Prep Station

For kitchen inventory

Know what is on the shelf Scan it, count it, even offline

Prep Station tracks stock by location with barcode and camera scanning across count, purchase, waste, and receiving—plus offline modes for coolers, basements, and dead zones.

No credit card required · Camera + wedge scan · Cancel anytime

Inventory Management

Track stock levels, costs, and movements

LA Kitchen

Total items

248

Low stock

12

Out of stock

3

Total value

$42.8k

Search inventory by item, SKU, or barcode
Category: All Storage: All
Item Current stock Status

Chicken breast

ING-1024 · Walk-in A

38 lb In stock

Arborio rice

ING-1048 · Dry storage

9 lb Low

Heavy cream

ING-1081 · Walk-in B

0 qt Out

Olive oil

ING-1102 · Dry storage

18 L In stock
Inventory index with location, stock status, storage, and unit cost.

Why use Prep Station inventory

01

Scan once, work every mode

Camera or handheld wedge finds the unit, case, or SKU in count, purchase, waste, and receiving.

02

Count where the food lives

Work offline in walk-ins and basements; sync counts, purchase carts, and waste when you reconnect.

03

Close the period with real COGS

Average cost, stock periods, and valuation reports reflect purchase history—not a guess.

No credit card for the live demo

Sample stock, counts, and receiving

Cancel anytime

A clipboard dies in the walk-in. Counts, receiving, and waste need a system that follows the food.

Catering kitchens lose money on mystery shortages, unapproved spoilage, and on-hand numbers that were last true on Monday morning.

Take inventory seriously

If staff cannot count where the product sits—including dead zones—the back office will always be lying to itself.

Barcode & camera

One scan across count, purchase, waste, and receiving

Point the phone camera or a handheld wedge at the label. Prep Station matches unit barcode, case barcode, or vendor SKU, jumps to the card, and focuses the next qty field for the mode you are in.

  • Camera viewfinder on phone or tablet; wedge scanners via scan mode (press S)
  • Same label works in physical count, purchase cart, waste, and PO receiving
  • Off-page lookup brings the item into view; cached cards still match offline

Physical Count Mode

Full count · All inventory · 3 items in cart

Scan barcode or search inventory items…

Scan mode on · unit, case, or vendor SKU

Camera Scanner

Point camera at barcode

Detected EAN-13 · 041220847570

Found · count quantity ready

Roma Tomatoes, 25 lb

Market Produce · LA Kitchen · Walk-in A

Normal
Vendor SKU
ORG-TOM-25LB
Unit barcode
041220847570
Case barcode
10412208475707
Current stock
18.5 lb

Count this item

Counted quantity 18.5 lb
Add to Count
Physical Count Mode with the real inventory search scanner, camera result, matching item card, and count action.

Physical Count Mode

Cycle count · Walk-ins

Offline

You are offline. Changes will sync when reconnected.

Count cart

Cached inventory remains available on this device

3 unsynced
  • Roma Tomatoes, 25 lb

    Walk-in A · Queued

    18.5 lb
  • Heavy Cream, 1 qt

    Walk-in B · Queued

    0 qt
  • All-Purpose Flour

    Dry Storage · Queued

    2 bags
Sync resumes automatically online 3 pending
Offline physical count with cached inventory, queued entries, and the unsynced-work indicator.

Offline inventory

Count the cooler without WiFi

Pre-download the catalog, then walk into the walk-in. Physical counts, purchase cart lines, and waste entries save on the device and push automatically when connectivity returns. Cached barcodes still match on the device.

  • Resume interrupted count sessions after a lost signal
  • Case and unit qty entry the way vendors deliver
  • Unsynced work indicator so nothing gets lost between shifts

Counts & waste

Floor count, manager review, then post

Full, cycle, and spot-check sessions with progress bars and variance. Waste logs follow the same approval path so spoilage is not a quiet write-off.

  1. 01

    Start session

    Full, cycle, or spot check—scheduled sheets optional.

  2. 02

    Scan & count

    Scan to the row; blind counts hide system on-hand when you want unbiased numbers.

  3. 03

    Review

    Managers see variance before anything posts to stock.

  4. 04

    Post

    Completed counts and approved waste update inventory.

Scan a case, run a count, and receive a PO in the live demo.

PO202607-0004

Sysco Foods · Purchase Order

Scan History

Barcode scanner

Scan barcode or enter SKU…

Scan a vendor SKU or product barcode to jump to that item

Receiving progress 50%
1 pending1 partial1 done

Items to receive

  • All-Purpose Flour, 50 lb

    4 cases · SKU SYS-FLR-50

    Exp
    4
    Rcvd
    4
    Rem
    0
  • Heavy Cream, 1 qt

    12 cases · SKU SYS-CRM-1QT

    Exp
    12
    Rcvd
    6
    Rem
    6

    Short · Reject · Substitute · Close

  • Chicken Thigh, bone-in

    40 lb · SKU SYS-THI-BNIN

    Exp
    40
    Rcvd
    0
    Rem
    40
Purchase-order receiving with scan-to-item, progress, partial receipts, discrepancy actions, and quantity entry.

Receiving

Partial receives with a full audit trail

Receive PO lines as the truck arrives. Scan a vendor SKU to jump to the line. Capture vendor lots when traceability is on. Build the next purchase from low stock—or pull from commissary—in the same mobile purchase workflow.

  • Purchase cart from low-stock alerts
  • Storage location tracking by cooler and shelf
  • Average cost that reflects purchase history
Kitchen staff counting inventory inside a walk-in cooler

Where the food lives

Inventory that survives the walk-in

Pair with purchasing and vendors so low stock becomes a PO—not another sticky note.

Recipe production deducts ingredients and adds finished goods. Move product between kitchens with commissary transfers. See pricing for plans.

Questions inventory teams ask

Straight answers about counts, receiving, waste, and offline work.

Is inventory tracked per kitchen?

Yes. Each location sees its own on-hand stock, storage locations, and par levels so multi-unit ops do not share a single fictional warehouse count.

Can we scan barcodes instead of typing SKUs?

Yes. Prep Station supports device camera scanning and handheld wedge scanners. The same unit barcode, case barcode, or vendor SKU finds the item in browse, physical count, purchase cart, waste logging, and receiving.

What happens after a successful scan?

Prep Station jumps to the matching inventory card and auto-focuses the next field for that mode—count qty, purchase qty, or waste qty—so staff keep moving without hunting the row.

Can we count inventory without cell signal?

Yes. Physical counts, purchase building, and waste recording work offline after you pre-download the catalog. Cached barcodes still match on-device; entries queue and auto-sync when WiFi returns.

What count types are supported?

Full counts, cycle counts, and spot checks—including scheduled count sheet programs by frequency and scope. Blind counts can hide system on-hand from counters.

How does receiving update stock?

Receive against purchase order lines (partial or full) in a unified receiving interface. Scan a vendor SKU on the receive screen to jump to that line. Inventory adjusts on receipt with a full audit history.

Do we get COGS and valuation reporting?

Yes. Close stock periods for cost-of-goods-sold reporting, track average cost from purchase history, and run inventory valuation and movement reports.

Prep Station

Scan, count, and receive like the kitchen depends on it

Camera or wedge scan across every inventory mode, offline walk-in counts, receiving, and waste approval—so on-hand stock is trustworthy before the next event.

No credit card required · Cancel anytime