MSSPL: Building Inventory Management Application
▶ Designing a Solution to Maximize Inventory Management Capacity
Running larger enterprises at scale often creates multiple data blind spots. A successful digital transformation allows enterprises to fundamentally maximize their potential. It also helps enterprises to improve their administrative capacity by eliminating data blind spots and technology adaptation gaps.
This is exactly what we did for Multiple Special Steel Private Limited by designing a solution for digitizing their inventory management through an Android and an SAP-integrated web application. Our applications helped them maximize their inventory management capacity without losing out on the opportunity for effective utilization of their dead inventory.
Objective
Our primary objective was to create visibility across the inventory. We aimed to digitize the catalogue process by transforming the previously analogue workflow into an automated, modern workflow. We also ensured the full utilization of the dead inventory and minimized asset waste due to the information gap.
Project Background
MSSPL, a large-scale manufacturing enterprise, hit a roadblock. They wanted to understand the total valuation of their goods inventory. However, the total amount of cut pieces of steel and aluminium in their dead inventory remained a huge blind spot for the team. They wanted us to transform their analogue and legacy workflow with modern tech integration.
The Goal
We had mapped a straightforward route to approach this project. Our goals were to
- Understand the tech-usage proficiency of the MSSPL shop-floor team
- Design a digital database that brings visibility to MSSPL’s dead inventory
- Designing an API that easily integrates with modern enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP
▶ The Challenge
The MSSPL team on the shop floor had low compatibility with complicated tech integration. Our challenge was to create a solution that is easy to adapt, even for more hands-on teams.
We wanted to create a smooth transition experience from the legacy analogue systems to the digital-first solutions without creating any bottlenecks.
▶ Solution Building: Creating a Smooth Pathway for Digital Operations
The Process
The process was divided into two phases. The first phase included developing an Android app that digitizes the entire MSSPL inventory, while the second phase included transforming the Android app into an SAP-integrated web app by leveraging the SAP backend.
Phase 1: The Android App
We broke down the Android application design into two stages:
- Mapping the user behaviour
- Designing a solution that is compatible with the user behaviour
Stage 1: Understanding the user behaviour
The MSSPL shop floor team was operating on an analogue system that required them to manually catalogue each product, creating a huge information gap about their dead inventory. The team was more hands-on and showed low compatibility with tech-heavy digital systems.
Stage 2: Designing a solution that is compatible with the user behaviour
We wanted to design an experience that does not add to the cognitive load of the MSSPL shop-floor team, which would use it every day. We worked with the team to design the complete user journey, defining every step that makes the adaptation journey easier for the team.
Leveraging the AWS infrastructure to host the API, we also ensured that the high-speed API calls returned the serial number to the team so that they could mention that on the physical cut piece.
This process helped us bring all the dead inventory into the book, determining the total valuation and maximizing the scope of inventory management for MSSPL.
Phase 2: The Web Application
Phase 2 of the project started when we decided to transform the Android app into a web application to modernize MSSPL’s enterprise resource planning, leveraging SAP’s tech-stack.
We used SAP’s backend to transition the Android mobile app to a web-based application, bringing accuracy to inventory and pricing in real time.
We have worked with the SAP team for 2 years, ensuring that the database from the Android app can seamlessly migrate to the SAP backend based on SAP standards. We have also designed a workflow that efficiently consumes APIs from SAP, delivering reduced manual reconciliation along with better reporting and analytics.
▶ Impact Delivered
The impact of this project does not end with migrating years of analogue data into a digital resource planning workflow. It goes even deeper.
With MSSPL, we did not just create a solution that ensured increased utility potential for their dead inventory, but also, we designed a process that made the humans who were an integral part of the operations a part of our design.
- Our solution helped MSSPL determine the total valuation of their inventory goods, including their dead inventory.
- It helped in scaling the utility for their inventory by eliminating reporting errors and duplicate entries
- We also helped MSSPL achieve a smooth digital transformation in less than 4 years without cutting down the existing workforce or creating any skill gap inside the enterprise.