Custom Slimstock Slim4 integration development
Slim4 is the planning platform from Slimstock in Deventer, which has helped companies with demand forecasting, inventory optimisation and supply chain planning since 1993. Slim4 is only as good as the data that goes into it. Slimstock connects to the major ERP systems itself, but sales from a webshop or till, stock from your own warehouse system and supplier lead times are often held elsewhere. Appfront builds the integration that gets that data into Slim4 cleanly and brings the results back to the systems your purchasing team works with.
What is an integration with Slimstock Slim4?
A Slimstock Slim4 integration makes sure Slim4 receives the data it needs, and that the results end up where they are used. According to Slimstock, Slim4 combines commercial, demand, inventory and supply chain management: demand forecasts per customer and sales channel, inventory optimisation, automatic replenishment, multi-echelon planning, S&OP and scenario planning. To do this, Slim4 needs sales history, stock levels, item data, lead times and open orders. The integration retrieves these from your systems, checks them and delivers them in the format Slim4 expects.
Slimstock states that Slim4 connects to SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and Salesforce, and for Exact Online Slimstock describes an integration that retrieves item data, stock levels and sales orders via the Exact API, checks and cleans them in a database, and converts them into a format for Slim4. Connecting your data is a standard step in Slimstock's implementation. Custom work is needed where data sits in a system that falls outside this: your own ERP or warehouse system, a webshop or till holding the actual sales, a spreadsheet with lead times or a supplier portal.
We build custom integrations because every business has different systems and different gaps. Which systems are leading for sales and stock, what items and locations are called in each system, which data is missing or contaminated, and where Slim4's proposals need to go all determine how the integration works. We have not found public API documentation for Slim4. In the first step, we agree with you and Slimstock how best to get the data into Slim4 and back, so that the integration fits the implementation.
Clean data
Checked for Slim4.
All systems
Also beyond the ERP.
Back to purchasing
Proposals where they are needed.
How we build your Slimstock Slim4 integration
We start with your data: which systems you have, where sales, stock and items are maintained, what Slimstock already connects and what currently happens with exports and spreadsheets. Then we build the first integration, usually the source that is most lacking or takes the most manual work, such as sales from the webshop or stock from the warehouse system. Once Slim4 calculates well with that data, other sources and the route back to purchasing follow. After that, we maintain the integration when Slim4 or your other systems change.
Sources, gaps, manual work.
The biggest missing flow.
More sources and the route back.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What a Slimstock Slim4 integration actually does
The components below appear in almost every Slim4 integration. Which ones you need depends on your systems and on what Slimstock already connects.
Sales
From webshop, till and ERP.
Stock
Per location and warehouse.
Items
One code per item.
Cleaning
Gaps and errors reported.
Suppliers
Lead times and minimums.
Back to purchasing
Proposals to the ERP.
Who we build a Slimstock Slim4 integration for
The integration is intended for businesses that work with Slim4 or are about to, and that hold data in systems that do not connect as standard. The more items, locations and channels you have, the more it delivers.
Wholesalers
Many items and suppliers.
Retailers
Shops and webshop combined.
Manufacturers
Raw materials and finished goods.
Distributors
Multiple warehouses.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations around Slimstock's Slim4. If you are looking for the ERP itself, see our pages on the Exact Online integration, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration and the SAP integration; if you want to manage inventory or the supply chain with your own software, see our pages on custom inventory management software and supply chain management software. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why Appfront for your Slimstock Slim4 integration?
A forecast that misses webshop sales, a replenishment proposal based on stock figures that are wrong, or a buyer who pastes exports into a spreadsheet every morning costs a business stock and delivery reliability. That is what we build on: data from all sources, validated before it reaches Slim4, and an integration that shows you when something went wrong.
Full
All sources in Slim4.
Reliable
Validated and cleansed.
Visible
Errors in the log.
Security and privacy in a Slimstock Slim4 integration
The integration processes business-sensitive data, such as sales, margins, stock and supplier agreements. It sends only the fields that Slim4 or the other system needs, works with dedicated accounts holding exactly the permissions required, and records every exchange with its time and content.
The integration runs in a European data centre, using encrypted connections. Keys and passwords are stored securely and are not visible to staff. We agree with you in advance who in your organisation may see which data from the integration.
Frequently asked questions about a Slimstock Slim4 integration
Questions that supply chain managers, buyers and IT departments ask before they get started.
A connection between Slim4 and the systems where your data lives, such as your ERP, warehouse system, webshop or POS. Sales, stock and item data then flow automatically and in a validated way into Slim4, and the output goes back to the purchasing systems.
A planning platform from Slimstock, based in Deventer, for demand forecasting, inventory optimisation, automatic replenishment and supply chain planning, including S&OP and scenario planning. Slimstock has been helping planning teams since 1993.
Yes. According to Slimstock, Slim4 connects to SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and Salesforce, and there is a documented integration for Exact Online. Connecting data is part of the implementation. A custom integration is for systems and sources that fall outside that.
We have not found any public API documentation for Slim4. In the first step, we agree with you and Slimstock how data can best get into Slim4 and back, and in which format, so that the integration fits your implementation.
Slim4 calculates with what goes in. An item with two codes, a sale without a location or a lead time that was never updated produces a wrong result. The integration checks the data and flags what is missing or inconsistent before it reaches Slim4.
The integration retries, and puts an exchange that keeps failing into an error list with the reason. You can see which item, location or source is involved, and resend it after correcting it.
For businesses with many items, multiple channels or warehouses, and data outside the ERP, such as a webshop, POS system or in-house warehouse system. If everything sits in an ERP that Slimstock integrates with as standard, a custom integration is often not needed.
All data in Slim4, and the output back?
Tell us which systems you use and which data currently stays outside Slim4. We'll show you how an integration handles it.