From Paperwork to Real Time: A Mobile Tool for Timber Depots

Our client is a group of sawmills that sells its timber through a network of stores and depots. Each store manager has a lot to juggle: knowing what’s in stock, handling cash payments, tracking customer bank transfers, preparing for the next delivery truck and keeping the inventory accurate. Much of that information lived in different places. Managers often had to call the factory, check paper records or wait for updates from head office. The client wanted to give every manager a single tool they could carry around the yard, with everything they need in their pocket.

We started by mapping a typical day for a store manager, and the questions they ask again and again. What do I have in stock, and what needs reordering? How much cash is in the till? Has that customer’s transfer arrived? When is the next truck coming, and how much do I need to unload and reload? What does the factory have available?

Those questions became the structure of the app. We also set some clear principles. Managers work on their feet, often outdoors, so the design had to be simple, with large buttons and clear numbers. Information had to use the units they already work in, such as square metres, cubic metres and price per square metre. And signing in had to be quick, so each manager simply picks their store and enters a PIN.

After signing in, managers land on a home screen of large tiles: their stock, their cash, the next truck, received transfers, factory stock, open quotes and customer payments. Each one answers a question from discovery in a single tap.

The stock screen shows every product in real time, grouped into families like decking and landscaping sleepers, with quantities and prices side by side, so managers can quickly spot what needs reordering. The cash screen shows the current amount in the till, a list of recent payments and deposits, and a button to send a ticket deposit. The next-truck screen gives the arrival day, the expected time, and how many cubic metres to unload and reload, with delivery documents ready to download. Incoming bank transfers are listed in one place, and managers can claim each one so payments are matched to the right customer. Finally, an inventory screen shows the date of the last count, lets managers add notes to any product line, and lets them mark damaged stock as downgraded with one tap.

We worked closely with the developers to connect the app to the group’s live data, so the stock levels, payments and delivery details are always up to date. A fresh green palette, clean cards and plenty of white space keep each screen calm and easy to read, even on a busy day in the yard.

The app gives every store manager a clear, real-time view of their store from a single phone. Questions that used to mean a phone call to the factory or a search through paperwork now take a few seconds to answer. Managers can plan ahead for deliveries, keep their cash and transfers in order, and run inventories quickly and without errors. For the group, it brings every store onto the same simple tool, with accurate information flowing between the factory and its depots. The idea behind it is simple: the whole depot, in the manager’s pocket.