hired it out, even though I saved thousands doing it myself. He said my time would have been better spent focusing on growing the business, not pinching pennies. 15 years later, I look back and know he was right. (Not that I follow his advice - sitting here making cables tonight!)

As far as "take these things to the gig" checklists, I have master lists in my computer for every size gig I do. I open the appropriate list, add the stuff I need that isn't on it, delete the stuff I don't need, and save it.

If I do that show again, I still start with the master list (because I update the master lists regularly) but I also print out the list from last time and look over it to see if I'm forgetting anything specific to that show.

I'm a one man business, and this is probably much simpler way of dealing with things than you are looking for, but that's how I do it and it works for me.
 
Re: How do you not lose your mind?

The simplest thing I do before every show is do a mental checklist to see if I have at least all the necessary elements to make "some sort of sound" come out of "something"

I look in the truck and starting from the performers perspective list off all the necessary major elements verifying I see the case in the truck: mics, Mic stands, mic cables, snake, console, amp racks, speaker cable, speakers, AC & distro.

If you at least have those items you can usually get enough of a system going to do a show even if you forget some more specific item.

I also like to distribute things like mic cables and IEC's around various different cases so any one case can get left behind but we can get by without it. For example one time we forgot a case of mic cables for a show 2 hours from the shop, but I had about 30 in the bottom drawer of my mic workbox which were just enough to make the show happen. I also stash a few Edison and mic cables behind the seat of my truck just in case.

And regarding forgetting the PSU cable for a console or amp; those kinds of things are best zip tied into the rack so they can't be accidentally removed and lost.
 
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