Unlike the Equipment Manager, which is specific to an individual map, your Inventory Manager belongs to your organisation and is available across all of your events and maps.
Why Use Inventory Manager?
Many event teams manage inventory using spreadsheets that quickly become outdated and disconnected from the rest of their planning tools.
Inventory Manager brings everything into one place, allowing you to:
Track equipment and assets
Store photos and metadata
Monitor availability and status
Record maintenance history
Track inventory movements
Use your own inventory when building event maps
This gives your team a central source of truth for your organisation's assets while keeping them connected to your event planning.
Inventory vs Equipment
A common question is the difference between Inventory Manager and Equipment Manager.
Inventory Manager
Inventory Manager is organisation-wide.
It contains the physical assets and equipment your organisation owns, leases or manages.
Your inventory is available across your organisation, so the same asset register can be used when planning different events and maps.
Equipment Manager
Equipment Manager is map-specific.
It is essentially a table-based representation of the objects that have been added to a particular map.
When you add an object to your map, it is automatically added to that map's Equipment Manager.
This includes both:
Standard objects added from EventLab's object library
Assets added to the map from your organisation's Inventory Manager
This means your Equipment Manager can contain a combination of standard map objects and your organisation's own inventory assets.
Add Inventory to Your Maps
Once you've added assets to your Inventory Manager, your inventory becomes available when building your maps. If you can't see the Inventory tab in your drawing tools, check to see if you have any items in your Inventory Manager.
When editing a map:
Open the left-hand panel
Open your Inventory within the drawing tools/object library
Find the inventory item you want to use
Select the item and place it on your map
This allows you to plan using the actual assets available within your organisation rather than only using standard EventLab objects.
Once an inventory item is placed on the map, it will also automatically appear in that map's Equipment Manager.
How Inventory, Maps and Equipment Work Together
The easiest way to think about the relationship is:
Inventory Manager → Map → Equipment Manager
Your Inventory Manager contains your organisation's assets.
You can select those assets when building a Map and place them alongside other EventLab objects.
Everything placed on that map is then automatically represented in the map's Equipment Manager.
So:
Inventory Manager = organisation-wide assets available across your events
Map = where equipment and objects are placed and planned
Equipment Manager = map-specific list of everything that has been placed on that map
You don't need to use Inventory Manager to use Equipment Manager. However, if you do maintain your organisation's assets in Inventory Manager, those assets can be placed on your maps and will then be included in the relevant Equipment Manager.