Hey man, some goods point with items -I have asked some of our resident IBT bot programmers if an automated way of tracking inventory is possible and I provided a particular way I think it could be achieved..however it's allot of work and may not be possible (jury is still out).
I tend to agree though, if it can't be automated, then we need to keep each stage a bit more independent and it makes sense use it or lose it for the round :). It will also make it a bit easier for people to follow and hopefully self manage :)