Operations Intelligence Systems · Singapore

We don't sell software.
We build an Operations
Intelligence System
around how your
business actually runs.

ERP records your business. An Operations Intelligence System runs it.

Designed around your actual processes, not configured to approximate them.

See how it works → Our take on AI →
What SME owners tell us

“We can’t scale if we don’t have the data. Right now everything lives in people’s heads.”

“Only one person knows how our procurement process works. If she leaves, we’re in trouble.”

“Every decision is a judgment call. We have no numbers to back it up and it worries me.”

Why Steady
Steady is what operators mean when they say “it just works.” Reliable, every day, at scale. That’s what we build toward.
01The problem

Most SME operations weren’t designed. They accumulated. Then they broke.

01
Everything runs through one person
The business can’t scale because the operation can’t run without the founder or a key person in the middle of everything.
02
Decisions made on gut feel
No real-time visibility. Stockouts you didn’t see coming. Procurement run on WhatsApp. Every call is a judgment with no data to back it up.
03
Generic software doesn’t fit
SAP, NetSuite, and Odoo are built for other businesses. Configuring them to fit yours costs more than building right — and staff maintain spreadsheets alongside them anyway.
02What we build

ERP records your business.
An Operations Intelligence System
runs it.

Designed around your actual processes. Built to surface intelligence, not just record it.

● Operations Intelligence System
Traditional ERP
Starting point
Your actual process, redesigned and signed off first
A generic module, configured to approximate your process
What it does
Tells you what to do next
Records what happened
Over time
Gets smarter as the business runs through it
Gets heavier and harder to change
Built by
A founder who built logistics operations at SEA scale — and engineers who build exactly what the business needs.
Software vendor with no operations background
After launch
Continuous improvement retainer — one new improvement per quarter
Separate support contract, no domain expertise
Price point
Fixed scope, fixed fee. SME pricing, no enterprise misfit.
Enterprise pricing, SME misfit
03AI — What we actually mean

Most SMEs are using AI as a better search engine. That’s not what we build.

When the government talks about AI adoption, it means a spectrum — from using ChatGPT to draft emails, to systems that read your operations in real time and tell you what to do next. The distance between those two things is large. We work at the second end.

See how it works across different operations
Most AI tools
Answer questions when you ask them
“We have 200kg of chicken meal in stock.”
You still have to know what question to ask, when to ask it, and what to do with the answer. The intelligence stays with you.
Operations Intelligence System
Surfaces the right action before you think to ask
“200kg in stock. 180kg consumed this week. Delivery in 12 days. Lead time 14 days — raise the PO today.”
The system reads the data in context and tells you what to do next. You don’t have to be inside the operation to see it.
Most AI tools
Answer questions when you ask them
“Our best-selling SKU is down 40% this week.”
You still have to know what question to ask, when to ask it, and what to do with the answer. The intelligence stays with you.
Operations Intelligence System
Surfaces the right action before you think to ask
“Top SKU down 40% this week. No returns flagged. Competitor ran a promotion yesterday. Hold the reorder — check pricing first.”
The system reads the data in context and tells you what to do next. You don’t have to be inside the operation to see it.
Most AI tools
Answer questions when you ask them
“We have 3 production runs scheduled this week.”
You still have to know what question to ask, when to ask it, and what to do with the answer. The intelligence stays with you.
Operations Intelligence System
Surfaces the right action before you think to ask
“3 runs scheduled. Raw material confirmed for 2. Supplier lead time is 5 days — release the PO now or Run 3 slips.”
The system reads the data in context and tells you what to do next. You don’t have to be inside the operation to see it.
Where AI actually does work in SME operations
01 — Inventory
Reorder triggers before the stockout
Not a dashboard that shows stock levels. A system that tracks consumption rates, lead times, and pending orders — and flags what needs to move before it becomes a problem.
02 — Purchasing
Procurement decisions with numbers behind them
Instead of a buyer relying on memory or a spreadsheet, the system surfaces anomalies, supplier performance, and cost variance — every time a PO is raised.
03 — Visibility
See the operation without being inside it
A daily ops digest — what moved, what didn’t, what’s at risk. Designed so the owner can read it in three minutes and know exactly where to put their attention.
The distinction that matters
ERP records your business. An Operations Intelligence System runs it.
Why operator-built AI is different
The intelligence in an OIS comes from the operator who designs it — not the developer who builds it.
A vendor can configure software against a process template. They cannot tell you which procurement rules actually matter, where your supplier risk is concentrated, or why your stockouts happen on a particular day. That knowledge lives inside the operation — and it only gets built into a system by someone who has run operations at scale.
SteadyLab is built by operators — people who have run procurement teams, managed warehouses, and dealt with stockouts at 2am. That experience is what gets designed into every system we build.
04How we work

Three layers. Process first, always.

1
Discovery & Process Mapping
Map workflows and identify what’s breaking.
2
Process Redesign & Sign-off Hard gate
Agreed and signed off before any build starts.
3
Data & AI Systems Build
Fixed scope, fixed fee. Built against the signed-off process.
4
Training, Launch & Retainer
Staff trained. System live. One improvement per quarter.
Step 2 is a hard gate. No system gets built until the process design is agreed and signed off. This protects both parties — and it’s what separates an Operations Intelligence System from a software retrofit. Most vendors skip this step. We don’t.
05The team

Built by operators. For operators.

We are a team of operators, product managers, and engineers who have worked at large corporates and scale-ups — building the processes and systems that helped these companies grow. We bring the same rigour and thoughtfulness to SMEs.

The founding team brings 10 years of operations leadership at SEA scale — running procurement, logistics, and fulfilment across the region. SteadyLab was built to bring that depth to SMEs who can’t access it any other way. Before that: top-tier strategy consulting. The thinking of a large corporate ops team — without the price tag.

The thinking of a large corporate ops team,
brought to Singapore SMEs.
We take on a small number of clients at a time. Every engagement gets direct attention.
06Why the approach matters

The system should fit the business. Not the other way around.

Enterprise ERP — SAP, NetSuite — is built for large corporates, not SMEs. Off-the-shelf SME software is the other extreme: quick to install, built for no one in particular, bolted on top of whatever process already exists. Neither starts with your process. Neither was built for how you actually operate.

SteadyLab works the other way around. Process first. Then data infrastructure. Then AI. The result is a system that runs your business — not a system your business has to work around.

Criteria ● SteadyLab SAP / NetSuite Odoo / Hashmicro Freelance devs AI consultants
Process transformation first ✓ Always ✗ Software first ✗ Software first ✗ Technical only ✗ Slides only
Operator domain expertise ✓ Ops, logistics, e-commerce ✗ Software vendor ✗ Software vendor ✗ Technical only ✗ Strategy only
Built for SMEs ✓ Designed from scratch ✗ Enterprise ✗ Generic modules Varies ✗ No builds
Starts with your process ✓ Always ✗ Template first ✗ Module first ✗ Spec first ✗ Deck first
Built by an operator ✓ 10 years at SEA scale ✗ Software company ✗ Software company ✗ Developer ✗ Consultant
Fixed scope, fixed fee ✓ Always ✗ Licence + impl. ✗ Licence + impl. Often T&M Retainer only
Continuous improvement retainer ✓ Standard ✗ Separate support ✗ Separate support ✗ Rarely ✗ No builds

ERP records your business. An Operations Intelligence System runs it.

07Get in touch

We work with a small number of clients at a time. If you’d like to be one of them, let’s talk.

We’ll tell you honestly if SteadyLab isn’t the right fit.

hello@thesteadylab.com →