Software Development Proposal — Custom Inventory & Order System for Olive & Oak

Prepared for: Daniel Okafor, Operations Director, Olive & Oak Specialty Foods Prepared by: Priya Nair, Foundry Labs Date: 18 March 2026 Valid until: 17 April 2026

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1. Executive summary

Olive & Oak currently runs its entire distribution business on linked spreadsheets, and stock counts, purchase orders, and warehouse picking now drift out of sync several times a week. Foundry Labs proposes to build a custom inventory and order-management system that gives one source of truth for stock, automates purchase orders, and guides warehouse picking from a tablet. We estimate a 14-week build delivered in four phases for a fixed price of $96,000, paid against milestones. The goal: cut order-processing errors and let the team scale past the spreadsheet ceiling.

2. Problem and objectives

In our discovery sessions your team described:

• Stock levels live in three spreadsheets that have to be reconciled by hand, and counts are often wrong by the time someone picks an order.
• Purchase orders to suppliers are typed manually, so re-orders are late and occasionally duplicated.
• Pickers work from printed sheets, and mis-picks on similar SKUs (oils, vinegars) drive returns and credits.

Objectives for this project:

• Objective 1 — a single live stock figure per SKU across receiving, storage, and dispatch.
• Objective 2 — automatic purchase-order suggestions when stock falls below a per-supplier reorder point.
• Objective 3 — a tablet picking workflow that reduces mis-picks to under 1 percent of order lines.

3. Proposed solution and architecture

We propose a web-based system with a tablet-friendly picking interface, backed by a single database that becomes the source of truth for stock and orders.

• Inventory core — real-time stock per SKU and location, with movement history for full traceability.
• Purchasing — reorder points per supplier; the system drafts purchase orders for one-click approval.
• Order and picking workflow — sales orders flow to a guided, barcode-scan picking screen on a warehouse tablet, decrementing stock as items are picked.

At a high level: a responsive web client and a tablet picking app talk to a central application API; the API reads and writes a relational database and runs scheduled background jobs for reorder calculations and nightly reconciliation. The system integrates with your Xero accounting for invoicing and with your existing supplier email addresses for sending purchase orders.

4. Scope

In scope

• Inventory management: SKUs, locations, real-time stock, movement history, stock-take adjustments.
• Purchasing: supplier records, reorder points, auto-drafted purchase orders, receiving against POs.
• Orders and picking: sales-order entry, tablet barcode picking, dispatch confirmation.
• Reporting: stock valuation, low-stock, and mis-pick dashboards.
• Xero integration for sales invoices; role-based logins for office and warehouse staff.

Out of scope (this engagement)

• A customer-facing online ordering portal.
• Native iOS or Android apps (the tablet picking screen is a responsive web app).
• Migrating historical order data older than the current financial year.
• Multi-warehouse support beyond your single Bristol site.

5. Delivery plan

Phase	Focus	Key outputs	Duration
1	Discovery & design	Technical spec, UI designs, prioritised backlog	2 weeks
2	Foundation	Logins, data model, inventory core, stock import	3 weeks
3	Purchasing & orders	Reorder logic, PO workflow, order entry	4 weeks
4	Picking, integration & launch	Tablet picking, Xero sync, testing, training, go-live	5 weeks

Cadence: two-week sprints, each ending in a demo and feedback session with Daniel and the warehouse lead. Client commitments: a current SKU export by start of Phase 2, a named decision-maker for sign-offs, and two warehouse staff available for picking tests in Phase 4.

6. Team and technology stack

Role	Name	Responsibility
Lead engineer	Priya Nair	Architecture, API, integrations
Developer	Tom Becker	Inventory and purchasing features
Designer	Lena Ortiz	Web and tablet UI/UX
Project lead	Sam Whitfield	Communication, scope, sprint demos

Stack: TypeScript with a React front end and a Node application API, chosen because it is widely supported and easy to hire for; a PostgreSQL database for reliable, relational stock data; hosting on a managed cloud platform with daily backups; and a barcode-scanning library for the tablet picking screen.

7. Pricing and milestones

Pricing model: Fixed price, paid against milestones, with a small time-and-materials allowance for any agreed changes outside the scope in Section 4.

Milestone	What you receive	Payment
Kickoff	Signed proposal, discovery workshop booked	$19,200 (20%)
End of Phase 2	Inventory core usable with your real stock	$28,800 (30%)
End of Phase 3	Purchasing and order entry in your hands	$28,800 (30%)
Launch	Picking live, Xero connected, team trained	$19,200 (20%)
Total		$96,000

Change allowance: out-of-scope work is quoted as a change order at $120/hour before any work begins. Payment terms: invoices due within 14 days of each milestone sign-off.

8. Assumptions and risks

Assumptions

• Olive & Oak provides a clean SKU and supplier export at the start of Phase 2.
• The Xero account has API access on your current plan.
• Warehouse tablets and barcode scanners are available for testing in Phase 4.

Risks and mitigations

Risk	Likelihood	Mitigation
Xero integration edge cases	Medium	A spike in discovery confirms the invoice flow before Phase 3
Picking workflow needs iteration	Medium	Two-week pilot with real pickers before full go-live
SKU data quality	Medium	Validation and a cleanup pass during the Phase 2 import

9. Warranty and support

Every build includes a 30-day warranty after launch: we fix any defect in delivered, in-scope features at no charge. Handover includes the full source code, deployment documentation, and all credentials. After the warranty, we offer an optional maintenance retainer from $1,500/month covering hosting management, security updates, and a pool of support hours, with a one-business-day response target.

10. Next steps

To proceed, sign below or reply to this email and we'll issue the kickoff invoice and schedule your Phase 1 discovery workshop.

Accepted by: ______________________ Date: ____________