Your inventory is split across bins, a parts counter and a grain ledger
Custom inventory management software in Regina, built for grain bins, ag-equipment parts and graded commodities together, costs $40,000 to $120,000 and 3 to 6 months. Fishbowl, Cin7 and spreadsheets handle countable SKUs on shelves. They have no good model for grain stored by bin and grade, parts keyed to equipment serials, or stock that moves by the tonne. Custom inventory is for operations whose stock isn't a tidy shelf of boxes.
Your Regina operation tracks at least three kinds of inventory that don't belong in the same off-the-shelf tool: grain in bins measured by tonne and grade, equipment parts keyed to specific models and serials, and consumables that fit a normal SKU model. Fishbowl and Cin7 do the third well and the first two badly, so you run a separate bin tool and a separate parts system, then reconcile.
The cost is real. A producer wants grade-2 wheat and your bin tool says you have it, but it's blended with grade-3 and the system doesn't model blends. A part shows in stock but it's the wrong revision for the customer's serial. Generic inventory products assume a SKU is a SKU; grain grades, blends and serial-specific parts break that assumption, and the reconciliation between systems is where shrinkage and errors hide.
The case for owning your inventory management
Custom inventory software models the stock you actually hold. Grain by bin, tonne, grade and blend; parts by model and serial revision; consumables as normal SKUs, all in one ledger. That lets you answer the real question, do I have grade-2 wheat to fill this contract, or the right part revision for this serial, without reconciling three systems. The custom build removes the seams where shrinkage and mistakes currently live, which off-the-shelf products structurally can't close.
What your build should include
What we build under inventory management in Regina
The engagements Regina teams bring us most often: Fishbowl alternative, Cin7 alternative, real-time inventory, purchase order management, demand forecasting and inventory management software.
Budgeting a inventory management build in Regina
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Grain/bin inventory module | $40,000 to $65,000 | 3 to 4 months |
| Unified grain + parts inventory | $65,000 to $95,000 | 4 to 5 months |
| Full inventory with scale + ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) integration | $95,000 to $120,000 | 5 to 6 months |
Delivery, week by week
Exactly what you get
You get one inventory system that holds grain by bin, tonne, grade and blend, parts by model and serial revision, and standard consumables, without reconciling three tools. You can ask whether you have the grade and quantity to fill a contract, or the right part revision for a customer's serial, and get a true answer. Weighbridge movements update stock automatically. The seams where shrinkage and errors hide are closed, and your back office stops rebuilding stock numbers by hand.
How to choose a developer in Regina
Hire a team that asks detailed questions about grain grades, blends and parts revisions before proposing a data model, because that model is the whole project. Ask how they'll integrate the weighbridge so movements update stock, and how they'll report shrinkage across stock types. A reference in commodity or ag inventory beats a retail-only portfolio. The right partner treats your non-standard stock as the design center, not an exception to bolt on.
- One ledger for grain by grade and blend, parts by serial, and standard SKUs
- Accurate answers to contract and part-fit questions without cross-system checks
- Blend and quality tracking so grade claims match reality
- Tonnage and bin-level movement tracked natively
- Tighter shrinkage control by removing reconciliation seams
- A unified model is more complex to build than adopting Fishbowl off the shelf
- You own maintenance and the integration with scale and ERP systems
- Bin and grade logic requires careful discovery and can extend timelines
- If you only hold standard SKUs, off-the-shelf is the cheaper right answer
- !They model everything as a flat SKU; ask how grain grade and blend are handled
- !No weighbridge plan; ask how tonnage movements update stock
- !They ignore parts serial revisions; ask how part-to-serial fit is checked
- !No reconciliation reporting; ask how shrinkage is surfaced
- !Only retail inventory references; ask for an ag or commodity example
Most Regina teams pricing inventory management end up comparing notes on accounting, project management, lms too; the systems share one data spine.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't Fishbowl track grain by grade?
Fishbowl and similar tools model inventory as countable SKUs. Grain stored by bin, measured by tonne, blended across grades, and adjusted for quality doesn't fit that model. You can force it, but you lose the ability to answer real questions like whether you have the grade to fill a contract, which is exactly what custom software gets right.
Can it track parts by equipment serial?
Yes. A custom build keys parts to equipment model and serial revision, so you don't ship a part that's the wrong revision for a customer's machine. That serial-aware fit checking is something generic inventory products don't do, and it prevents costly mis-shipments.
How does the weighbridge tie in?
Through integration: when a load crosses the scale, the movement updates bin inventory automatically. That keeps stock accurate in real time and removes the manual updates that cause drift. It also connects naturally to your settlement and ERP systems.
Will this reduce shrinkage?
It should, because most shrinkage hides in the reconciliation between separate systems. One ledger with accurate movements and clear reporting surfaces discrepancies early instead of at year-end, which is when generic, siloed tools usually reveal a problem.