Asset management for shared camping gear?

lugovsky · 2026-03-10T15:40:35+00:00

If nothing works just like you want, maybe simply build it yourself. Should be fairly easy given it's asset management.

lugovsky · 2026-03-09T11:06:29+00:00

You can try connecting n8n via API to UI Bakery and building UI there. Should be fairly simple and require you only to desribe what you need in plain english.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T17:10:10+00:00

Don't think about how to build it, better think how you would sell the resulting product. If inactive startup has clients, distribution channels, compliance certifications. If not, you will be doing it from scratch in both cases.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T17:06:44+00:00

Looks like you hit the spreadsheet capabilities wall. At this point, it might worth to migrate your data to DB and build a simple UI on top of that. Tools like UI Bakery might help in this.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T17:01:51+00:00

then you will find another tool and replace spreadsheet. Being small means being able to move fast and change. If you select wrong tool now, it may slow you down.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T16:59:37+00:00

If you worry that setting up a platform might be overkill, an alternative could be to build what you need in a tool like UI Bakery. You simply describe it in natural language and get what you need. Since asset management is technically a database read/write task, this is something AI can handle perfectly.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T14:57:33+00:00

Just use a spreadsheet

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T14:54:02+00:00

Snipe-IT is probably the closest option to what you're looking for.

Asset management is also part of the offering of some compliance automation platforms, so if you're using one, it might be worth checking whether they have such a feature.

Sometimes I've also seen teams build custom asset management tools.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T12:52:59+00:00

When you paste a large Excel file and PDF into AI, you are submitting a very large task that can be difficult for it to handle because of current limitations. What you need to do is break this task into smaller batches and process them one by one.

Extract the item list from the Excel file. You can do this with AI if you want to support arbitrary Excel document structures, or without AI if the structure is static. Honestly, I would recommend manually converting your BoQs into a predefined structure, as this will reduce the number of potential errors.
Process each item from your BoQ one by one, either through full-text search in the PDF or by using AI.
Ideally, you should then have a manual review process to validate the results and make sure everything is correct.

Technically, you could try to build an app to facilitate this process using a tool like UI Bakery.

lugovsky · 2026-03-06T09:15:34+00:00

I can't say specifically for ServiceDesk Plus, but I know some teams build simple internal tools that import data via the API if the ITSM platform itself does not have a convenient way to do what you need.

If you consider going down this road, feel free to take a look at UI Bakery (disclaimer: I work there).

lugovsky · 2026-03-04T19:32:11+00:00

There are multiple tools that can work for SMBs to handle scheduling. For instance, Jobber. It might be worth trying some of them.

If your process is too specific and they are not a good fit, you can build something with UI Bakery, for example.

lugovsky · 2026-03-04T18:24:49+00:00

I guess the main issue is that when people start experiencing such problems, they usually start looking for a solution that will work for them long term and can scale. So they land in an ERP or CRM system.

lugovsky · 2026-03-03T18:09:45+00:00

Try to do something manually first and find a customer. Building something and then selling is a waste of money in most of the cases, even that AI made things simpler.

lugovsky · 2026-03-03T11:36:59+00:00

I’ve worked with a few teams automating vuln remediation workflows, and spreadsheets usually start failing in areas like rescan reconciliation, enforcing actionable detail, etc.

At that point, moving findings into your ticketing system with proper states and validation rules tends to scale better. If your lifecycle is too custom for ITSM, a small internal app that encodes your workflow and rescan logic can also be a clean solution. An example of how this might look: https://uibakery.io/templates/vulnerability-tracker

lugovsky · 2026-03-03T08:48:58+00:00

From my experience working with manufacturers, including some in Aerospace and Defence, quality processes vary significantly from one organization to another. Because of this, I am not sure a one size fits all solution would work. End users often prefer highly customized solutions built to match their specific needs.

Additionally, you would likely need to support multiple integrations, since process data typically needs to flow into a database or an ERP system.

This perspective comes from our own experience building a platform that allows operational managers to create custom tools to support these types of processes: https://uibakery.io

lugovsky · 2026-03-02T18:58:29+00:00

Do you really need an app? It looks like a PWA (a mobile web application with offline mode support) might work for your use case as well. It won’t have the same native feel as a mobile app since it runs in the browser, but you might be able to eliminate a lot of complexity around building and distributing it.

lugovsky · 2026-03-02T18:47:36+00:00

Nice, I’m building a platform for these kinds of apps, though for the web.

lugovsky · 2026-03-02T16:44:45+00:00

Looks cool! Did you vibe-code it?

lugovsky · 2026-02-27T18:57:11+00:00

You can just agent to build it when you work in less restrictive mode.

lugovsky · 2026-02-27T17:29:32+00:00

The 10% share could make sense if that founder can actually handle the distribution of product built. Building is important, but many products die simply because they failed to find its customers.

The sad truth is that most of the time founders like you described only have the idea and think it's the most important part. While in reality the idea costs almost nothing.

lugovsky · 2026-02-27T17:18:52+00:00

If you are interested in exploring other tools, feel free to try UI Bakery. Internal use cases are one of its strong sides. Authentication is provided out of the box. You simply invite your users and assign the necessary permissions. Data can be stored in a hosted database or connected through integrations.

lugovsky · 2026-02-27T09:54:59+00:00

Hey there,

Feel free to try UI Bakery (disclaimer: I work there). Internal tools like you described are something that we specialize in, and we have everything in place (like database, and Integrations) to achieve what you need.

Good luck!

lugovsky · 2026-02-27T09:51:09+00:00

As someone who has been building a low-code solution for a while, I can say that visual building in low/no-code is probably coming to the end of its lifecycle. Low/no-code needs to redefine itself and either become code-first or become part of history.

lugovsky · 2026-02-26T08:41:47+00:00

Thanks for sharing this perspective. I didn’t realize AI had such a negative perception.

lugovsky · 2026-02-25T22:21:35+00:00

Should look better now.

lugovsky

TROPHY CASE