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Case study / Anonymised UK manufacturer

From spreadsheet fragments
to build control.

A manufacturer of approximately 40 people needed one practical way to connect bills of materials, purchasing, inventory and production. I built a lightweight system around the way the business worked.

Company
UK manufacturer
Scale
Approximately 40 people
System
Lightweight operational ERP
Reconstructed build overview linking work orders, component availability and purchasing status
After — BoM, inventory, purchasing and build status managed in one operational system. Reconstructed interface with fictional data. Select image to view full size.

The project is real; the client is anonymised. The screens below are representative reconstructions created for this case study. Part numbers, suppliers, dates and work orders are fictional.

Before

Simple questions.
Too much reconciliation.

What parts are needed? What’s already ordered? What’s in stock — and what is preventing the build from moving forward? The answers were spread across spreadsheets and manual updates.

Representative production bill-of-materials workbook with stock, supplier dates and manual notes
Before — critical information distributed across spreadsheets and manual updates. Representative spreadsheet with fictional data. Select image to view full size.

The system

Follow the part through the workflow.

A structured operational model connected the bill of materials to demand, purchasing and inventory, then into the build. The team could work from one system without a heavyweight ERP transformation.

  1. 01BoM
  2. 02Demand
  3. 03Purchasing
  4. 04Inventory
  5. 05Build

Two views of the same operation

What the build needs.
What purchasing needs to do.

Reconstructed assembly view with required, available, short and ordered quantities
BoM / assembly view — component requirements and availability against a build. Reconstructed interface; fictional data. Select image to view full size.
Reconstructed shortages view with linked work orders, suppliers and promised delivery dates
Purchasing / shortages view — missing components connected to the builds waiting for them. Reconstructed interface; fictional data. Select image to view full size.

The outcome

One connected operational system.

The manufacturer could manage the flow from BoM through purchasing and inventory into production. A practical system around the company’s actual process, replacing fragmented spreadsheets and manual reconciliation.

This is the gap Darcy Builds works in: a process too important to stay fragile, without the need for an enterprise replacement programme.

Have a similar operational gap?

Show me the spreadsheet

Send me the spreadsheet, form or workflow that’s causing the pain. I’ll tell you whether I’d build something, improve what you already have, or leave it alone.

Tell me about your process Explore the £8k–£12k sprint