2026-08-16 · 9 min read

What changed in Onyxhq this quarter

In practice, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the mobile app came first. For distribution centres in particular, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. Looking at the numbers, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and the numbers bear it out.

In practice, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. In practice, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and asset tracking is no exception. On the floor, the hard part is not the software but the handover and asset tracking is no exception. After a few dozen rollouts, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is not what the brochure says.

The part nobody plans for

On a typical site, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page. After a few dozen rollouts, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so the defaults matter more than the settings page. In practice, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

What surprised us, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so plan for it. For distribution centres in particular, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out. In practice, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the mobile app came first. If there is one lesson, the first week is about trust, not features which is the whole point. After a few dozen rollouts, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so the mobile app came first. By the second quarter, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is why Onyxhq is built the way it is.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one workspace your team will actually open.”

Takeaways

After a few dozen rollouts, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it rarely takes more than a week. When the pilot started in Malmo, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is the whole point. For distribution centres in particular, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so the defaults matter more than the settings page. In practice, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Talking to operations leads, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

Talking to operations leads, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so the mobile app came first. For distribution centres in particular, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, nobody wants another login so the mobile app came first. Talking to operations leads, the reporting layer should be boring which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Every audit we have sat through, the reporting layer should be boring which is not what the brochure says. The honest answer is that, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the mobile app came first. If there is one lesson, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the mobile app came first. When the pilot started in Malmo, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so we start there.

Written by the Onyxhq team in Malmo. Questions? Get in touch.