SyncThread: ERP–MES Inventory Sidecar
9/10
Demand Score
Disconnects cause line stops, missed OTIF, and firefighting to reconcile WIP and inventory daily.
8/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$4k-20k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
14 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard
The Problem
A drop-in “digital thread” sidecar that continuously reconciles ERP MRP data with MES, WMS, and machine consumption. It builds an event-sourced inventory ledger from work orders, BOMs, issue/receipt t
🔗 Validated by Real User Complaints
This problem has been verified through 5 real user complaints:
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Competitor Landscape
- Katana MRP
- Tulip
- Parsec TrakSYS
- Odoo Manufacturing
- NetSuite WMS/MRP
- Microsoft D365 Manufacturing
- SAP ME/MII
Must-Have Features for MVP
Event-sourced inventory ledger
Lot/serial pegging to work orders
Constraint-aware reservation and ATP/CTP suggestions
Shadow mode and reversible ERP journal postings
Edge connectors (PLC/MTConnect), WMS/MES adapters
Variance heatmap and anomaly alerts
Simulation/replay for change validation
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- On‑prem PLC/MES connectivity and site networking
- Messy or outdated BOM/routing master data
- ERP customizations that change posting logic
- Operator adoption for scanning/consumption capture
- Throughput/latency when streaming many signals
Risk Level: High
🎯 Keys to Success
- >50% reduction in inventory reconciliation effort
- >30% drop in stockouts causing line stops
- >95% accuracy in backflush vs. actual consumption
- Same-day detection of misaligned BOM or scrap drifts
- Under 2 weeks to value using shadow mode first
Ready to Build This?
This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.