Are you still using spreadsheets or spending dollars on expensive SaaS to run your inventory? — you’re in luck because this guide will show you how to build an inventory system app using the same spreadsheet, for free and without writing any code!

How? — The magic wand used here is a no-code app builder that can remove any jitters of custom app development time or costs. Using a simple three-step process, you will get a usable custom inventory system within a couple of hours.

Our method uses Softr’s generous free plan and inventory system template, perfect for testing a custom inventory system to improve business efficiency. This comes at a fraction of custom development or off-the-shelf SaaS costs.

Why use a no-code app builder to create an inventory management system?

One of the primary advantages of no-code platforms is their accessibility – in terms of time, cost, and required technical skills.

Traditional app development requires extensive coding knowledge and experience, often necessitating a team of developers.

While no-code app builders enable individuals with no programming skills or brands with limited budgets to build functional inventory management applications. There are many no-code and low-code app builders that you can choose from, just ensure it has below three key features to create an inventory system:

• Custom data management: the no-code platform should allow you to define custom data models for managing inventory items, suppliers, orders, and related entities, create tables, sync data, define relationships between data, and set up data validation rules.
• Workflow automation: the no-code platform should offer a visual workflow editor, enabling you to define rules and triggers for actions like order processing, stock level updates, and low-stock alerts.
• Reporting and analytics: the no-code platform should offer customizable dashboards, charts, and reports that provide insights into key metrics such as stock levels, order fulfillment rates, and supplier performance.

If you were using Google Sheets, HubSpot, Smartsheet, etc to manage inventory, Softr is a free no-code app builder that builds apps on top of them to make them usable and scalable. You can create a custom inventory system from scratch using free templates and ready-made components.

You can explore more options as per your business requirements from our comprehensive list of no-code app builders and low-code app builders. 

How to create an inventory system using Softr?

In this guide, we will use Softr’s free plan to learn how to create an inventory system.

Step 1: Design an inventory system automation strategy 

Let’s take an example of a manufacturing company that wants to digitize and automate its inventory process. The first step would be to have an automation strategy — which means you identify automation opportunities, select relevant tools, and plan how you will integrate them into your daily workflows.

Here’s how to design an automation strategy for our manufacturing company’s inventory:

Define inventory data:

Identify the types of inventory you need to track. This may include raw materials, work-in-progress items, finished goods, spare parts, packaging materials, consumables, etc.

Map key processes:

Use process mapping tools to identify key workflows, input, and output across procurement, production, and shipping for your business. These may include receiving and put-away, picking and packing, cycle counting, reordering stock, returns and reverse logistics, etc.

Then, visually map these processes into a diagram and identify corresponding web pages and custom fields required for your inventory system application. Here’s an example of a mapped process for a general inventory:

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Image Source: Overview of inventory to deliver business process and relationship to other business processes by Microsoft

As you map out the processes, also consider the data and integration requirements needed to support them. This might include:

• The specific data fields and entities (e.g., products, suppliers, customers) that need to be tracked in your inventory system.
• The integration points with other business systems, such as accounting, sales, or logistics software.
• The automation and workflow triggers that need to be built into the system (e.g., low stock alerts, order processing)

Optimize your processes to remove manual work and identify automation opportunities. Then, iterate your inventory process design and create a final specification sheet for no-code app builders to create the application.

Select the required software:

Using the mapped process diagram and specification sheet, explore which software can help with automation and integrations required to unify data. These can include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, custom CRMs, eCommerce platforms, logistics planners, etc.

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Image Source: ScienceSoft

Here’s great news — instead of purchasing different software for each and shooting off your budget, you can create a custom CRM system, vendor management portal, contract management, and more to keep your systems and data in one no-code app builder, that is, Softr.

For our manufacturing company example, we will use Softr to create an inventory system that automates complete end-to-end inventory management.

Define key metrics:

Determine the key metrics and KPIs that you want to track and monitor using your inventory system. This may include stock levels, inventory turnover, order fulfillment rates, lead times, metrics for supplier performance, etc. Tracking these metrics helps design an inventory system that can capture the necessary data and provide the insights you need to make informed decisions.

Here’s an overview of some key metrics you can track for your inventory system:

You need to design your database such that you can successfully track the required fields to calculate these key metrics. We have explained in detail how to build a custom inventory dashboard using Softr to track and analyze these metrics.

Once you have all the above four requirements, you can proceed to design the inventory system on your chosen no-code app builder.

Step 2: Copy and customize Softr’s inventory system template

We will now work on designing the inventory system for our manufacturing company example using Softr’s free plan and inventory management website template.

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This template allows you to:

• Handle vendor relationships
• Edit and manage purchase orders 
• Manage teams and access for employees and admins

We have provided a detailed walkthrough of the inventory management template here:

Copy template: 

First, sign up for Softr and copy the inventory template. You can create a free account and do not require any credit card details.

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Connect data source:

Choose a database source like Airtable, Google Sheets, HubSpot, etc. Softr helps you instantly integrate in a few steps.

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In our example, we will use Airtable as our data source.

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The Airtable base allows you to manage user, product inventory, manufacturers, and purchase order data. You can edit the template’s database sample with more fields as per your mapped processes and business requirements. Once you finish designing the inventory system on Softr, you can populate it with your existing inventory data.

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You need not do anything to sync data between the Airtable base and Softr app – it does so automatically as you use the inventory system app.

Airtable is a powerful software that helps you create complex data structures using formulas. For example, we found a custom formula to create an inventory count in the Airtable community.

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Edit user groups:

Softr’s template by default creates two user groups – administrator and employee.

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You can also limit access to certain users or a user group using the ‘data restrictions’ feature.

