Doudlah Farms Inventory Management System Requirements
Overview
During the February 2026 marketing and operations call, a critical gap was identified in Doudlah Farms' inventory management capabilities. The current manual process is causing operational stress through stockouts of essential packaging materials and, more seriously, leaves the business exposed to product recall compliance risk due to the absence of lot-number tracking. Asymmetric (Mark) is developing a proposal for a custom or off-the-shelf solution.
Related client context: [1]
Problem Statement
Doudlah Farms currently manages inventory manually. Two distinct failure modes were identified:
- Operational stockouts — Bags, boxes, and other packaging materials run out without warning, creating fulfillment delays and stress for staff (notably Jen, who manages packaging SKUs across ~100 bag variants).
- Recall compliance exposure — The business holds SQF certification but lacks lot-number tracking across raw product, packaging, and finished goods. Without this, a product recall cannot be executed accurately or quickly, which is both a regulatory and reputational risk.
Requirements
Core Inventory Tracking
- Real-time visibility across all inventory categories:
- Raw agricultural product (beans, grains, corn, etc.)
- Packaging materials (bags, boxes — ~100 SKUs across 21 products × 3 sizes)
- Finished goods ready for shipment
- Automated low-stock alerts, suggested threshold: 15% of stock remaining
- Support for multi-destination fulfillment (FBA direct-ship to multiple centers)
Lot-Number Tracking
- Every inbound raw product batch must be assigned a lot number at receipt
- Lot numbers must carry through processing and into finished goods records
- System must be able to produce a recall report: which finished goods lots contain a given raw product lot, and where those finished goods were shipped
SQF / Quality Control Integration
- Must support SQF audit documentation requirements
- Quality control checkpoints should be recordable within the system (or exportable to a QC log)
- Traceability from farm origin → processing → packaging → customer shipment
Alerts & Automation
- Automated reorder alerts at configurable stock thresholds
- Ideally integrated with or exportable to QuickBooks for financial reconciliation
- ShipStation compatibility a plus (already in use for B2C fulfillment)
Proposed Solutions
Option A: Custom System (Asymmetric)
Mark (Asymmetric) is developing a custom inventory management proposal tailored to Doudlah Farms' specific SKU complexity and compliance needs. This is the primary path being evaluated.
Next step: Mark to finalize and present the proposal to the Doudlah Farms team.
Option B: Off-the-Shelf Platforms
The following platforms were identified for evaluation as alternatives:
- ECI (manufacturing/distribution focus)
- Fishbowl (QuickBooks-integrated inventory)
- Info Plus (warehouse management)
Next step: Mark Doudlah to send Karly the contact information for Jerry Galloway, who can assist with evaluating these options. Karly will then introduce Jerry to Mark (Asymmetric).
Key Decisions Made
| Decision | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Continue manual inventory? | No — identified as unsustainable and compliance risk |
| Custom vs. off-the-shelf? | Evaluating both; Asymmetric proposal in progress |
| Lot tracking required? | Yes — non-negotiable for recall compliance |
| SQF integration required? | Yes — must support existing certification |
Action Items
- [ ] Mark (Asymmetric): Finalize and present inventory management system proposal to Doudlah Farms
- [ ] Mark Doudlah: Send Jerry Galloway's contact info to Karly
- [ ] Karly (Asymmetric): Introduce Jerry Galloway to Mark (Asymmetric) for off-the-shelf platform evaluation
Related Notes
- [1]
- [2]
- Source meeting: February 6, 2026 — Doudlah Farms Marketing Call (Amazon, Ecommerce & Inventory)