Automated waste logging and analysis

Purpose

1. Enable real-time and historical tracking of wasted ingredients, expired products, and leftover animal feed, centralizing capture and analysis for compliance, cost-savings, waste reduction, supplier adjustment, and sustainability reporting.

2. Automate multi-channel data collection (POS, IoT, staff mobile) of expired, spoiled, or excess pet-friendly consumables.

3. Initiate workflows for staff notifications, stock reorder, dynamic inventory adjustments, root-cause analysis, and waste trend reporting (by product, source, supplier, and staff shift).

4. Support export to compliance, regulatory, and sustainability systems.

Trigger Conditions

1. Manual log by staff via web or mobile app.

2. Automated input from smart weighing scales or inventory sensors signalling ‘waste event’.

3. POS/manual adjustment entry of expired or unsellable stock.

4. Scheduled end-of-day inventory reconciliation run.

5. Receipt of digital waste disposal certificate from regulator.

Platform Variants

1. Microsoft Power Automate

• Trigger: HTTP request, Power Apps entry, or scheduled flow.
  
• Configure: Add ‘When an HTTP request is received’ + ‘Create item’ in SharePoint.
  

2. Zapier

• Trigger: New entry in Google Sheets or Webhooks.
  
• Configure: Set up Trigger as “New Spreadsheet Row”, Action as “Send Email” + “Update inventory tool”.
  

3. Make (Integromat)

• Trigger: Webhook or Google Forms submission.
  
• Function: Route data to Airtable, Slack, or reporting dashboard.
  

4. AWS Lambda

• Trigger: API Gateway event (log entry from app/device).
  
• Function: Store to DynamoDB, trigger SNS notification.
  

5. Google Cloud Functions

• Trigger: HTTP endpoint hit by smart devices or POS.
  
• Function: Parse JSON, write waste log to BigQuery.
  

6. Airtable

• Function/API: REST API “Create Record” to Waste Log table for instant storage and workflow trigger.
  

7. Trello

• Function/API: Create Card API.
  
• Configure: For each wasted item, create a card on designated board for supervisor review.
  

8. Notion

• Function/API: Add Page API to Waste Log database.
  
• Configure: Webhook triggers auto-entry of new incidents for full audit trail.
  

9. Google Sheets

• Function: Use Sheets API to add a row to a ‘Waste Events’ sheet.
  
• Configure: Connect to other apps for summarization or notifications.
  

10. Slack

• Function: Incoming Webhook/Slack API chat.postMessage.
  
• Configure: Notify operations channel for every critical waste event.
  

11. Twilio SMS

• Function: Programmable SMS API.
  
• Configure: Alert managers by SMS on high-value waste incidents.
  

12. SendGrid

• Function: Send Email API.
  
• Configure: Trigger notification to procurement team for supply chain action.
  

13. Shopify

• Function: Admin API Inventory Adjustments.
  
• Configure: Auto-deduct wasted items from e-commerce inventory.
  

14. Square POS

• Function: Inventory Reports API/Webhook Trigger.
  
• Configure: Auto-capture returned/spoiled items for waste logging.
  

15. Oracle NetSuite

• Function: REST API ‘Inventory Adjustment’ endpoint.
  
• Configure: Log and adjust inventory for waste with linked metadata.
  

16. QuickBooks Online

• Function: API “Inventory Qty Adjustment”.
  
• Configure: Log financial impact of waste automatically.
  

17. Smartsheet

• Function: API row insertion in Waste Log Sheet.
  
• Configure: Auto-capture and visualize waste data.
  

18. Monday.com

• Function: Item creation via API.
  
• Configure: Log a new board item per waste event for analytics.
  

19. Power BI

• Function: REST API Push Data.
  
• Configure: Stream real-time waste metrics for dashboard.
  

20. SAP Business One

• Function: Service Layer API “Inventory Transaction”.
  
• Configure: Integrate waste event entries with ERP for traceability.
  

21. Tableau

• Feature: Data ingestion from API/CSV for waste event visualization.
  

22. Freshservice

• Function: Ticket creation API for facilities to investigate chronic waste.
  

23. Asana

• Function: Create Task API per waste incident for team accountability.
  

Benefits

1. Minimizes human error and increases speed in waste reporting.

2. Enables instant corrective action for high-value or regulatory non-compliance waste.

3. Provides granular analytics by time, product, origin, and staff for trend optimization.

4. Supports downstream automation (alerts, orders, compliance) seamlessly.

5. Integrates easily into existing retail and food & beverage platforms for pet-friendly environments.