Every Monday at 7 AM the automation exports each client's stock by SKU and location from the WMS, adds the week's receipts and shipments, flags items idle for 90 days, and emails each importer its own formatted Excel report.
Typical results
25
Clients get their own report every Monday
≈65%
Fewer stock inquiry calls and emails
7 AM
Report in clients' inboxes each Monday
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
A contract warehouse storing goods for 25 importers gets a steady stream of questions about stock levels. Clients want to know what is on hand before they reorder, and staff export, filter and format a spreadsheet for each one by hand. Reports go out late in the week, if at all, and slow stock goes unnoticed.
Before and after
Hours per week preparing client stock reports
−89%Client stock inquiries per week
−64%The automation
A scheduled Make scenario runs every Monday at 7 AM. It exports stock on hand for each client by SKU and location from the WMS, then adds the units received and shipped in the past seven days. Items with no movement in 90 days go on a separate tab. The result is a formatted Excel file per client, sent by email to that client's contacts with a short summary of totals in the message body.
How it works
- 01
Monday export
At 7 AM every Monday the automation exports each client's stock on hand by SKU and location from the WMS.
- 02
Week's movements added
Units received and shipped in the past seven days are added next to each SKU.
- 03
Slow stock flagged
Items with no movement in 90 days are listed on a separate tab with quantity and storage location.
- 04
Excel file per client
Each client gets its own formatted Excel file, so no importer ever sees another client's stock.
- 05
Emailed to the contacts
The file goes to each client's listed contacts, with a short summary of totals in the email body.
Starts from
- WMS stock by SKU + location
- Monday 7 AM schedule
Delivers
- Excel report to each client
- 90-day no-movement list
The impact
Each importer starts the week with a current picture of its stock. The warehouse team saves about 4 hours a week of report preparation, and stock inquiry calls and emails drop by about 65%, from around 28 a week to 10. Clients also clear more slow stock before storage costs build up.
Questions about this automation
Can each client choose what appears in its report?
Each client can have its own column set, such as batch numbers, expiry dates or pallet counts, kept in a settings sheet. The slow-stock threshold can differ too, for example 60 days for fashion goods and 180 days for spare parts, without any change to the automation itself.
Which warehouse systems does it work with?
It works with any WMS that offers an API or a scheduled stock export in Excel or CSV format. If the system can only send exports by email, the automation picks up the attachment from a dedicated inbox and builds the reports from it, so no direct connection is needed.
What does the warehouse provide before go-live?
A sample stock export, a movements export for receipts and shipments and the list of report contacts per client. One test run is checked against a manual report before the Monday schedule is switched on. Simple automations like this are usually live within days.