[ Case studies / Field record ]

Evidence over assertion.

Three operations, three operating outcomes. Details have been adapted to protect commercial confidentiality, but the situations, the problems, and the results are real.

Case 001 · FMCG Distributor — Selangor

From stockout surprises to real-time visibility.

< 48 hrs

To full real-time visibility

RM 40k+

Annual write-offs addressed

Steps for sales stock queries

The Situation: A Selangor-based FMCG distributor with 45 staff and around 800 active SKUs was managing inventory through a combination of Excel spreadsheets and daily WhatsApp updates from the warehouse team. Stock queries from the sales team required a chain of three to four messages before an answer came back — often 30 minutes to an hour after the question was asked. By that time, the customer had already called another supplier. Near-expiry products were only discovered during quarterly stocktakes. On two occasions in the preceding year, significant quantities of perishable goods had to be written off at a combined loss exceeding RM 40,000.
What changed with SANAK: ✓
Within 48 hours of going live, the sales team was querying stock directly from their phones during customer visits — real-time, without involving admin
✓
The morning summary gave the owner daily visibility into expiry risk, stock positions, and transaction volume before 8am
✓
The first near-expiry alert fired within the first week — flagging 45 cartons expiring in 8 days, giving the sales team time to clear it through a targeted promotion
✓
Warehouse staff were using voice input for GRN recording within the first day, without a formal training session
The Outcome: The communication chain for stock queries was reduced from 3–4 steps to zero. Expiry management became proactive rather than reactive. The owner described it as the first time in eight years they could see what was happening in the business without calling anyone.

Case 002 · Industrial Distributor — Johor

Solving the key person dependency problem.

−30%+

Throughput drop eliminated

1 system

Replacing one indispensable person

Day 1

New staff operational without verbal handoff

The Situation: A Johor-based distributor of industrial parts and MRO supplies had grown to 65 staff across one main warehouse and two satellite locations. The operations manager — who had been with the company for eleven years — was the single point of knowledge for how the warehouse ran. Inventory positions, where items were stored, how exceptions were handled, which suppliers to call for urgent replenishment: it all lived in one person's head. When that person went on two weeks of medical leave, the warehouse throughput dropped by over 30% as staff constantly stopped to ask each other questions that should have been answerable by a system.
What changed with SANAK: ✓
Item location, batch information, and put-away logic were encoded into the system during onboarding
✓
Adjustment approval thresholds were configured so that routine corrections could be processed by the admin team, while significant adjustments required owner sign-off — automatically
✓
The returning operations manager found that new staff had adapted to the system's guidance rather than waiting for verbal instructions
The Outcome: The business now has documented operational knowledge that doesn't leave when one person goes on leave. The operations manager's role shifted from "the person who knows everything" to "the person who oversees the system that knows everything" — a shift they described as a significant improvement in their own working day.

Case 003 · Food & Beverage Distributor — Kuala Lumpur

Met full traceability requirements in two weeks.

2 weeks

From gap to full traceability compliance

100%

Batch tracking from receipt to delivery

Secured

Major retail contract that was at risk

The Situation: A KL-based F&B distributor began onboarding a large supermarket chain as a new customer — a contract that came with strict traceability requirements. The retailer required confirmation of batch numbers and expiry dates for every inbound delivery, along with delivery audit trails for every outbound shipment. The distributor had no system that could provide this. Batch tracking was done manually on paper, and delivery records existed only as signed physical forms that were scanned and stored inconsistently.
What changed with SANAK: ✓
From day one of onboarding, every GRN captured batch number and expiry date as mandatory fields for perishable items
✓
Every outbound shipment generated an electronic Delivery Order tied to specific batches, with FEFO enforcement ensuring the correct stock was picked
✓
The full movement history — from supplier receipt to customer delivery — was queryable from a phone in seconds
The Outcome: The distributor was able to meet the retailer's traceability requirements within two weeks of going live on SANAK. What had seemed like a potentially disqualifying gap in their systems became a resolved capability. The contract proceeded.

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