We have about 200 unique components used in the production, and whenever it was necessary to prepare components for SMT assembly was a nightmare to manually calculate all the components needed by the BOM. Yes, you may measure the length of the tape, divide it by the pitch... but if you need like 2300 of 0402 12k resistors - better to use something faster than the ruler. 

So in a few days of coding and soldering, the prototype was ready:

It can only work with 8m tapes with different pitches. 

In the next revision, an adjustable slider was added for multiple tape widths. But the general principle remained the same.