Scispot provides an automated solution to replace manual, error-prone inventory tracking in spreadsheets. This keeps your inventory consistently updated and prevents stale data due to unreported team member changes.
1. Utilize Templates for Inventory Management
Scispot offers a range of templates for efficient inventory management. The "Material Manager'' template, a popular choice, acts as a master inventory database. It allows you to create Views for organizing specialized items like Primers, Plasticware, Glassware, Reagents, Antibodies, Samples, and more. If you need more specialized Labsheets, Scispot also provides standalone Labsheets templates for specific inventory types such as Cell Lines, Animals, Antibodies, Strains, Primers, and Microspheres. These templates come pre-designed with standard fields suitable for a wide range of inventory and experimental data management needs.
Starting from a template:
Select the template of choice
Review the columns in your template Labsheet
Click on “Use Template”
2. Custom Design Your Own Inventory Manager
If existing templates don't fully meet your needs, you can modify them by adding or removing columns. Add new columns of various types (ID column, free text, number, checkbox, file upload, creator, creation date, etc.). For completely unique inventory requirements, you can design your own inventory manager from scratch.
Starting from Scratch:
Click on Create New > Labsheet
Add columns by selecting "Add new property"
Name each column (e.g., 'Sample ID', 'Date', 'Result') and select the “type” for each column
“Save” and start importing your inventory data
Inventory links dynamically with protocols/experiments within Scispot, updating in real-time as items are used or replenished. The platform also alerts you to low-stock items on your dashboard.
Set up rules to alert a lab manager via in-app notifications, email, or Slack when inventory levels drop below a specified threshold. This feature keeps you informed and proactive in inventory management.