Appwrite OSS Fund Sponsors InvenTree
Published: 2022-08-02 13:27:00

{% youtube mWDBbChvrQ0 %}

Hi readers 👋, welcoming you back to the "Appwrite OSS Fund" series, where we celebrate open-source maintainers. 🎉

## 🤔 What Is OSS Fund? 
On the 4th of May, the Appwrite team launched the [OSS Fund](https://appwrite.io/oss-fund), an initiative to support open-source project maintainers. Being an open-source company, we wanted to give back to the community and help as many people as we can. 

The OSS Fund is an initiative that is very close to our heart. 
Hear what our Founder and CEO has to say - The Appwrite Story:
{% embed https://appwrite.io/oss-fund-announcement %}

> ### 📢 Announcing The Third Project 
> After careful considerations from the committee we are thrilled to announce the third project: 
> {% embed https://twitter.com/appwrite/status/1551583114715078659?s=20&t=hILEhZRgn8MudTzL2NyyjA %}

## 🤔 What Is InvenTree?

[InvenTree](https://github.com/inventree) provides a wide range of features and functionality in the “inventory management / stock control” space. It is intended to provide complete “end to end” product lifecycle management, from acquisition of raw materials, manufacturing and assembly, product testing and conformance, to customer delivery.

Some of the key functionalities of InvenTree include:

- Organize, record and locate stock levels for large volumes of parts 
- Manage complex part relationships with Bills of Material (BOMs)
- Provide comprehensive supply chain information for raw materials and components
- Aid in the manufacture and commissioning of assembled goods
- Track incoming and outgoing goods via purchase and sales orders
- Provide traceability for items throughout the entire manufacturing lifecycle

InvenTree also has a keen focus on extensibility, and provides a rich “plugin” architecture allowing for customization by end users and developers.

## 🤝 Meet The Maintainer 

Oliver Walters is the person behind the computer screen, building the awesome InvenTree. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and daughters. In his “day job” as a Mechatronics Engineer I work in the aerospace industry, designing electronics and embedded systems.  

He spends his "spare" time developing software, contributing to open-source projects (such as KiCad). He also finds himself sinking a lot of time into InvenTree, which is the first open source project he can really call his own!

When he can pull myself away from a screen, he enjoys mountain biking and bushwalking.

## 💡 How Did The Idea Of InvenTree Come Up? 

Workng in a small business in a highly technical industry Oliver struggled to find an inventory management system which was a “perfect fit” for the specific business requirements. He believed that other small businesses would benefit from the software, especially as it was designed with extensibility in mind. Every small business has different needs, and most existing commercial software solutions did not offer any ability to “tinker” with the software to make it fit a particular need. This was the beginning of Inventree.

## 🚘 The Journey So Far 

Initially the development of InvenTree was a personal project which he took as an interesting challenge. More than anything else it was an opportunity to learn some new software technologies and paradigms, and was primarily a hobby. The initial scope of the project was quite small, and after a few months it had developed into a useful targeted tool at my place of work.

Looking for an inventory management tool, Oliver knew he wanted to use something that was open source. His initial intent was to find an open source project which mostly suited my requirements, and contribute back additional features as required. However after an extensive search there were no existing solution which I found suitable. 

The scope of the project quickly ballooned. It was soon at the point where it was becoming more of a “general purpose” piece of software, at which point Oliver thought it would be useful to open source it and allow others to benefit from his efforts.

Since then, the project has rapidly expanded as more people find new and exciting ways to make use of it! 

## 🗒️ Ending Notes
Oliver says, open sourcing the InvenTree project has been a very large undertaking, but has been very rewarding for him. He has learned a great deal, and have met some wonderful people in the process who have helped grow and improve the project.
Hearing about the many and varied ways in which InvenTree is being used worldwide is extremely encouraging, and I hope that we can continue to grow the project’s vibrant user base!
 

If this story resonates with you or your friend, tell them about OSS Fund, as applications are still open:
{% embed https://appwrite.io/oss-fund %}

For questions, reach out to us on:
- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/appwrite)
- [Discord](appwrite.io/discord)