Columbus Hackathon Team Debuts Custom Inventory Tool for Nonprofit Organization
Centric Columbus created a custom technology solution for a nonprofit during a Hackathon weekend
November 2016, the Centric Hackathon team met with the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (WARM) to discuss ideas for an inventory management tool that could be used to support their warehouse and food pantry.
The team worked over the weekend as part of a Hackathon to establish the foundation for the technology. That was phase one.
Unveiling a Custom Inventory Tool
For the past few months, the team continued to work closely with WARM over the last few months to test and finalize development of the tool. They went live on January 31. During implementation, Centric and WARM team members helped process more than one thousand existing boxes in the warehouse into the new WARM inventory portal.
Having these boxes in inventory allows the resource ministry to track a specific food product’s quantity and location. The technology proved to be effective – and easy to use.
“Our objective was to provide a solution that wouldn’t require a considerable amount of hardware or overhead to maintain. We had several ideas, but QR Codes proved to be an effective way to achieve this,” said Morgan Howard, a Senior Consultant for Centric Columbus. “Now that we’ve established the foundation, we’re very excited to see how this technology will benefit WARM and the overall community going forward.”
The Centric Hackathon team plans to continue working with WARM to ensure the success of the inventory management tool implementation.
Thank you to the following Centric volunteers: Gwenn Denorme, Morgan Howard, Shawn Wallace, Caroline Weist, Patti Luther, Mara Belcher, Kyle Priest, Kyle Brown. WARM also appreciated help from Gina Heffner’s and Larry English’s children.
About WARM
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit faith-based social service organization, WARM provides assistance to individuals in the Westerville area who are living at 200% or below the federal poverty guidelines.
In addition to providing food and limited financial assistance to families in need, WARM offers a number of programs such as a jobs assistance program designed to assist individuals on the road to economic recovery (WORK Initiative). Their services provide individuals with the tools necessary to promote family stability, improved self-esteem and increased self-sufficiency.