Why We Built Our Own Warehouse Software
By Salt of the Earth
The problem no off-the-shelf system could solve
Our warehouse holds 116 active products across five formats and sixteen fragrances, spread over 650 pallet locations, and every pallet carries its own carton size and batch number. A useful system needs to understand all three at once.
Over the years we tried several commercially available warehouse management platforms, including some major ones, and none of them managed it. That left paper, and a paper stock check across 650 pallet locations is not merely a nightmare, it is close to impossible to get right. An inaccurate stock figure quietly spreads into everything else: production planning, purchasing, and what we can confidently promise to customers.
A working prototype in a few days
Ahead of our end of year stock count, our managing director Thomas Laird had an idea for a stock checking app built around the three things the off-the-shelf systems kept tripping over: our carton sizes, our warehouse bin locations and our batch numbers. He built a working prototype in a few days using AI-assisted coding (vibe coding, as the internet insists on calling it), and it worked. People around the company were genuinely impressed, and a little surprised.
"It was a really good proof of concept. It showed us there was potential to massively improve our warehouse efficiency, something we had been chasing for years without success through commercially available software."
The prototype also revealed the next step. Bin locations are only useful if something is actually managing the bins, so the stock taking app needed a proper warehouse management layer on top of it.
From prototype to production
Knowing the idea worked, we brought a professional development team on board to build it properly: stock takes, plus the everyday essentials of warehouse management, picking, packing and booking in. A few months later, the new and improved app has completed its first successful full stock take and has been running picking and packing for the past month.
There was real internal scepticism about whether a deodorant manufacturer could build something like this in-house. The stock check settled it. Version two is already underway.
What it changes
The system knows what we have, which batch it belongs to, and exactly which bin it is sitting in. At the moment it mainly runs our B2B side, the trade orders heading out to retailers and distributors, and the early results have been hard to argue with.
- Not a single picking error since launch. Trade orders are now picked and packed through the app rather than off a printed sheet, and in the month since that went live we have had zero picking errors.
- Stock figures we can trust. Accurate counts mean what we believe is on the shelf matches what is genuinely on the shelf, which makes production planning and promising stock to customers a great deal saner.
- Even faster batch traceability. As a cosmetics manufacturer we have always traced every batch we make. What we did not have was a live view of which bin locations a batch was sitting in. Now the system knows both, so finding a batch takes moments rather than a walk around 650 pallet locations.
- A happier warehouse team. Stock takes used to be a dreaded fixture in the calendar, and picking meant cross-checking paperwork that had no idea where anything was. The team now works from a system that knows the warehouse, and there is noticeably less friction in the day.
The first full stock take with the new system was completed recently, so longer-term numbers will take a little longer.
Why a deodorant company bothers with this
Because standing still is not really an option. Salt of the Earth has been making natural deodorant for over 30 years, and we are still independent, family-run and self-funded. Every pound we spend is our own, so we aim to run as lean as possible, and building the right tool ourselves turned out to be leaner than paying for a big system that did not fit our warehouse.
Three decades in, we also know a company does not stay relevant by doing things the way it did in 1993. The instinct behind the app, try something, see what breaks, fix it, try again, is the same one that made refills a proper part of the range back in 2013, and it sits behind most of our 78 industry awards, including two King's Awards for Enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Salt of the Earth build its own warehouse software?
Because off-the-shelf warehouse management systems could not handle our combination of 650 pallet locations, 116 active products, varying carton sizes and batch numbers. Building our own was the route to accurate stock counts and smoother picking and packing.
What does the warehouse software do?
It runs stock takes, picking, packing and booking in at our warehouse in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, currently focused on our B2B trade orders. It is built around our carton sizes, bin locations and batch numbers, the three things that generic systems struggled with.
How does it benefit customers?
The app currently runs our B2B orders, where it has not produced a single picking error in its first month. Accurate stock figures and quicker batch traceability benefit every customer beyond that, whether you order a pallet or a single roll-on.
Where are Salt of the Earth deodorants made?
Our sprays, roll-ons, sticks and balms are made at our own factory in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire. Our crystal deodorants are potassium alum and are made in China.
Tell us what you think
If you run a small British manufacturer and have built your own systems, or tried and given up, we would like to hear how it went. Drop us a comment or get in touch and we will answer honestly either way.
More from behind the scenes: who owns Salt of the Earth, our second King's Award for Enterprise, and why we have been refilling since 2013.
