Automation
Intermediate
17 min
Your first automation — a scheduled report that runs itself
The problem
Every Monday you export sales, open a spreadsheet, check stock against reorder points, and message the exceptions. Twelve minutes, every week, and you skip it whenever Monday is busy — which is exactly when you most need it.
The workflow
1Get data into a sheet
2Build the logic in formulas
3Describe the sheet
4Get the script
5Test on a copy
6Add the trigger
7Add monitoring
★Watch for four weeks
What you need
Sheet 'Stock Monitor', tab 'Current'. Headers row 1, data from row 2.
The tool
Google Apps Script
The prompt
Subscribers. The full prompt is part of the SMEMinds AI Playbook. See plans.
What comes back
1. THE SCRIPT (abbreviated here; the full script is produced ready to paste) The script opens the 'Current' tab, reads columns A to F from row 2, and for each row computes two checks: is stock below the reorder point, and are days of cover below 21.
Verify before you use it
Human review required. Check every line below before this leaves your screen.
- Test on the copy with three deliberately edited rows. Knowing the right answer in advance is what makes the test meaningful.
- The header check is the most important safety feature. Confirm it is in the script before deploying.
- Confirm the 'no exceptions' email is sent. An automation that is silent when all is well cannot be distinguished from a broken one.
- Check the execution log after the first two real runs, even if the emails look right.