Severian

I just joined a new bike shop and we've got an order of small parts in and we have a brand spanking new 10 drawer parts cabinet to put it all in.

How would you organize your parts?

operator

I like pie too...

Stacey

42

roadfix

I use an 1,800 bin revolving metal parts cabinet. 1,680 bins are still empty. I need to buy more parts.

I_bRAD

Alphabetical order by colour and size

pyze-guy

Apple turnovers....

Akadis

Do whatever seems logical today, but keep it flexible because the ebb and flow of parts means that it will not be logical tomorrow. Labels on the drawers must be easy to change!

nitropowered

Group like parts together, like ball bearings in increasing (or decreasing) size.

Label the bins A0-Z9 and put a generic name on it.

Now go to the computer and fire up excel. If A0 contains "quick release springs", think of all the possible variations of "QR springs", "Springs, QR", etc. and alphabetize them. Print out that sheet, laminate or put it in a sheet protector and keep it handy. My boss did our small parts cabinet long ago and there are some parts that he would call one thing, and I would call another and I can never find it. I need to update that sheet.

Another good example is "Star Nut". Our sheet says "1 1/8 star nut" but I always look up "star nut"

Severian

Thanks to Akadis and nitropowered!

All the rest of ya'll can just shove off. I'm new to this whole wrenching professionally and I don't want to screw it up for my fellow mechanics. I like pie and hitchhiker's guide too. But, they're not useful answers.

masi61

I'm glad someone else addressed the useless-ness of some of those responses. Your original question was a good one. I had a brief thread going last week about a rolling shop cart I'm planning that will have multiple ballbearing drawer slide drawers to hopefully tame all of the parts. I plan to start it soon. When I do, I plan to document the process with photos. Having drawers with card catalog type label holders on pulls has been done before and I think I will try this. Also, the storage set up within drawers needs a good divider system but should also be (as others have mentioned) flexible. I always seem to befriend aviation mechanics or former airforce mechanics. These guys have a lot of practical experience to share! My school friend from the airforce would line the drawers of his Kennedy machinist's chest with styrofoam, outline the tools carefully with a sharpie, then burn a slip-fitted hollow out with a soldering iron. I would like to do some form of slip-fitting in skinny drawers for my most used bike tools.

oilman_15106

I would think the owner of the store would have some specifc ideas on how to organize his/her inventory! Think your boss would be a better source of an answer than this board.

operator

See the problem is, when you give so little information your question is almost as if you didn't ask it in the first place.

1) What kind of small parts?
2) What kind of bins?
3) What are you trying to accomplish? Do you already have a system to organize similar things?

If you can't compose a coherent post with enough information for others to help you - nobody can. And I still don't see how you've clarified any of this for anyone to help you either. Akadis and nitropowered just took random stabs at your questions but if it helps, hey what do we know.

Stacey

Just do it

Severian

I've seen that at another bicycle shop. Makes everything look very professional if you've got your tools in a drawer-chest with everything in foam-matting.

Severian

That's what I thought too. but the shop is so new they haven't hired a Shop Manager (they just have a store manager) and the store manager told me to get a start on organizing the small-parts order that came in (and to answer another question). The small parts were everything from Axel nuts and bearings all the way to full headsets and bottom brackets. We've got spacers, barrel adjusters, anchor bolts for derailleurs and breaks, the list just keeps going on and on.

[edit]If you have a good idea of what gets used and replaced alot in a bicycle shop (stuff like chains falls under that category) we probably got some of it.

But, today I'm working with another mechanic who has had more experience than I do at working for a professional shop so I'm going to work with him on how best to organize everything since he and I are going to be doing most of the work at the shop.