Non-profit Case study

Touchstone Foundation cuts production processing time by about 60%

Donations tied to events, budget transfers, food production and mixed-workforce HR for a charitable trust.

Headline result ~60% less production processing timeTouchstone Foundation

Client: Touchstone Foundation
Industry: Non-profit
Platform: ERPNext · Frappe HR (HRMS)
Scope: 6 modules

1ProblemProcesses ran on Excel across entities, recipes changed daily with substitute materials and no structured costing, and donations could not be traced to events or projects.

2GoalImplement a unified ERP for end-to-end operations

3What we builtERPNext across accounts (with GST), HRMS and payroll, manufacturing, inventory, buying and selling, plus a donations and budgeting module with event-based allocation and transfers.

4Outcome~60% less production processing time

01 · The client Touchstone Foundation

Touchstone Foundation

Touchstone Foundation, Visakhapatnam, runs a multi-entity structure combining charitable programmes with food production, corporate catering and trading: about 350+ employees plus contract workforce.

Client: Touchstone Foundation
Industry: Non-profit
Country: India
Engagement: Multi-entity ERPNext implementation
Region: India (Visakhapatnam)

02 · The challenge

What wasn’t working

Processes ran on Excel across entities, recipes changed daily with substitute materials and no structured costing, and donations could not be traced to events or projects. Budget transfers were manual, and the workforce mixed employees, devotees and contract staff. SAP had been considered and dropped for cost and complexity.

01Heavy reliance on Excel; limited real-time visibility

02Daily changes in recipes/BOM and frequent substitutes

03No structured cost tracking (raw material + packaging)

04No way to assign donations to events or projects

05Manual budget allocation and transfer

06Mixed workforce; manual attendance

07SAP considered but too costly and complex

What they needed

Implement a unified ERP for end-to-end operations
Enable donation traceability and budget control
Improve production planning and cost analysis
Automate financial and HR processes
Support multi-entity operations

03 · What we implemented

The solution

ERPNext across accounts (with GST), HRMS and payroll, manufacturing, inventory, buying and selling, plus a donations and budgeting module with event-based allocation and transfers.

Production-plan-driven manufacturing without job cards: one-click stock entries from the production plan, ideal BOM retained while actual (substitute) consumption is recorded; user-based approval workflows.

Modules

Accounts
HRMS and payroll
Manufacturing
Inventory
Buying and selling
Donations and budgeting

What we built beyond the standard

User-based workflow (approval by named individuals)
Dynamic BOM and substitution logic
Single-click stock entries from production planNo work orders/job cards
Order-wise costing and profitabilityRaw material, packaging, margin
Event-based budget allocation and transfer engine
Biometric attendance integration

Outcomes

Transparent donation utilisation
Clear linkage between funds, projects and outcomes
Structured HR for a mixed workforce
Real-time cost and profitability reports

04 · The results

What changed for the business

~60% lessProduction processing time

Technology

ERPNext
Frappe HR (HRMS)
Biometric attendance devices (ZKTeco)

Industry

Non-profit
Manufacturing →

What we did

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