Tepia builds warehouse and inventory apps: barcode scanning, receiving, picking, cycle counts and ERP sync, offline first.
Tepia builds custom warehouse and inventory apps for distributors, retailers and manufacturers: barcode scanning on handheld devices or phones, receiving, putaway, picking, cycle counts and transfers, synced to your ERP or accounting system.
Every Tepia build runs through six phases, Discovery, Design, Development and Testing, Training, Launch and Support, with a milestone at each stage.
Read: Logistics and Transportation App Development
Tepia builds for rugged Android handhelds with built in scanners or for iOS and Android phones using the camera, offline first so counts never stall.
Read: Systems Integration Services
Warehouse and inventory builds typically take 5 to 9 months from discovery to launch, with a US based project manager and engineering lead on the engagement.
Read: Manufacturing and Plant Floor App Development
Every scan syncs to your ERP, QuickBooks, Shopify or Square, and the same records feed delivery and fleet apps, so the office stops retyping receiving sheets.
Read: Custom Internal Tools for Operations TeamsIndustry figures Tepia plans around when scoping logistics work.
Retail inventory records are only about 63% accurate on average, according to the Auburn University RFID Lab.
Mobile devices generate roughly 60 percent of global website traffic, according to Statista's mobile traffic reports.
United States logistics spending runs close to 9% of GDP, according to the CSCMP State of Logistics report.
A full warehouse management system is the right purchase for a large distribution center with conveyors, wave planning and labor management. Most businesses that ask Tepia for an inventory app are not that. They have one to five locations, an ERP or accounting system that already knows what they own on paper, and a gap between that record and what is actually on the shelf.
That gap is a mobile problem. The person who receives a pallet, moves a case or picks an order is standing in the aisle, not at a desk, and the ERP was built for the desk. Tepia builds the app for the aisle and keeps your ERP as the system of record. Tepia has written about warehouse automation before, and the practical version of that writing is this: automate the capture of what happened, and the reports take care of themselves.
It pairs with the manufacturing and plant floor app development page for production environments.
Tepia scopes inventory apps workflow by workflow. Each row below is a module that can be built on its own or combined.
| Workflow | What the worker does in the app | What syncs to the ERP | Common addition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Scan PO, scan items, enter quantities, photo damaged goods, print or scan license plate labels | PO receipt lines, discrepancies | Vendor compliance scorecard |
| Putaway | Scan pallet or case, scan destination bin, confirm | Bin level quantities | Suggested bin by velocity or size |
| Picking | Pick list in bin order, scan bin and item, confirm quantity, short pick reasons | Order fulfillment status, shortages | Batch picking for multiple orders |
| Packing and shipping | Scan order, scan items into box, record weight, print label | Shipment confirmation, tracking number | Carrier API for labels |
| Cycle counts | Count by zone or ABC class, scan bin, enter count, variance review | Adjustments after approval | Daily count schedule by velocity |
| Transfers | Scan items to a transfer, ship to another location, receive at destination | Location balances on both sides | In transit visibility |
| Adjustments and returns | Scan item, reason code, photo, supervisor approval over a threshold | Adjustment journal | Return to vendor flow |
| Lookup | Scan anything and see quantity by bin, open orders, last movement | Read only | Customer service access from the office |
Tepia builds every scan to validate immediately: a wrong bin, a wrong item or an over pick is caught on the device with a distinct sound and color, not found three days later in a report.
The device decision shapes the build, and Tepia makes it in discovery. Rugged Android handhelds with built in laser or imager scanners are the standard for high volume picking and freezer or outdoor environments. They scan faster than a camera, survive drops, and run a full shift on one battery. Tepia builds native Android (Kotlin) apps for these devices and integrates with the manufacturer’s scanner SDK so the scan button on the device triggers the right action in the app.
For lower volume operations, retail back rooms and businesses that already issue phones, Tepia builds iOS and Android apps that scan with the camera. Modern phone cameras read 1D and 2D barcodes reliably, and a camera based app avoids a hardware purchase. Some clients run both: handhelds in the warehouse and phones for managers and drivers.
Either way, the app is offline first. Counts, receipts and picks are stored on the device and synced when the network returns, with rules for resolving a count that happened while the ERP changed the same item. Tepia also handles label printing through Bluetooth or network label printers for license plates, bin labels and shipping labels.
Tepia keeps your ERP or accounting system as the system of record for quantities and value, and the mobile app as the system of record for what physically happened. The sync between them is designed in discovery and built through a middleware layer, so the app does not make direct calls into your ERP.
Inbound to the app: items, bins, purchase orders, sales orders and transfer orders, refreshed on a schedule or through webhooks where your ERP supports them. Outbound to the ERP: receipts, picks, shipments, adjustments and transfers, posted as transactions with the user, device and timestamp. Cycle count variances are held for supervisor approval in the app before any adjustment is posted, which keeps the ERP audit trail clean.
Tepia has integrated with QuickBooks for smaller operations, ERP systems for distributors and manufacturers, and Shopify or Square where ecommerce and retail inventory need to match the warehouse. The systems integration services page explains the middleware pattern and why Tepia prefers it to point to point connections.
Tepia applies its six phase process to every inventory project. The warehouse floor walk in discovery is the most important hour of the engagement.
The process is documented at tepia.co/process, and examples of operational apps are at our work.
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CEO
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VP & Operations Manager
