How We Fixed the Inventory Blind Spot Between Tradegecko and a Legacy Warehouse System
A case study on how SaaS Glue solved manual stock checks between Tradegecko and Six Works. Learn how SaaS Glue built a secure, automated inventory sync overcoming hard limits and insecure legacy connections.
Case Study Highlights
- Systems: Tradegecko (QuickBooks Commerce) + Six Works warehouse
Problem: No inventory sync, sales team manually checking stock in a separate portal
- Solution: Automated inventory sync
Result: Sales team works from one screen, no more manual stock verification
There is a specific kind of anxiety that comes from “the gap”. It’s that window where a sales rep is placing an order with a customer, and no one actually knows if the stock exists in the warehouse.
For one of our clients, this wasn’t just a window; it was their entire workday. They were running a successful wholesale operation using Tradegecko (now QuickBooks Commerce) as their command center. For logistics, they partnered with Six Works a company that handled fulfilment.
What the Setup Actually Looked Like
On paper it worked fine:
- Sales in Tradegecko
- Picking and shipping at Six Works
- Basic order and tracking sync already in place
But there was a massive “blind spot” in the middle: the inventory levels.
The two systems were fragmented: to find out if they could fulfill an order, the sales rep had to leave their sales platform, go to the Six portal, and manually verify stock. It was slow, it was tedious, and mistakes were inevitable. We saw the same thing with a client filing Royal Mail compensation claims, where every lost parcel meant 20 minutes of hunting through purchase orders in Xero. They reached out to us at SaaS Glue to solve this problem.
The Reality Check
When we started digging into the Six Works API, we realized why this hadn’t been solved already. We weren’t dealing with a modern, flexible REST API that offers polling endpoints nor webhooks. We were facing a legacy system with major issues.
First, the API was insecure, it used static token authentication without SSL encryption. Sending wholesale inventory data over an unencrypted connection was a non-starter. Second, the system had a strict limit, we were only allowed to make one single request per hour.
At SaaS Glue, we’re always looking to establish a balance between realistic future-proofing, complexity, and cost. We looked at the client’s business model. This wasn’t a high-frequency B2C shop selling individual t-shirts every ten seconds. This was a wholesale operation dealing in large quantities. If you have 50K units of a product, the odds of “overselling” that stock in the 59 minutes between updates are remarkably low. By leaning into the constraints of the API rather than fighting them, we delivered a reliable solution that was significantly more cost-effective and stable than an over-engineered system.
What We Built
Our first step was constructing a secure proxy API server. This acted as a protective “shield”, wrapping the warehouse’s insecure connection in a modern SSL layer. This meant that even though the source was dated, the data moving to Tradegecko was encrypted and compliant with modern standards.
To keep our warehouse inventory reliably in sync with Tradegecko, we built a function that takes a complete “snapshot” of stock levels every 60 minutes. Tradegecko supports batch processing, but the endpoint is designed for pushing stock adjustments; not actual quantities. On top of that, we have to request the current quantity for every single SKU in a separate API call. The obvious risk was that any lengthy calculation could leave the data stale by the time we pushed it back.
After analyzing real usage patterns, we determined that a 2-minute window carries negligible risk of meaningful change. So we split the full update into smart, bite-sized chunks, each engineered so the entire poll-to-push cycle stays comfortably under those two minutes
We’re big on error resilience, which is why the entire process automatically retries with exponential backoff. Even if the API times out or the network drops, the sync picks itself back up.
To ensure the system stayed healthy, we integrated a Grafana dashboard with Rollbar logging. This gives us a “heartbeat” for the integration. If the warehouse API goes down or a sync fails, we don’t wait for the client to call us; the system alerts us immediately.
What Changed
The result was an immediate shift in the client’s workflow. The “tab-hopping” stopped. The sales team stopped second-guessing the numbers on their screens. By building a bridge that respected the limitations of the warehouse while prioritizing the security of the data, we turned a manual bottleneck into an automated, invisible process. At SaaS Glue, we think the best integrations are the ones you forget are even there. They just work. That’s a core part of how we think about software.
Frequently Asked Questions – Manual Inventory Checks
Would this work with other warehouse systems?
We’ve worked with loads of them. Every single one is different. We just roll up our sleeves and find the best way to make whatever they’re already using actually deliver the outcome they need.
What if you need updates faster than once an hour?
We always work inside whatever limits the system throws at us. If that’s still not enough, sometimes the honest answer is the provider has to make a change or you need to swap tools. We don’t pretend otherwise.
How long did the project take?
From first call to live was about four weeks, including testing and setting up the monitoring.
Do you still work with legacy setups?
We do. Plenty of times the tools are too much hassle or too expensive to rip out and replace. We get it completely.
What does it cost?
For this one the scope was pretty predictable, so we quoted a fixed project fee with a simple 50/50 split, half upfront, half when it went live. Plus an optional ongoing monitoring and support package if they wanted peace of mind. No surprises, no hidden fees. We keep it transparent.
If any of this feels familiar: clunky systems that don’t talk to each other, workflows that waste everyone’s time, or just the nagging sense that things could run a lot smoother then drop us a message. No big sales pitch, just a quick honest chat to see if we can help make it simpler.
You can also see more of our work or read our manifesto to understand how we approach these problems.