stock-counting-mobile

A mobile stock-counting app for warehouse and shop-floor staff, built to keep working where the signal does not.

Role: Architecture, mobile, backend
Period: 2022 — 2023
Stack

0 days

Cut from count cycle

Counts captured offline

Source of truth

Problem

TODO: replace. Stock counts were captured on paper and typed into the ERP afterwards, so the numbers were stale before they were entered — and nobody could tell which of two conflicting figures was right.

TODO: Paper counts re-keyed hours later

TODO: No audit trail of who counted what

TODO: Dead zones in the warehouse with no connectivity

Solution

TODO: replace. A React Native app that captures counts directly against the ERP's item list, stores them locally, and syncs when a connection returns. Every count carries who, when and where.

TODO: Barcode-first capture to remove typing

TODO: Local-first storage with background sync

TODO: Variance surfaced at the point of counting

Architecture

TODO: replace. The app holds a local store as the working copy and treats the server as the eventual authority. A sync worker replays queued counts in order and surfaces conflicts rather than silently resolving them.

Device

React NativeLocal storeSync queue

Service

Node.js APIReconciliation

System of record

Odoo / ERPPostgreSQL

Challenges

Trustworthy sync

TODO: replace. Silent conflict resolution destroys trust in a counting tool. Conflicts are surfaced to a supervisor with both figures and their provenance.

Usable in gloves, in a hurry

TODO: replace. The interface had to work one-handed at speed, which ruled out most conventional form patterns.

Outcome

TODO: replace with the real result and verifiable figures only.