Getting Started with SSM (Simple Stock Manager): A Beginner’s Guide

Customizing SSM (Simple Stock Manager): Tips, Plugins, and Best PracticesSSM (Simple Stock Manager) is a lightweight, user-friendly inventory management tool popular with small businesses, makers, and hobbyists. While its default setup covers the essentials — tracking stock levels, recording purchases and sales, and simple reporting — customizing SSM unlocks far greater efficiency, better fit with your workflows, and integrations with other tools you already use. This guide explains practical customization strategies, useful plugins and extensions, and best practices to keep your inventory accurate, auditable, and scalable.

Why customize SSM?

Customizing SSM helps you:

Match SSM to your unique workflow — avoid shoehorning business processes into rigid software.
Automate repetitive tasks — save time on data entry, reconciliation, and notifications.
Integrate with accounting, e-commerce, and shipping systems to reduce double-entry and errors.
Improve reporting and decision-making with tailored metrics and dashboards.

Planning your customizations

Before making changes, map how inventory flows through your business. Answer:

Which users need access and what permissions should they have?
What processes create inventory movements (purchases, sales, returns, manufacturing, adjustments)?
Which external systems must be integrated (e-commerce platforms, accounting, shipping, barcode scanners, POS)?
What reports or KPIs do you need (turnover, stock aging, reorder points, margins)?

Create a prioritized list: quick wins (low effort/high impact), medium projects, and long-term changes. Back up your SSM database before any change and test customizations in a staging environment.

Core customization areas

1. Data structure and custom fields

SSM typically stores products, categories, suppliers, and transactions. Add custom fields to capture business-specific data such as:

SKU variants, manufacturer part numbers
Location/bin codes for multi-location warehouses
Minimum shelf life or expiry dates
Custom attributes (color, size, material)

Best practices:

Use consistent naming conventions for fields.
Choose data types carefully (dates, integers, decimals, text).
Populate defaults where appropriate to reduce manual entry.

2. User roles and permissions

Limit risks by defining roles:

Admin: full access (configuration, backups, user management).
Manager: inventory adjustments, reporting, approve transfers.
Clerk: create transactions, receive stock, pick orders.
Auditor/Viewer: read-only access for controllers or external auditors.

Implement role-based access controls (RBAC) consistently, reviewing permissions periodically.

3. Workflows and automation

Automate frequent tasks:

Email/SMS reorder alerts when items hit reorder points.
Auto-generation of purchase orders from low-stock triggers.
Auto-assigning lot numbers or batch IDs on receipt.
Scheduled reports (daily stock summary, weekly slow-movers).

Use built-in cron tasks or external schedulers to run automation jobs. Log automated actions clearly to maintain audit trails.

4. Barcode and scanning support

Barcodes drastically speed receiving, picking, and cycle counts.

Use code128 or EAN/UPC for product-level codes; QR codes for links or detailed item info.
Map scanner inputs to SSM actions (receive, pick, adjust).
Support handheld Bluetooth/USB scanners and mobile camera scanning.

Test scanning workflows for speed and error handling (unrecognized codes, duplicates).

5. Multi-location and lot/batch tracking

For businesses with multiple storage locations:

Model warehouses and bins in SSM.
Track stock per location and support inter-location transfers.
Enable lot/batch and expiry tracking for regulated products or perishables.

Track movement history by location to support recalls or audits.

Plugins and integrations

SSM’s ecosystem varies by implementation. Common useful integrations:

E-commerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento):
- Sync orders to reduce double entry.
- Sync stock levels both ways to prevent overselling.
Accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, Wave):
- Export invoices, bills, and stock valuation adjustments.
- Match purchase orders with bills for reconciliation.
Shipping & fulfillment (ShipStation, EasyPost):
- Pull shipping rates, print labels, and update order statuses.
Barcode & mobile apps:
- Mobile apps for cycle counts and receiving.
- Desktop barcode tools for label printing.
CSV/Excel import-export utilities:
- Bulk update stock, prices, or product metadata.
BI / Dashboard tools (Metabase, Grafana, Power BI):
- Create tailored dashboards and visual KPIs.

When choosing or building plugins:

Prefer maintained plugins with active communities.
Confirm API compatibility and rate limits.
Ensure plugins don’t expose sensitive data or create security holes.

Building custom plugins

If an off-the-shelf plugin doesn’t exist, you can develop custom extensions:

Use SSM’s API (or database schema) to read/write data.
Wrap integration logic in idempotent operations (safe to retry).
Rate-limit and backoff on external API calls.
Validate and sanitize all inputs to avoid corrupting inventory data.
Log actions with user context for traceability.

Example plugin ideas:

Auto-sync sales from your marketplace every 5 minutes.
Custom replenishment engine that accounts for lead time, safety stock, and supplier constraints.
Price margin calculator that updates product prices based on target margins and cost changes.

Reporting and analytics

Useful reports to add or customize:

Stock valuation (FIFO/LIFO/average cost) by location.
Reorder suggestions using lead time, safety stock, and forecasted demand.
Slow-moving and dead stock lists.
Turnover ratios and days-of-inventory (DOI).

Consider exporting raw data to a BI tool if SSM’s built-in reports aren’t sufficient. Store historical snapshots for trend analysis.

Performance, backup, and security

Index database columns used in frequent queries (SKU, location_id, transaction_date).
Archive old transactions if DB size impacts performance, but keep audit copies.
Schedule regular backups and test restores.
Enforce strong authentication and use HTTPS for remote access.
Audit logs for all inventory adjustments and administrative actions.

Testing, deployment, and maintenance

Test customizations in a staging environment with realistic sample data.
Use feature flags to roll out risky changes gradually.
Maintain version control for custom code and document schema changes.
Train staff on new workflows and provide cheat-sheets for mobile or barcode processes.
Review integrations quarterly for breaking API changes or security updates.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Uncontrolled manual adjustments — enforce reasons and approvals for manual stock changes.
Missing audit trails — log who changed what and why.
Oversyncing with e-commerce — implement debouncing/locking to avoid race conditions.
Ignoring edge cases like returns, partial deliveries, and negative inventory — model those in tests.

Practical examples / mini case studies

Small retailer: Implemented barcode receiving and low-stock email alerts; reduced stockouts by 70% and cut receiving time by half.
Bakery with perishables: Added expiry-date fields and FIFO valuation; reduced waste by tracking soon-to-expire batches and creating discount runs.
Maker selling on multiple marketplaces: Built a sync plugin to pull orders and push stock levels; eliminated oversells and reduced bookkeeping time.

Checklist for a customization project

Map current inventory processes.
Identify required custom fields and roles.
Choose integrations and plugins.
Prototype in staging and run user acceptance tests.
Document changes, train staff, and deploy with backups.
Monitor performance and iterate.

Customizing SSM lets you shape inventory management around your business, not the other way around. Focus first on data quality, clear workflows, and small automations that save time — then expand to integrations and analytics as needs grow.