Fishbowl Helps NASA Track Its Assets… in Space!

In addition to its status as the #1 inventory management software for QuickBooks users, Fishbowl Inventory is becoming known as a great standalone tool for organizations seeking a powerful asset tracking solution. These organizations include the Mississippi State Department of Health and NASA. I already went into great detail about how MSDH used Fishbowl in my blog post “How Mississippi Became a Leader in Emergency Preparedness After Katrina.” Be sure to check out that post. Today I’ll focus on how NASA uses Fishbowl to improve its asset tracking.

How to Feed an Astronaut

The article that inspired this post is from Smart Planet and it’s entitled “How to feed an astronaut: a talk with NASA’s space food manager.” In that article, Michele Perchonok, Shuttle Food System manager, talks about the challenges NASA faces in feeding their astronauts, as well as their food program’s growth over the years. Space food has come a long way since the early Apollo missions. As astronauts’ food supplies grew over the years from simple applesauce to more than 180 food items, NASA has had to use more advanced asset tracking solutions. They started using Fishbowl to manage all the raw ingredients used to develop their astronauts’ food supply. Today, with the help of barcodes, they track everything from the raw ingredients to the consumption of the final food products in space.

NASA’s Food Challenges

NASA needs to make sure astronauts have both the right kinds and the right amounts of food before they take off for the International Space Station because there are no supermarkets in space. However, they face a big problem of food spoilage and loss of nutrients over time. They store most food products at room temperature, so it’s important to cycle through them in an appropriate amount of time. NASA is still trying to find the right balance between shelf life and nutritional value. Fishbowl will continue to serve an important role in their food program as they make improvements.

Fishbowl’s Standalone Solutions

If your organization is looking for affordable software to track its assets, you should get a free trial of Fishbowl to see if it’s right for you. Fishbowl has helped a variety of organizations run more efficiently, and it can help you, too!