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Advice for a noob
OK, I've just got started in this hobby. I haven't really used Lego since I was a kid (good memories). Recently I have been purchasing some kits for my kids and really started to get into it. I downloaded LDD and have really amazed myself with the things I'm coming up with.
My first creation is a very detailed model that I am quite proud of. I was so excited when I finally finished it in LDD (4 full days of designing) that I really wanted to get all the parts to build it for real. That is how i discovered Brick Owl, quite an amazing service. I spent another 2 days matching up my models inventory against parts I own and finding the best price on parts I need. This was quite a bit of work, but all well worth it.
Here's where I am looking for advice. The work I did in matching parts was completely manual ,besides pulling up kit inventories for the kits I own from BO, and generating a BOM from LDD. I then manually compared each part against my kits, and then went looking for the parts I needed, tracking everything on an excel spreadsheet. The whole thing screamed of automation to me.
I've seen different resources for kit and part databases, and different programs. As well the API for BO. Basically I'm looking for opinions on the best way to simply keep track of my inventory, easily add parts when I purchase a kit. and finally create a list of parts missing when I compare it to a BOM (I don't know what BOM stands for, just thats what LDD calls it.). Being able to add parts I order from BO automatically would be awesome as well, since I only see myself ordering parts from here.
I started creating my own access database to track my inventory. I could easily query the BOM spreadsheets from LDD to get a deficiency list, but I would still need to manually enter my entire inventory.
I apologize for the long winded question but any advice from the many experts here would be greatly appreciated.
My first creation is a very detailed model that I am quite proud of. I was so excited when I finally finished it in LDD (4 full days of designing) that I really wanted to get all the parts to build it for real. That is how i discovered Brick Owl, quite an amazing service. I spent another 2 days matching up my models inventory against parts I own and finding the best price on parts I need. This was quite a bit of work, but all well worth it.
Here's where I am looking for advice. The work I did in matching parts was completely manual ,besides pulling up kit inventories for the kits I own from BO, and generating a BOM from LDD. I then manually compared each part against my kits, and then went looking for the parts I needed, tracking everything on an excel spreadsheet. The whole thing screamed of automation to me.
I've seen different resources for kit and part databases, and different programs. As well the API for BO. Basically I'm looking for opinions on the best way to simply keep track of my inventory, easily add parts when I purchase a kit. and finally create a list of parts missing when I compare it to a BOM (I don't know what BOM stands for, just thats what LDD calls it.). Being able to add parts I order from BO automatically would be awesome as well, since I only see myself ordering parts from here.
I started creating my own access database to track my inventory. I could easily query the BOM spreadsheets from LDD to get a deficiency list, but I would still need to manually enter my entire inventory.
I apologize for the long winded question but any advice from the many experts here would be greatly appreciated.
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Not sure what the best solution for offline inventory management is. I use BrickStore, but really only as a way to manipulate my inventories before uploading them.
As far as gathering parts, you can import LDraw and LEGO Digital Designer directly into your Brick Owl Wishlist. http://brickowl.com/wishlist That's a service you should check out. After you create a Wishlist, you can go to the Buy tab and Brick Owl will automatically search out sellers and fill your carts with the least expensive parts.
Enoch