Modernising Diamond Inventory Management from Excel to AI-Powered ERP
Client: Diamond Star Exports
The Challenge
Diamond Star Exports, one of Surat's prominent diamond exporters, managed their 15,000+ stone inventory across Excel workbooks shared via email among 20 team members. Rapaport price updates were manually entered twice a week, GIA/IGI certification documents were stored in physical folders, and consignment tracking relied on WhatsApp messages. Inventory accuracy sat at 88%, margin leakage was estimated at 4--6% of revenue, and month-end reporting consumed an entire week of the finance team's time.
Research & Discovery
We spent 2 weeks embedded in Diamond Star's Surat office, observing the complete stone lifecycle--from rough purchase through cutting, polishing, certification, and export. We interviewed traders, sorters, the accounts team, and the owner. We mapped 23 distinct workflows and identified that 40% of the finance team's time was spent reconciling consignment data, and pricing errors accounted for 2.3% of lost margin.
Strategy
We designed a diamond-specific ERP that respected the unique language of the industry--carats, clarity, cut, colour, fluorescence, and Rapaport discounts. The system would integrate directly with the Rapaport API for real-time pricing, use OCR to digitise certifications, implement barcode-based lot tracking, and automate consignment reconciliation. We planned a parallel-run period where both Excel and the new system would be used simultaneously for 4 weeks.
Design Approach
The UI was designed for speed--diamond traders need to search, filter, and price stones in seconds, not minutes. We built a powerful search interface with 14 filterable parameters (shape, weight range, clarity, colour, lab, etc.), inline price editing with Rapaport discount calculations, and a visual stone gallery with certificate thumbnails. The mobile app was designed for trade shows--allowing salespeople to search inventory and create memos on the spot.
Development
The platform was built on .NET with a React frontend and SQL Server database, hosted on Azure. The Rapaport API integration auto-updated prices every 6 hours. OCR-powered by Azure Cognitive Services extracted data from GIA/IGI certificate images. Barcode scanning was implemented for lot-level tracking with full chain-of-custody logging. The mobile app was built with React Native for both iOS and Android.
“The diamond industry software handles everything we need--lot tracking, Rapaport integration, and certification management. Our inventory accuracy went from 88% to 99.5%.”
Technologies Used
Want Similar Results?
Let's discuss how we can drive measurable outcomes for your business.
Start Your Project