I used to hand-count inventory at the end of each shift, now I scan and leave 40 minutes early

Julia Gonzalez · 2026-09-30T00:40:04.611263+00:00

For two years at the supply warehouse on Delaney Street I counted bolts and fittings by hand every single night, usually 400 to 600 pieces, and I would still be there at 6:15 when everyone else clocked out at 5:30. I kept making small mistakes too, maybe 3 or 4 wrong counts a month, and the morning crew would have to fix my sheets before the trucks loaded. About 5 months ago my supervisor handed me a $90 barcode scanner she got off a surplus site and told me to just try it for a week. The first night it felt slower because I had to scan each bin tag instead of eyeballing it, but I finished the whole aisle in 50 minutes instead of 3 hours. After a month my counts were dead on, and now I am walking out the door at 5:35 with the paperwork already filed. I know not every boring job can just buy a gadget, but has anyone here talked their boss into a small tool that cut their shift down like this?

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I used to hand-count inventory at the end of each shift, now I scan and leave 40 minutes early | Boring Job Talk - Rigidtalk