Best Practices

A stock list is only worth the effort if the numbers in it are true. These habits keep it that way with very little work.

Set minimums where they mean something

The minimum should be the point at which you would be uncomfortable flying: enough propellers for a session plus one crash, enough batteries for a day out, one spare of the component that would otherwise ground a build. Set it too high and everything is permanently amber; set it everywhere and the packing list turns into a shopping catalogue.

Parts you merely want to count — the drawer of screws, the box of zip ties — are best left at a minimum of zero. They stay in the inventory, but they never claim attention they do not deserve.

Different places, different minimums

The minimum is per location, and that is deliberate. The workshop you fly from every weekend needs a real buffer; the base you visit twice a year needs enough for those two weeks. Use the difference — it is exactly what makes the planner produce a short, credible list instead of asking you to duplicate one workshop in the other.

Correct counts when they change, not once a year

The plus and minus buttons in the table exist so that updating stock is a two-second job. Do it when it happens: after a crash, after a rebuild, after unpacking an order. An inventory that is corrected in passing stays accurate; one that needs a stock-taking evening never happens.

Name parts so you recognise them later

Use the name people use — Gemfan 51466 3-blade, not props — and put the supplier code in the part number field. Fill in the category, so the table groups related items and the search finds them. This costs a few seconds when the part is created and saves you from ordering the wrong thing months later.

Prepare a trip a few days ahead

Open the Travel Planner in the direction you are travelling well before you pack, not while you pack. The blue entries are what goes in the case; the amber ones are what you still have to order — and that only helps if there is still time for a delivery.

After arriving, update both sides once. It takes a minute and keeps the return trip just as reliable.

Keep the location list short

Every location is a column in the table. Model the places you actually travel between, and keep shelves and drawers in the notes of a part instead of turning them into locations of their own.