Results

Project summary

We helped a rapidly growing startup take control of its inventory with a custom-built forecasting and reorder alert system inside Airtable. The result was confident ordering, proactive supply chain management, and better decision-making—despite aggressive growth.

The challenge

As the company scaled, inventory planning became chaotic. Reorders were reactive, often arriving too late or in excess. They lacked visibility into actual usage trends, and lead times varied by supplier, making it hard to plan ahead.

What we built

We created an automated forecasting and alert system that accounts for real usage and supplier-specific lead times:

• Rolling usage averages calculated monthly and quarterly per item
• Forecast engine compares expected usage against current stock + lead time
• Automated email alerts sent when projected usage would lead to stockouts
• Lead times mapped per vendor, dynamically used in forecast calculations

The system runs in Airtable with Make handling alerts and logic updates—fully integrated, easy to manage, and flexible for future scaling.

Technical highlights

• Forecasts refresh automatically based on historical usage data
• Each supplier has a custom lead time field factored into the alert thresholds
• Dynamic logic ensures alerts only trigger when action is actually needed
• Built-in override fields allow manual tweaks to reorder thresholds or forecast weightings
  

Results

• Proactive ordering replaced last-minute panic buys
• Improved supply chain reliability through better vendor alignment
• Time savings from fewer manual checks and reduced overstocking
• Scalable framework for growth without adding inventory management headcount