Put a label on every bin, reel, and shelf, and the gap between the physical shelf and the database record closes. Every object in PartsBox — a part, a lot, a storage location, an order, a project, a build — has a unique ID Anything™ code: 26 characters, readable by a person, and printable as a QR code. Scan it and you land on that exact object.
Labels are built from templates, and you control the layout completely. A template is written in ZPL (Zebra Programming Language): mark each place where data should appear, then map it to any PartsBox field — the part name, the manufacturer part number, a lot quantity, a storage location, a serial number, or one of your own custom fields. Keep one template per label size and purpose: a small label for a strip of cut tape, a larger one for a storage bin, a device label that includes a serial number. Every information screen has an ID Anything™ button; click it, pick a template, check the live preview, and print. On a commercial plan, templates are shared across the whole team, so everyone prints the same labels.
You need a printer that understands ZPL — a Zebra printer, or any other printer that speaks it.
Find a part by scanning its bin. Move stock from one location to another, or count what is on a shelf, by scanning instead of typing. Scanning keeps working after production, too: a finished device can carry its own code as a serial number, so scanning a unit brings up its build, its parts, and its records.
Receiving is where scanning saves the most typing. PartsBox reads the barcodes distributors print — DataMatrix and PDF417 codes from DigiKey, Würth Elektronik, and others, QR codes from LCSC and TME, and the 1D codes from DigiKey, Mouser, Farnell, and RS Components. Scan the label on an incoming bag and PartsBox finds the part — or offers to create it — and opens the Add Stock dialog pre-filled with whatever the label carried, including the quantity and the price when they are encoded. With an order in the system, scanning receives each line against it, partial deliveries included.
For the occasional scan, use a camera — on a computer or a phone — and pick one with autofocus, because a fixed-focus webcam struggles to lock onto a small barcode. For high-volume work, any USB scanner that types its result as keystrokes works. The Zebra LS2208 is a cheap and reliable 1D choice; the DS2208 also reads the 2D codes more distributors are moving to.
Label and scan consistently, and stock stops drifting: every movement is recorded at the shelf, in the moment, instead of remembered at a desk later.
ID Anything™, label printing, and barcode scanning with a USB scanner are in every plan, including the free Maker plan. In-browser camera scanning starts on the Essentials plan.