## The Problem

A bridge and road construction company was managing materials and equipment across **multiple sites** manually:

- **Stock discrepancy of 10-20%** between physical inventory and system records
- No real-time tracking for materials and equipment spread across many project locations
- Manual record-keeping was error-prone and caused information delays

## The Solution

Built an **inventory management API** focused on real-time multi-site tracking.

### Key Features

- **Multi-site stock tracking**: real-time recording of materials and equipment per project location
- **Barcode scanning**: fast and accurate input for receiving, transfer, and stock opname
- **REST API**: endpoints for integration with other systems and mobile access
- **Reporting**: stock reports per location, mutations, and discrepancy alerts

## Results

- **Stock discrepancy dropped from 10-20% to under 2%**: nearly eliminating the gap between physical and system records
- **Real-time visibility**: management can view stock positions across all project locations at any time
- **Faster processes**: barcode scanning replaced slow and error-prone manual record-keeping

## Lessons Learned

1. **Simple solution > complex architecture**: barcode scanning is an incredibly simple solution but its impact on data accuracy is massive
2. **Understand the physical workflow**: understanding how materials actually move on the ground (receiving, inter-site transfers, consumption) is more important than choosing cutting-edge technology
3. **Part-time commitment can be impactful**: working ~36 hours/week in a small team, but focusing on the highest-impact features produced measurable outcomes