Quantity-Tracked Assets and Consumables

Not everything you manage is a single, uniquely-identifiable item. Laptops, cameras, and vehicles each deserve their own record — but pens, USB-C cables, gloves, and other supplies are managed by how many you have, not by individual identity. Shelf now supports both. When you create an asset you choose a tracking method, and quantity-tracked assets let one record stand for a pool of identical units at a location.

Two tracking methods

When you add or edit an asset, you pick how it should be tracked:

• Individually tracked (default) — One record equals one physical item, exactly as Shelf has always worked. Each item has its own QR code, custody history, and booking history.
• Tracked by quantity — One record represents a pool of identical units (for example, 500 cable ties). You manage the count rather than each unit, and a single QR code represents the whole pool.

Creating a quantity-tracked asset

1. Click Assets in the sidebar, then New asset
2. Give the asset a name
3. Under Tracking method, choose Tracked by quantity
4. Fill in the quantity fields that appear:
   • Quantity — how many units you have (for example, 500)
   • Unit of measure — what they're counted in (for example, "pcs", "boxes", "liters")
   • Min quantity (optional) — the low-stock threshold; Shelf alerts you when available stock drops to or below this number
   • Consumption type — how the stock behaves after checkout (see Consumption types below)
5. Add a Category, Tags, Location, and any other fields as usual
6. Click Save

Consumption types

Quantity-tracked assets can behave in one of two ways after they're handed out or checked out:

• Used up (one-way) — Units are consumed and not expected back. Checking out 50 gloves permanently reduces the count by 50. Best for disposables: gloves, masks, single-use kits.
• Returnable (two-way) — Units are checked out and returned, with a consumption report on the way back. Check out 10 cables; when they come back you report what returned and what was lost or used up. Returned units go back into available stock and the rest are deducted. Best for reusable supplies that occasionally go missing.

When new stock arrives, you can restock a quantity-tracked asset to increase its count. Every quantity change is logged for an audit trail.

Quantity-aware custody

For quantity-tracked assets, custody is by portion rather than all-or-nothing:

• Assign part of the pool to a person — for example, "20 of 100 USB-C cables to Sarah." The available count drops by 20.
• Several team members can hold different quantities of the same asset at once.
• Releasing custody — fully or partially — returns those units to the available pool.

On the mobile app

Quantity-tracked assets are available in the Shelf Companion app for iPhone and Android, so you can read stock and hand out units from the floor:

• The assets list shows a quantity pill on each pooled asset's row.
• The asset detail screen shows a quantity card with the total plus a per-status breakdown — available, in custody, reserved, and checked out — and a custody row for each person, listing how many units they currently hold.
• Tap Assign to give a set number of units to a team member. The amount is capped at the units actually available to assign.
• Tap a holder's custody row to release units back to the pool. The amount is capped at the units that person can release.

Individually tracked assets look and behave exactly as before in the app. See Getting Started with Shelf Companion for the full mobile walkthrough.

Quantity in bookings

You can reserve a quantity of a pooled asset for a booking. Available stock is calculated as:

Available = Total quantity − In custody − Reserved in bookings

When you reserve units in a booking, the available count drops immediately, so two bookings can't reserve the same stock. For returnable assets, check-in reconciles what came back versus what was consumed before the booking closes.

Total value counts every unit

The value you set on an asset is the per-unit value. For a quantity-tracked asset, Shelf multiplies it by the quantity on hand to get the pool's total worth — a box of 100 cables at €2 each counts as €200, not €2. That total flows through everywhere value is summed: the dashboard inventory-value tile, location and kit totals, a booking's total asset value (including the pull-list PDF), the value-based reports, and CSV exports. Individually tracked assets are unaffected — with a quantity of one, per-unit and total are the same number.

Low-stock alerts

If you set a min quantity, Shelf watches the available count for that asset. When a stock adjustment or custody assignment takes the count to or below the threshold, the workspace owner is notified by email so you can reorder before you run out. The Low stock badge on the asset page clears automatically when stock rises back above the threshold through a restock or returns.

Asset models (optional)

You can group individually tracked assets under an Asset Model (for example, "Dell Latitude 5550") so that shared defaults — like category and valuation — are pre-filled when you create new assets from that model. Asset models are managed under Settings → Asset models, and you can bulk-create assets from a model. Models also unlock booking by model: reserve "4x" of a model and scan any 4 units at pickup. Note that models group individually tracked assets only; a quantity-tracked pool cannot join a model.

When to use which method

• Use Individually tracked when each unit needs its own QR code, custody chain, and history — laptops, cameras, vehicles, instruments.
• Use Tracked by quantity when only the count matters — cables, adapters, gloves, fasteners, and other supplies.

For the full decision framework, including when a fleet of identical units belongs under an Asset Model, see How to Choose a Tracking Method.

Need per-unit history on a pooled item? Printing several QR labels for one quantity-tracked asset still points every label at the same pool — they all show and adjust the same count. If you need independent history per unit, track those items individually instead.

Related Articles

• Consumables Tracking — track consumables by quantity, with units, low-stock alerts, and quantity-aware custody
• How to Choose a Tracking Method — individual assets, Asset Models, or quantity tracking, per item type
• Adding New Assets — the full asset creation walkthrough
• Adding Additional Fields to Assets — capture business-specific data
• How to Create a Booking — reserve assets, including quantities
• Using Categories to Organize Your Asset Inventory