Data and Systems Integration Internship

About The Business: Slaphappy manufactures customised climbing products and is experiencing growth in both order volumes and product variation. As the business scales, existing processes for managing customised orders, component stock and production scheduling are becoming increasingly difficult to coordinate efficiently.

Overview: Currently, stock management is focused primarily on finished products, limiting visibility of the individual components required for production. Customised orders created through the point-of-sale (POS) system also require additional manual intervention before entering production, creating the potential for delays, scheduling challenges and inconsistent lead times. This internship project will support the design and development of a connected digital production workflow that links customer orders, component inventory, production planning and order fulfilment. The project will provide Slaphappy with a foundation for scalable growth whilst improving operational visibility and workflow efficiency.

Desirable Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to understand business processes and workflows

Job Description:

To design and develop a digital product customisation and manufacturing workflow that connects customer orders with stock management, production scheduling and fulfilment processes.

SMART Objectives

• Map and document the current order-to-production workflow within the first four weeks, identifying key manual processes, bottlenecks and data requirements.
• Design a digital workflow that integrates customised and standard product orders into a single production management process by the midpoint of the internship.
• Develop a prototype component stock management system capable of tracking individual manufacturing components and generating automated reorder recommendations by the end of Month 3.
• Create a proof-of-concept production scheduling dashboard that provides visibility of order status, production capacity and expected lead times before project completion.
• Test the proposed workflow using sample customer orders and production scenarios and produce recommendations for full implementation, achieving at least a 20% reduction in manual process steps within the modelled workflow.

Scope of Work, Methods, and Tools

The intern will work closely with the business to understand current production, stock control and fulfilment processes before designing and testing an improved digital workflow.

Activities

• Review existing POS, stock management and production processes.
• Map current and future-state workflows.
• Identify available data sources and integration requirements.
• Design a component-level stock tracking structure.
• Develop automated reorder trigger logic for critical components.
• Create a prototype workflow linking customised customer orders to production scheduling.
• Build reporting and visualisation tools to improve production visibility.
• Test proposed solutions using live or representative business data.
• Present findings and implementation recommendations.

Methods and Tools

• Process mapping and workflow analysis.
• Data modelling and systems integration design.
• Microsoft Power Platform or similar low-code tools.
• Excel, Power BI or equivalent reporting tools.
• Inventory management and production scheduling concepts.
• User testing and stakeholder feedback sessions.

Timeline with Milestones

Month 1: Discovery and Analysis

• Understand current business processes.
• Document existing workflow and pain points.
• Complete production and stock management process maps.
• Milestone: Current-state process analysis completed.

Month 2: Solution Design

• Design future-state workflow.
• Define system integration requirements.
• Create component stock management framework.
• Identify automation opportunities.
• Milestone: Approved digital workflow design.

Month 3: Prototype Development

• Build prototype stock management model.
• Develop production scheduling dashboard.
• Create automated reorder recommendation logic.
• Test integration approach with sample orders.
• Milestone: Prototype solution available for testing.

Month 4: Validation and Recommendations

• Conduct user testing. Refine workflow based on feedback.
• Measure expected operational improvements.
• Produce final report and implementation roadmap.
• Milestone: Final project report and recommendations delivered.

Intern Roles and Responsibilities

The intern will:

• Analyse existing manufacturing and fulfilment processes.
• Gather requirements from business stakeholders.
• Map production and inventory workflows.
• Research suitable technologies and integration approaches.
• Develop and test prototype solutions.
• Create dashboards and reporting tools.
• Document findings and recommendations.
• Present outcomes to management and key stakeholders. Support knowledge transfer to staff responsible for future implementation.

Intern Skills Required

Essential

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to understand business processes and workflows.
• Good data handling and organisational skills.
• Competent with Microsoft Excel and data analysis.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable

• Experience with Power BI or data visualisation tools.
• Knowledge of inventory management principles.
• Understanding of manufacturing operations.
• Familiarity with Power Apps, Power Automate or other low-code platforms.
• Basic understanding of systems integration and databases.