Freelance project · SaaS
Know what’s in stock, what’s running low and what to reorder
The Inventory Management System tracks items, purchase orders and suppliers for businesses that hold stock across one or more locations. I designed the dashboards, the ordering and receiving flows, and the screens staff use to count stock.
01The problem
Inventory goes wrong in small ways that add up: a delivery logged against the wrong item, a count done on paper and typed in later, a reorder nobody placed. Many tools show stock levels but not why they changed or what to do next. The design had to make every movement traceable and turn low stock into a clear action.
Who it’s for
Operations managers
Need to see stock health across locations and act on shortages before they affect sales.
Warehouse staff
Need to receive deliveries and count stock quickly on a tablet, without errors.
Purchasing leads
Need to raise orders from what is actually low and follow them through to delivery.
02The main flow
01
Low-stock alert
02
Review suggested quantity
03
Raise purchase order
04
Receive the delivery
05
Stock updated with history
03Structure
Overview
Items
Orders
Suppliers
Counts
04Key decisions
Decision 01
When a stock figure is simply edited, nobody can tell later why it changed or who changed it.
Considered
An editable quantity field on the item page.
Chosen
I made every change a movement with a reason, a person and a time; the stock level is the sum of those movements, with its history one click away.
Why it works
It adds a step to quick fixes, but it turns arguments about the numbers into a lookup.
Decision 02
Deliveries rarely match the order exactly: short shipments, substitutes and damaged items are common.
Considered
A single mark-as-received button on the purchase order.
Chosen
I designed receiving line by line, with fields for quantity received, damaged and missing, and the order stays partly open until the rest arrives.
Why it works
It is slower than one button, but it keeps stock accurate and gives purchasing a clear record to take back to the supplier.
Decision 03
Automatic reordering saves effort but can place a large order on the back of a one-off spike.
Considered
Fully automatic purchase orders whenever stock crosses a threshold.
Chosen
I showed a suggested quantity beside each low-stock item, with the recent usage behind it, and let the purchasing lead adjust and approve in a batch.
Why it works
The system does the maths and the person keeps the judgement, while batch approval keeps the task quick.
05What’s inside
Quantities for every item across warehouses and shops, with transfers between them.
Reorder points per item raise alerts that link straight to a draft purchase order.
Create, send and track orders, with partial receiving and supplier notes.
Every change to stock has a reason, a person and a time behind it.
Differences found during counts are listed for review before stock is adjusted.
06Outcome
Delivered
What I learned
In operations tools the edge cases are the product. Partial deliveries got more of my time than the dashboard.
Showing why a number changed builds more trust than making the number look precise.
Next step
Pick a time that suits you. You'll leave the call with a clear next step, whether we work together or not.