[EE] Suggestions for barcode scanning

I'm overseeing a physical inventory count at year end and looking for tools
or suggestions.

We’ve got about 7,000 part numbers and roughly 50,000 total parts. Every
item has a barcode label with its part number.

Ideally, I’d like to deploy 2–3 people with mobile phones or tablets using
a simple workflow:
Scan bin -> enter count -> upload to spreadsheet -> repeat.
Seems straightforward, and if we can get it down to ~10 seconds per cycle,
I think we could cover everything in a day. That’s not a hard requirement,
just a ballpark that feels reasonable.

I’ve done some searching and haven’t found anything that even remotely
matches this workflow. Most tools I’ve seen are layered with features —
inventory management, purchasing, stock levels, etc. They may be great in
their own right, but they’re not built for this kind of “count only” audit,
and they seem to take several minutes per cycle and the math on that looks
like multiple weeks. That doesn't feel reasonable.

I cannot possibly be the first person to want to do this.

Usually when I can’t find something that “just has to exist,” it’s either:

   - I’m describing it wrong / using the wrong search terms
   - Or I’ve got my head up my backside and there’s something I’m not seeing

There’s precedent for both. :-)

I’m about 90% convinced I need to write my own app for this, but before I
commit, I wanted to ask the hivemind:

   - Am I asking the wrong questions?
   - Am I thinking about this wrong?
   - Any tools, workflows, or suggestions you’ve seen or used?

At this point, I’d even settle for slings and arrows.


-Denny
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