Configurable motor inventory on Zoho for MCTCO

The challenge

MCTCO imports electric motors that are sold in several mounting configurations, such as B3, B5, B14, B34 and B35. The same motor family can arrive from a supplier already mounted one way and be requested by a customer another way, with the workshop adjusting it before delivery. A conventional finished-goods inventory would have created duplicated stock records per mounting type, unreliable availability checks, weak serial traceability and constant manual corrections. Accounts were closed once a year.

The solution

Start Dynamics designed a component-based inventory model in Zoho Inventory, connected to Zoho Books:

1. Serial-tracked motor cores as the primary stock record.
2. Separate items for mounting parts such as flanges.
3. Temporary receiving items for mounted supplier shipments, normalised into cores and parts on receipt.
4. Composite sellable items for each approved mounting type, so Zoho consumes the required core and parts when a configuration is sold.
5. A compatibility matrix by motor family and mounting type, so unsupported combinations cannot be sold.
6. Sales validation against core and part availability before commitment.

With inventory and Books on one platform, month-end became a routine close rather than an annual exercise.

What changed

Stock is represented once, at the level that does not change identity. Sales can confirm availability of a mounting-specific product with the inventory behind it. Serial traceability stays on the motor core. Accounts close monthly, more than 10,000 items are managed in the system, and the implementation ran seven weeks from kickoff to go-live.