The Spreadsheet Was Supposed to Be Temporary

The amount saved depends on the application, the integrations, and the requirements. We assess those costs alongside security, training, maintenance, and support.

A focused planning tool can therefore have a much lower entry point than a broad ERP or WMS implementation. Its scope addresses the workflow that needs attention, while existing systems can continue serving the functions they already handle well.

That creates room to revisit useful tools that previously seemed too expensive to build.

Our work with By the Way Bakery

Our work with By the Way Bakery offers a concrete example.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal, we built a custom planning application using the bakery's spreadsheet data. For an order of 1,200 cakes, the system could calculate the eggs and powdered sugar required, while supporting ingredient, labor, and production planning.

The case illustrates the value of connecting an incoming order to the resources needed to fulfill it, a focused operational problem that growing businesses can recognize.

Read the original Wall Street Journal feature.

We start with the operating rules

Lower development costs make more projects possible. Operational understanding determines what we should build.

Return to the production planner.

Combining orders and inventory data would remove some manual work. Producing a useful schedule requires us to understand the plant's constraints.