Working Instruments
Software built and systems designed from direct operational understanding of the problems they solve — not prototypes, but instruments that fit the actual work.
scientific research · research data management · field campaigns
Instrument-heavy scientific expeditions generate vast amounts of data — yet most teams arrive in the field without a reliable estimate of how much storage, bandwidth, or computing capacity they actually need. This platform changes that.
Before a campaign: enter device lists, sampling schedules, and expedition legs — the platform calculates projected data volumes per instrument, per platform, per group, and per leg. Outputs are structured to support F.A.I.R. data principles and are directly usable in Data Management Plans for DFG, Horizon Europe, NERC, and NSF funding applications — calculated volumes, not guesses.
During a campaign: compare planned against actual data generation — supporting reproducibility and early deviation detection. After: build calibration intelligence over time. Designed for the Open Science and data stewardship commitments that modern research funders now require.
retail · textile trade · operations
A full-stack inventory management system built for a multi-site trading company — replacing fragmented spreadsheet tracking with a single source of truth across all locations. Covers the complete product lifecycle: from supplier purchase orders through to customer delivery and stock returns.
Real-time inventory tracking across warehouse and retail locations connected via VPN. Automated SKU and barcode generation with direct label printing. Purchase order management with supplier communication. Live analytics dashboard for stock and sales visibility.
pharmaceutical · regulated laboratory · quality assurance
A structured tracking tool for pharmaceutical analytical methods — from protocol initiation through validation, amendment, and final report approval. Makes planned versus actual timelines, delay ownership, and project risk visible in a single dashboard.
Built for non-technical QA and operations teams. Supports ALCOA+ data integrity principles and is designed with awareness of 21 CFR Part 11 requirements. Excel-compatible; no specialist software required.
humanitarian NGO · procurement · financial management
Full requirements analysis and system specification for integrating a modular procurement system into an existing financial management platform used by a humanitarian organisation operating across two countries with multi-currency budgets and donor-funded programme structures.
Covered the complete procure-to-pay cycle across seven integrated modules. Approval workflows and budget controls designed to satisfy donor compliance and audit requirements. Specified in both English and Arabic.
Each came out of spending time understanding an operational problem before touching a solution. The research platform came from working through what expedition teams actually struggle with in data planning. The inventory system came from understanding how a multi-site trading business was losing track of stock. The compliance tracker came from mapping what pharmaceutical teams were manually managing in disconnected spreadsheets.
The analysis and design work follows the same process — the difference is that the client's own team does the building from the specification.
For context on the advisory work these emerged from, see anuajjan.com.
The research expedition data planning platform is proprietary software. All rights reserved © Anu Ajjan. Early-access enquiries welcome — get in touch.
"Understanding a problem properly is the work. The governance structure, the requirements document, the software — these are consequences of it. When the consequence is a tool, I build it."