Savanna One

Savanna One is a system for manufacturing companies that we designed and develop as our own product. It brings the warehouse, production and documentation into one application, so data no longer travels between spreadsheets and separate programs. Food production plants run their operations on it.

We built Savanna One in Next.js, React and TypeScript with a PostgreSQL database. The system runs in the browser on desktops, tablets and warehouse terminals. We provide it as a service in the AWS cloud or install it on the client’s own infrastructure in Docker containers.

System modules

• Warehouse management system (WMS): goods receipts, transfers and dispatches across multiple warehouses. The warehouse layout is described in the system: rows, rack heights, pallet locations and their maximum load. Fixed zones hold specific categories of goods, while transit zones, such as loading or receiving bays, hold them only briefly.
• Manufacturing execution system (MES): planned, active and completed production orders, with progress tracking, files, tasks and a full activity history.
• Item master: raw materials, packaging and finished goods. Raw material records include the manufacturer, shelf life and allergens, among other details. Each finished product has a bill of materials (BOM) and packaging types, from which the system calculates how much raw material to bring from the warehouse.
• Fixed assets: a register of machines, vehicles and equipment with models, manufacturers, locations and custom field sets. Each asset has a QR code label.
• Tasks: work for warehouse and production staff, assigned by hand or created automatically by the system.

Administrators control access to modules through roles and permissions. A warehouse document is completed by a warehouse operative and approved by someone with the appropriate permissions.

How the system runs a production order

When an order is planned, the system checks whether every raw material in the product’s bill of materials is in stock, and marks the order as ready or as short of materials. Once the order starts, the system creates tasks for warehouse staff automatically: which pallets to bring and to which workstation.

On the production floor, an operator accounts for each pallet of raw material: they record how much was used and, in a single step, request the next pallet or send the remainder back to the warehouse. An order can be paused, which also freezes its related tasks, or partly completed. The pallets produced then go to the warehouse, and the warehouse documents are created automatically.

Tasks on terminals and iPads

Task types match warehouse work: goods receipt and dispatch, transfer, pallet relocation and splitting, and quality control. A new task appears as a notification in the application and on the warehouse operative’s terminal. After the pallet code is scanned, the terminal shows the product details and the tasks waiting for that pallet. Supervisors also see the task list and production progress on an iPad, away from a desk.

Labels designed in the system

Savanna One has a graphical label editor. Global templates are designed in the settings: size, typeface and field layout. For a specific item, you can add your own text, for example the same label in several languages. Dynamic fields pull data from the system at the moment of printing. Separate templates cover finished-goods pallet labels, barcode labels for incoming raw materials, labels for individual packs and pallet location markers.

Batch traceability in food production

A food plant must be able to trace, at any moment, which raw materials went into a batch and how it was produced. Savanna One records this as it happens: the order, the batch, the sequence of operations and the quality control result. Suppliers and raw material manufacturers are recorded in the system, so the origin of the raw material is visible for every batch. A pallet of finished goods can wait in quarantine for test results, and goods subject to a customer complaint or with a non-conforming result are blocked, with the reason recorded. The history of each pallet location shows which pallets have passed through it.

What this project says about our team

We run Savanna One ourselves: we design it, build it, deploy it at client sites and keep developing it. The product shows how we build systems for businesses:

• The system runs in two variants: as a cloud service and as an installation on the client’s infrastructure
• Access to data depends on the user’s role and permissions
• Data is sent over encrypted connections and backed up regularly
• An open API lets the system connect to an ERP and other business systems
• Client requests are handled in a support portal, and new features are based on how clients use the system

See how we build SaaS products for clients on our SaaS and MVP development page, and our cloud infrastructure on the AWS application development page. For more about the product itself and a trial version, visit savannaone.com.