One Click Instead of an Hour — Building a Complete ERP System for a Real Egg Business

One Click Instead of an Hour — Building a Complete ERP System for a Real Egg Business

What if a task that used to take 30–60 minutes could be completed with just one click?

That's exactly the problem I set out to solve when building GoodFarms ERP for a real egg production and distribution business in New Zealand.

The business supplies both retail customers and major supermarket chains, including Woolworths, Farro and New World. However, managing daily operations across different platforms, spreadsheets and accounting software was becoming increasingly time-consuming.

I decided to bring everything together into one integrated system.

🚀 From Manual Work to One-Click Automation

One of the biggest improvements is supermarket order processing.

Previously, staff had to:

• Log in to individual supermarket ordering portals.
• Manually retrieve and copy customer orders.
• Reformat order data in spreadsheets.
• Prepare warehouse packing slips.
• Create invoices separately in Xero.

A single delivery run could take 30–60 minutes.

Now, the entire workflow can be initiated with one click.

Here's how it works:

1. Automated Order Collection — A Python service built with FastAPI and Playwright accesses the Woolworths ordering portal and retrieves customer orders.
2. Order Processing — The .NET 10 ERP processes the data and automatically formats orders according to the warehouse's existing workflow.
3. Shipment & Packing Slips — Orders are loaded into shipments, and packing slips are generated automatically.
4. Xero Integration — Invoice drafts are created directly from shipment records, ready for review and issuing.

The same workflow also supports Farro, New World and other trade customers.

🥚 More Than Just Order Management

GoodFarms ERP connects the entire business operation:

🌱 Farm Management

• Manage poultry houses, flocks and egg production records.
• Automatically calculate egg-laying rates.
• Track production and farm inventory.

📦 Inventory & Warehouse Management

• Independently manage farm stock and Auckland warehouse stock.
• Track stock transfers between locations.
• Automatically generate transfer records and corresponding shipments.

🛒 E-commerce & Online Payments

• Online ordering for retail customers.
• Stripe, BlinkPay and POLi payment integrations.
• Coupon and promotional campaign management.

📧 Email Marketing

• Integrated email campaigns.
• Support for Brevo, Amazon SES and SMTP.

👥 Role-Based Access Control

• Individual staff accounts.
• Permission-based access to different modules.
• Separate operational responsibilities for sales, farming, warehousing and accounting.

🛠️ Technology Stack

This project brings together several technologies and third-party integrations:

• Frontend: Next.js, React
• Backend: .NET 10
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Automation Service: Python, FastAPI, Playwright
• Accounting: Xero API
• Online Payments: Stripe, BlinkPay, POLi
• Email Services: Brevo, Amazon SES, SMTP

The public-facing website and internal ERP share the same ecosystem, providing a unified experience for both customers and staff.

🌐 Public Website: https://www.goodfarms.co.nz

💡 The Bigger Picture

What I find most interesting about this project isn't any individual technology or feature.

It's how different parts of a real business can be connected into one coherent workflow.

Farm production, inventory, customer orders, warehouse operations, delivery documentation, invoicing and payments — all working together.

Instead of switching between multiple websites, spreadsheets and applications, staff can manage their daily operations from one place.

For me, this is what practical software engineering is about: understanding real business problems, designing the right architecture, integrating different technologies and turning complicated manual processes into simple, automated workflows.

If you're building software for a real business, what's the most time-consuming manual process you'd automate first?

#SoftwareEngineering #ERP #DotNet #Automation #Python #BusinessAutomation #FullStackDevelopment