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Community darkroom

A worked example: a shared film-photography darkroom, where members mix chemistry, run enlargers, and expect the room to be ready when they book time. It uses Inventory, Assets, and Maintenance, with a members portal over the top.

What you end up with

  • The enlargers, easels, and print washers as assets: each a single tracked item with its own service history.
  • Chemistry as inventory: developer, stop, fixer, each with a quantity and a reorder point, so a near-empty jug is a flagged view rather than a surprise at the sink.
  • Chemistry that flags itself when it's aged out, not just when it's low.
  • A maintenance log per piece of equipment, so a balky enlarger's history is right there.
  • A members view of what's stocked and what's out of service.

Chemistry that expires

Darkroom chemistry goes off on a clock whether or not anyone uses it. Inventory handles this directly: set a replace interval on a mixed batch (developer good for 30 days, say) and Cobblr starts a clock on it. When the interval elapses, the part raises a replace-due event, which a wire can turn into a notification or a line on the mixing list. Mix a fresh batch and tap Replaced: the clock resets and one spare is drawn from stock, reordering if that leaves you short.

Putting it together

  1. Enable Inventory and add the chemistry with quantities and reorder points. For the batches that age, set the replace interval so the expiry clock arms.

  2. Enable Assets and add the equipment. Log each item's condition and put it in a location so members know which station is which.

  3. Use Maintenance, which is already on, to record servicing against the equipment, with a due date on the recurring jobs so upkeep surfaces itself. See recurring maintenance reminders.

  4. Point a notification channel at the coordinators (in-app, or a shared Discord) so an expired batch or a low jug reaches whoever restocks.

  5. Give members a read-only custom app showing what's in stock and what equipment is out of service, so they know before they book time whether the room is ready.

The result

A darkroom that tells its coordinators when chemistry is aging, when a jug is running low, and when an enlarger is due for service, before a member arrives to a room that isn't ready. The reorder and expiry flows run off the same inventory records the members browse, so there's one source of truth for the state of the room.