VLI — Variance Ledger for Inventory
9/10
Demand Score
Stockouts, mis-picks, and rework from bad inventory data are driving chargebacks and missed SLA shipments.
8/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$2k-15k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
10 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Moderate
The Problem
Expensive Upgrades Required
Competitor Landscape
- Manhattan WMS (cycle counting)
- Blue Yonder WMS
- CognitOps
- Vimaan
- Gather AI
- Dexory
Must-Have Features for MVP
Connectors for WMS/TMS/EDI and peripheral devices
Bayesian inventory reconciliation with per-slot confidence
Risk scoring to prioritize high-variance SKU/locations
Auto-scheduled micro cycle-count tasks with mobile app
Shadow-ledger simulation to quantify financial impact
Root-cause clustering (receiving, putaway, picking)
Closed-loop workflows to post adjustments back to WMS
Ops dashboards for shrink, accuracy, and labor ROI
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- Access to peripheral data (scales, PLCs, carrier scans)
- False-positive fatigue if thresholds are poorly tuned
- Change management for dynamic cycle-counting
- Data quality variability across sites
Risk Level: Low
🎯 Keys to Success
- >50% reduction in emergency cycle counts within 60 days
- Shrink reduction 1–3% of COGS in first year
- Pick accuracy improvement > 20% on high-variance SKUs
- >30% reduction in order cancels due to phantom inventory
- <1% false-positive task rate after tuning
- Payback < 90 days
Ready to Build This?
This moderate-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.