Whether you press sunflower oil in Singida, mix animal feed in Morogoro or bottle water in Dar es Salaam, the money is made between the store, the production floor and the customer. SmartBiashara links those steps in one system, from buying raw materials to collecting payment from distributors.
Manufacturing · Recipes
Production
Runs this week
14
Cost per unit (1 L oil)
TSh 3,180
Raw materials low
2
Planned2
Sunflower oil 1 L × 600
Bread loaf × 1,200
In production1
Sunflower oil 5 L × 120
Finished2
Peanut butter 400 g × 300
Bread loaf × 1,150
The problems we hear most often from owners in this trade.
The storekeeper has a book, the production supervisor has a whiteboard and sales has its own spreadsheet. At month end the owner spends days reconciling instead of planning.
Sunflower seed, maize bran, PET preforms and cartons change price with the season. If your selling price was set a year ago, some products may already be selling at a loss.
Wholesalers and agents take stock on credit and pay late. Without credit limits and a clear statement, a single large debtor can tie up a month of working capital.
Inputs sit at the factory, finished cartons go to a depot and some stock rides on a delivery truck. Nobody can say with confidence how much is available to sell today.
Mixers, pumps, sealers and generators are the most expensive things you own. When one breaks, there is no record of when it was bought, where it sits or who was using it.
Define each finished product by the inputs it consumes, for example litres of crude oil, a bottle, a cap and a label for every 1-litre unit. Recording a production run issues those inputs from stock and adds the finished units in one step. The manufacturing module is available on the Enterprise and Enterprise Pro plans.
Raw-material costing starts from what you recorded at purchase. When the next delivery of seed or packaging costs more, the cost of later runs reflects it. Compare that cost with the prices you charge wholesale and retail customers before the margin disappears.
Order inputs with purchase orders and receive them with goods received notes, so quantities and prices are captured at the gate. Supplier ledgers show what you owe each supplier and on what credit terms. Batch and expiry details can be kept for inputs that spoil, such as milk powder or flavourings.
Set up the raw-material store, the factory floor, a depot and a factory shop as their own locations. Inter-store transfers record every carton that moves between them, and stock reports show each site separately. Enterprise covers up to 50 locations and Enterprise Pro has no cap.
Raise quotations, convert them to invoices and send them by WhatsApp or email. With CRM you can set a credit limit for each distributor and see their balance before loading the next order. Retail sales through a factory shop use the same POS, with M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa and Airtel Money recorded at checkout.
Asset management keeps a register of machines and equipment, available from the Standard plan and included on Enterprise. HR keeps staff records and roles, with payroll support for NSSF and PAYE. Sales, purchases, production and expenses all land in one set of accounts that your accountant can export to Excel or PDF.
Take an example: a feed mill outside Morogoro producing 50 kg bags of layers mash and broiler starter, selling through two depots and a group of agro-dealers.
A truck brings maize bran and soya cake. The storekeeper checks it against the purchase order and records a GRN, so stock and the supplier balance update with the actual weights and prices.
The supervisor checks raw-material levels against the recipe for 200 bags of layers mash and sees that premix is short. A purchase order goes out before the afternoon shift.
When the shift ends, the run is entered with the number of bags produced. Inputs drop at the mill store and finished bags appear at the factory location with a unit cost attached.
Eighty bags are transferred to the Dodoma depot and forty to the factory shop. Each depot manager sees the incoming stock against their own location.
An agro-dealer orders 30 bags on credit. The sales team checks his balance against his limit, invoices him by WhatsApp and records his M-Pesa payment when it arrives.
The owner looks at production, sales by depot and money owed by distributors, then compares this week's cost per bag with the selling price.
Manufacturing · Recipes
Production
Runs this week
14
Cost per unit (1 L oil)
TSh 3,180
Raw materials low
2
Planned2
Sunflower oil 1 L × 600
Bread loaf × 1,200
In production1
Sunflower oil 5 L × 120
Finished2
Peanut butter 400 g × 300
Bread loaf × 1,150
A factory production screen: recipe inputs being issued from the raw-material store and finished units added to stock with their cost.
You review selling prices against what each unit actually cost to make this month, so seasonal input price rises do not eat your margin unnoticed.
Stock at every site, money owed by distributors and money owed to suppliers sit in one place, which makes cash planning far less of a guess.
Store, production, sales and accounts share the same records, so month-end closing stops being a week of comparing notebooks.
Credit limits and up-to-date balances let your team say no to an overdue distributor politely and with the numbers in hand.
Still have a question? Ask our team on WhatsApp, phone or email.
The best choice is a system that connects raw materials, production, sales and accounts without needing a full-time IT team. Large international ERPs can do this but often need consultants, foreign-currency licences and long setup. SmartBiashara is priced in TSh, runs in a browser and covers recipes, production runs, multi-location stock and credit sales on the Enterprise and Enterprise Pro plans. Test it with one product line during the 14-day free trial before deciding.
You need Enterprise at TSh 55,000 a month or TSh 550,000 a year, or Enterprise Pro at TSh 850,000 a year. Both include manufacturing, repair, project management and the API connector. Both prices are quoted before VAT and service levy.
It suits producers who turn a known list of inputs into finished goods. Examples include edible oil pressing, animal feed, bottled water and juice, soap and detergents, bakery products, furniture and packaged foods. If your process involves complex engineering drawings or machine scheduling, talk to our team first so we can tell you honestly what fits.
SmartBiashara records your sales and produces the reports you need for your records. For EFD or VFD questions, ask our team about your fiscal-device setup.
Yes, through Own Your ERP. It is a one-time white-label licence starting at TSh 1,500,000 for the first launch slots, with every module included on your own domain and private server. Setup takes 4 to 7 working days, you pay 60% to reserve and 40% at handover, and renewal from year 2 is TSh 425,000 a year.
Start a 14-day free trial, enter a single product with its recipe and record this week's runs. Prefer a guided start? Book a demo and we will map your store, factory and depots with you.
