Case study 01
Custom ERP Software for Dairy Manufacturing: How One Dairy Plant Unified Its Data
Milk does not wait. A dairy plant that cannot see its raw milk, batches and cold storage in one place ends up making decisions based on yesterday's numbers. This case study shows how we built custom ERP software for dairy manufacturing for Cowbell Bangladesh Ltd., and what changed once production, inventory and quality records finally lined up.
Atiqur Rahman, ERP Engineer at Canduit
Published · Updated · 7 min read
- Client
- Cowbell Bangladesh Ltd.
- Size
- About 40,000 liters of milk a day, 1 plant
- Timeline
- 7 months, 2026
- Team and users
- 4 engineers, 32 users
- Stack
- Python, MariaDB, Redis
The challenge
Planning data lived in too many places
Dairy is a race against the clock. Raw milk arrives every day, products carry short shelf lives, and every batch needs a quality record that can be traced later. Cowbell Bangladesh Ltd. handled all of this with paper logs, spreadsheets and a basic stock tool that did not talk to anything else.
Each team kept its own numbers. Procurement tracked milk intake in one sheet. The production team planned batches on a whiteboard and a second sheet. The warehouse counted stock by hand. By the time the three views were matched, the figures were already out of date.
The moment it broke.
One Friday last spring, a 6,000-liter yogurt batch was packed before the lab result reached the quality sheet. The result later showed the batch needed to be held, but part of it had already left the dock. The team spent most of the weekend working out which crates went to which customer, using phone calls and delivery slips.
Paper logs and spreadsheets with no link to inventory
Quality checks, batch records and stock counts lived on paper and in separate spreadsheets. Nothing connected a batch record to the stock it produced, so no one could say quickly where a lot was or whether it had been released. Every question needed a search through files and folders.
Milk intake, production and cold storage tracked apart
Procurement knew how much milk arrived, but production planned batches without a live view of it. The cold room count was done by hand a few times a day. As a result, planners often guessed what was available, and they sometimes ran short of packaging or ingredients in the middle of a shift.
Daily numbers matched by hand, again and again
Each morning, a supervisor compared milk intake, production output and stock across three sheets. The job took hours and still left gaps. Small errors piled up, and they showed up later as write-offs, missed orders or disputes with customers.
The solution
One platform, three connected modules
We built a custom ERP for the plant that unified milk procurement, production and inventory. Every team now works from the same live numbers. If you want to see how we approach this kind of work, read about our ERP solutions and our ERP for manufacturing approach.
Milk procurement and intake
Milk tracked from the weighbridge to the silo.
- Intake records linked to supplier and lab results
- Fat and solids readings saved per delivery
- Supplier data ready for finance
Production scheduling and batch control
Batch plans built from the milk and packaging on hand.
- Recipes and yield targets per product
- Production plans linked to stock levels
- Hold and release status from the lab
Dairy inventory management system
One live count of milk, ingredients and finished goods.
- Lot and expiry tracking for every item
- FEFO picking suggestions for dispatch
- Cold room locations and expiry alerts
| What changed | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Paper logs, spreadsheets and a basic stock tool | One platform, one source of truth |
| Batch records | Written on paper, typed in later | Captured at each production step |
| Expiry control | Checked by hand on the floor | FEFO suggestions and expiry alerts |
| Reporting | Half a day of daily reconciliation | Live reports, ready each morning |
The results
Measured after launch
Figures from the client's own records, 7 months after go-live.
- Time to reconcile daily milk intake against stock
- 6 hrs → 45 min
- Fewer write-offs from expired product
- 35%
- Daily users across intake, production and stores
- 32
Beyond the numbers, the owner stopped waiting for end-of-day reports. Issues now show up on the dashboard while there is still time to act.
Our process
From discovery to launch
Discovery · 2 wks
Discovery
Mapped how intake, production and stores work on the floor.
Design · 4 wks
Design
Designed one shared data model and the quality hold flow.
Build · 16 wks
Build
Delivered module by module, with the plant team testing each one.
Launch · 6 wks
Launch
Ran old and new systems side by side, then trained the team.
Before, every morning started with a phone call to find out what was in cold storage. Now I open one screen and trust it. Last month we caught a lot that was close to expiry and moved it before it became a waste.
When milk intake, production and stock share one platform, nobody reconciles by hand, and problems surface before they reach a customer.
