IT inventory: every laptop and USB stick, scannable

IT gear was tracked in a ticketing add-on plus a spreadsheet. The honest answer to "where is that laptop?" was "let me go look." I built an inventory app where every item and every shelf has a QR label, so finding, stowing and auditing gear is a scan from a phone.

What I built

• Assets and consumables. Serialized items get:
  • auto-numbered tags;
  • a status lifecycle (in stock → deployed → repair → retired);
  • warranty and purchase data;
  • custom fields per category.

  Bulk stock like cables and USB drives is counted per bin, with reorder thresholds.

• Chaos storage that works. Put anything anywhere: scan the shelf, scan the item, done. Search finds it later. Locations nest from site to room, rack, shelf and bin.
• Scanning everywhere. It's an installable PWA that scans with a phone camera (native barcode detection, with a WASM fallback on iOS) or a USB/Bluetooth scanner. Pointing a plain phone camera at a label opens the item's record.
• Label printing. QR and Code 128 sheets in common label sizes, plus ZPL for thermal printers.
• Checkouts with accountability. Check gear out to an employee (synced from Entra ID) or to a location, and keep the full custody history:
  • due dates and an overdue list;
  • condition in and out;
  • an optional service-desk ticket, opened or linked automatically. A ticket failure never blocks the checkout.
• Audits in minutes. Scan a shelf. Missing and unexpected items are flagged, strays are moved automatically, and the shelf is reconciled.
• Device sync. It pulls Macs, iPhones and iPads from Jamf, and Windows and Linux machines from Intune. Devices are matched by serial, so each physical device is one item. Conflicts go to a review queue instead of being overwritten.
• New-hire hardware. When the people platform announces a hire, the app suggests a laptop from stock. One click reserves it, and it's checked out on the start date.
• Platform basics:
  • SSO with admin, tech and viewer roles;
  • audit log;
  • scoped REST API with OpenAPI docs;
  • signed outbound webhooks;
  • CSV import and export.

How it saves time

• "Where is it?" takes seconds, not a walk. Scan or search instead of hunting.
• Shelf audits take minutes, not an afternoon. Scan everything and the app reconciles it.
• Receiving new gear is one pass: enter serials, print labels, scan them onto a shelf.
• No double entry. MDM and directory syncs keep devices and owners current.

How it saves money

• Replaces a paid asset-management add-on with an app on existing infrastructure.
• Less lost hardware. Every move is on the record. Leavers who still hold gear stay visible until it comes back.
• Smarter buying. Accurate stock counts and low-stock alerts mean returned laptops get reused before new ones are ordered, and nobody panic-buys accessories that are already on a shelf.

Stack