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Edit page design:

Softr provides you with 12 ready-made pages which include pages to manage orders, manufacturers, products, purchase orders, and sign-up/sign-in. First, edit the theme of the Softr app as per your brand guidelines by clicking on the ‘Theme’ option on the left panel. You can edit fonts, text weight, colors, and more.

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To edit individual pages, you can simply go to each page by clicking on the ‘Pages’ option on the left panel and selecting the desired page you wish to edit.

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For example, if you wish to edit the ‘Add product’ page — click on it and it will open the Softr editor on the right panel. You can edit the features, style, and visibility settings for each block as required.

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Automate by mapping and syncing data:

When you launch the inventory system, on the ‘Add Product’ page, the user will add product details and click on the ‘Add Product To Inventory’ button to save it. Now, you need to ensure this data gets saved in your Airtable database.

For this, go to the ‘Features’ section, and for each form field, you can edit the input type, select to which custom field the captured data gets saved, change the label and placeholder text. You can edit the form fields as per your inventory design. Make sure you include corresponding relevant fields in your Airtable base.

Once you map the fields, Softr automatically syncs data whenever any user adds a product to your inventory system! Now, do this for the rest of the template pages and you’ll have your inventory workflows mapped with the database.

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Automate workflows:

Let’s say you want to add custom automation in the inventory system app, like adding or updating product or manufacturer information — for this, Softr provides you with a feature called ‘Actions’.

Take the example of the ‘product inventory’ page — the template provides an action button ‘Add Order’ which helps you quickly add a new order without going back and forth over the Airtable database.

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To edit, click on the ‘Add Order’ button and navigate to the ‘Actions’ section on the right panel. The template already has included an action of ‘add record’ which you can explore and map to your Airtable database.

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You can customize the action with the input type, map to the relevant data type, sort, and toggle the ‘Sync options with data source’ to instantly update your Airtable database from the Softr front end.

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Add integrations:

If you’re looking to connect your existing software with the new inventory system app, Softr allows you to integrate them without code. Head to the ‘Settings’ option on the left panel and choose ‘Integrations’. Softr provides around 20+ direct integrations to choose from and you can also request integration from the Softr team.

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Softr also allows you to further customize the inventory template using custom code and create a mobile progressive web app (PWA) when you choose their paid plan.

Add custom domain:

Once you’re done designing the inventory app, Softr allows you to publish one app over a custom domain for free. Follow the steps here — to connect your custom domain.

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Step 3: Launch and iterate your custom inventory system

You can preview the app by clicking on ‘Preview’ on the top right section of the Softr editor. You can preview according to different user groups and screen sizes. You can also share the Softr app with your teams for collaboration and debugging.

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Before publishing the app, you can launch a pilot of the inventory system app to small teams for user testing. This allows you to get early feedback from a small group of users and make any necessary adjustments before a full-scale rollout.

With the no-code approach, you can quickly implement updates and enhance your inventory system based on user feedback. Softr's free plan and rapid development capabilities shine here — as it allows you to easily make changes to the data models, user interfaces, workflows, and integrations without the need for extensive coding or development resources.

Softr inventory system templates and resources to get started

We found some resources from Softr and other creators that would help you design a usable inventory system app:

• Detailed workshop on building an inventory management system using Softr and Airtable — by the Softr team on YouTube
• Learn how to use AI on Softr to upgrade your inventory system — by the Softr team on YouTube
• Tutorial on using QR codes and permissions for your inventory system — By Business Automation on YouTube
• Designing inventory system for multiple locations on Airtable — by Julian Post on YouTube

5 quick tips on building an inventory system on Softr:

• Consider Softr’s paid plan to add components like Calendar, Kanban Board, various chart types, timelines, and more.
• Create a knowledge base to help your employees learn and troubleshoot the designed inventory system. The Softr X Documint integration is helpful to directly generate documents from your dynamic blocks.
• Improve data security with SSO for app users (SAML, OpenID) — learn more about Softr’s security features.
• If you were using Google Sheets or Airtable before, then it is possible to generate an app from existing data using Softr! It will automatically generate pages, login workflows, a home page, and more without additional efforts of customizing the template. You can also explore the AI app generator to create an inventory system with a prompt.
• You can include a chat and video conferencing system to enable collaboration within your inventory app using AtomChat integration.

FAQs on creating an inventory system using Softr

1. Can I white-label my Softr inventory system app?

Yes, Softr’s free plan allows you to apply your branding and connect a custom domain to your inventory system app.

2. Can I use Softr to manage multiple warehouses or locations?

Yes, you can create multiple user groups for different warehouses and manage permissions to dashboards made onSoftr's inventory system. You can also structure your database to set up different storage locations, track item quantities, and movements between locations, and generate reports for each location separately or as a whole.

3. How much does it cost to build an inventory system with Softr?

Softr’s free plan is generous enough to help you design a white-labeled minimum viable inventory system for up to 5 internal and 100 external users. For features like using custom CSS/JS, embedding Softr apps, adding more users, etc – you can explore Softr’s paid plans starting at USD 49 per month (when paid yearly).

4. Can I export my inventory data from Softr?

Softr uses external databases like Google Sheets, Airtable, SmartSuite, etc — and you can export data from those platforms as per their data export policies. However, you cannot export the Softr app since it is made on the Softr platform.

5. Can I use Softr's inventory system for serialized inventory tracking?

You can use the capabilities of your database to assign unique serial numbers to individual items and track their movement and status throughout the supply chain.

For example, if you’re using Airtable or Google Sheets, you can write formulas that can generate, validate, and track serial numbers, enabling you to maintain tight control over your serialized inventory.