Case study · 2025
Orders, recipes, batches and stock in one base
A distillery with processes specific to its industry and location kept orders, recipes and stock in places that did not connect. I built the Airtable system that connects them, with guided forms for daily work.
The problem
Orders, recipes, raw materials, production and stock sat in spreadsheets, on paper and in separate tools,
so the team pieced the picture together by hand.
The goal
First a database for customers, products, sales, raw materials and production,
with forms the team can work in instead of the database.
The setup stays in English, while the team works in French.
The scope
- 01Products, recipes and bills of materials
- 02Orders with line items, discounts, shipping and outstanding balances
- 03Stock at each location, including stock placed with partners on consignment
- 04Production batches linked to recipes and orders
- 05Guided forms for orders, production, stock movements and customers
- 06Delivery notes and invoices generated from the order record
- 07Stock sync with the online shop and contact sync with the email tool
- 08Payment allocation and sales reporting by period
Key decisions
- 01Separate forms to create and to update records, with existing data filled in.
- 02A full order with several lines goes in through one form and stays editable without opening the database.
- 03Choices in each form are filtered to the step at hand, so the team only sees what applies.
- 04Every move between locations is recorded on both ends, so stock adds up at each site.
- 05Contacts sync to the email tool by stored ID, and any error is written back to the record.
“We have a complex setup with a multi-lingual team, many SKUs and unusual business processes specific to our industry and location. From the beginning, he always listened carefully and took the time to understand our needs.”
Terah DeJong · Owner, Vinqueur
After launch
The team used the forms in its daily work.
Later rounds added document generation, the shop and email syncs, payment allocation, sales reporting and a calculator for cocktail batches.