The Starting Point
Home Style Foods, a growing food production company, was running their entire inventory operation manually. Stock counts on whiteboards. Reorder decisions from memory. Purchase orders typed into email and tracked in a shared spreadsheet no one fully trusted.
The founder knew it wasn't sustainable — they'd had two costly stockout events in one quarter — but assumed a proper inventory system would mean a $20,000 enterprise software contract and months of implementation.
They were wrong. The full solution cost less than two months of the time they were wasting on manual data entry.
What We Built
BockTrack — a custom Progressive Web App (PWA) purpose-built for their operation. No off-the-shelf inventory system fit because they needed to track raw ingredients by batch, connect to their production schedule, and generate purchase orders automatically when stock hit reorder thresholds.
Week 1: Process Mapping & Data Audit. We spent 3 days mapping every inventory touchpoint — receiving, production consumption, finished goods, and reorder. We inventoried what data they had (mostly in their heads and on spreadsheets) and what data they needed to capture going forward.
Week 2–3: Build. We built BockTrack as a mobile-first PWA — works on any phone or tablet, no app store install required. Features: barcode scanning for receiving, real-time stock levels, automated low-stock alerts, one-tap purchase order generation with PDF output, and a production schedule that auto-deducts ingredient usage.
Week 4: Training & Handoff. Two days of on-site training with the warehouse team, one day with the owner on the admin dashboard. Full documentation delivered. Zero ongoing dependency on us.
The Results
100% of manual paper-based tracking eliminated from day one of go-live.
Zero stockouts in the 60 days following implementation — compared to two in the quarter before.
4 hours/week saved on manual counting and reorder decisions — time the owner now uses for production planning.
Real-time visibility for the first time: the owner can check stock levels from his phone at any time, from anywhere.
The entire project — design, build, training, and documentation — was completed in 4 weeks at a fixed price. The ROI was positive in the first month.
Why This Worked When Others Have Failed
We've seen SMEs buy off-the-shelf inventory software that sat unused for six months. The failure pattern is always the same: the software was designed for someone else's workflow, required too much manual setup, or was too complex for a non-technical team to maintain without IT support.
BockTrack worked because:
1. It matched their workflow, not a generic template. We didn't ask them to adapt to software — we built software that matched how they actually work.
2. Mobile-first for a mobile team. Warehouse staff don't work at desks. A barcode scanner and a phone replaced the clipboard.
3. Automation where it matters most. Purchase orders and stock alerts happen automatically — no one has to remember to check.
Is This Right for Your Business?
If your operation relies on spreadsheets, whiteboards, or memory for anything that happens more than once a week, there's a version of this that works for you.
Our SME AI Audit starts with exactly this kind of process mapping — identifying where manual work is costing you the most and what the right solution looks like. It's a 2-day, flat-fee engagement that gives you a clear action plan before you spend a dollar on software.