I need to track the usage of several hundred items. They can be
lumped into three or four basic categories. Each one has a unique
identifier. I need to track when an item came into the system, when
it was replaced, and the item "life" - this is done by date and by
certain item parameters. Each replacement item then becomes a new
item to track.

This seems to scream for an Access database, but I'm restricted to
Excel because that's what we have that people are familiar with. If
someone wants to see this, I can email them a workbook with greater
confidence in their understanding that if I try to give them an entire
database. (I'm also more familiar with Excel, and have greater
confidence in sending out understandable data than if I used Access!)

I'm thinking maybe one workbook with a worksheet for each category of
item, and a UserForm for input - a drop-down to select the item type
with text boxes for data input, or maybe a multipage control to allow
for needing different data inputs for different items. Code would
find the right worksheet, insert a blank line under the item replaced
and fill everything in, then set formulas to calculate item life.
(Previous attempts have resulted in separate workbooks for each item
type, and manual insertion of new lines and formulas. I'd rather
not!)

Does this sound like the best way with Excel? Or does anyone have a
better solution?
Ed