Below is a sample Salesforce project designed for a beginner-level Trailhead Playground, with optional advanced requirements for those who’d like to push their skills further. The project scenario is centered on a major grocer that wants to track inventory across several categories (e.g. Food, Beverage, Household). The project includes data modeling, process automation, and reporting/dashboard requirements.

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Project Overview

Scenario

You’ve been hired as a Salesforce Administrator for Galaxy Grocers, a major grocery chain. Their leadership wants a CRM system to track inventory across various product categories—such as Food, Beverage, and Household Items—and manage re-order processes, all within Salesforce. You’ll build out a solution in your Trailhead Playground that shows how managers and staff can keep track of stock levels, get notified when items run low, and see dashboards showing daily performance metrics.

Learning Objectives

1. Familiarize yourself with Custom Objects and Custom Fields.
2. Practice setting up process automation (Flows or Workflow Rules) for low inventory alerts.
3. Create a Dashboard to display key metrics such as total inventory by category and items approaching reorder thresholds.
4. (Optional Advanced) Add complexity with additional flows, custom approval processes, or integration-like scenarios.

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Step-by-Step Project Requirements

Below are the main (beginner-level) requirements, followed by Optional Advanced expansions you can implement if you want to challenge yourself.

1. Set Up the Data Model

1. Create a Custom Object named Inventory (or Product Inventory).

   • Plural Label: Inventories
   • Record Name: Inventory Number (Auto Number or Text)

2. Add Custom Fields on the Inventory object:

   • Name (Text) – The name of the product (e.g., “Organic Apples”).
   • Category (Picklist) – Possible values: Food, Beverage, Household, Other.
   • Current Stock Level (Number) – The quantity on hand.
   • Reorder Threshold (Number) – Minimum quantity before triggering a reorder or alert.
   • Supplier (Lookup to Account)** – So you can associate your inventory to the supplier (if you want to use the standard Account object for suppliers).

3. (Optional but recommended) Create a Custom Object Tab for Inventory so it’s easy to navigate in the Salesforce app.

4. Relate Inventory to Your Grocery Locations (optional design choice):

   • If you want to track multiple store locations, create a Store custom object.
   • Add a Lookup or Master-Detail relationship from Inventory to Store so each inventory record is tied to a specific store location.

Data Model - Beginner Summary:

• Objects: Inventory (custom), plus optional Store (custom).
• Fields: Name, Category, Current Stock Level, Reorder Threshold, Supplier.

Optional Advanced:

• Create a Price field to track cost or sale price.
• Create a Date/Time field to track expiration dates or next reorder date.
• Implement Validation Rules to ensure the Reorder Threshold is not greater than Current Stock Level, or that Expiry Dates can’t be in the past, etc.

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2. Build Automation for Reorder Alerts

Once the data model is set, leadership wants managers to get notified whenever an item’s Current Stock Level goes below the Reorder Threshold.

A) Choice #1: Workflow Rule (Beginner)

1. Create a Workflow Rule on the Inventory object:

   • Criteria: When Current Stock Level < Reorder Threshold.
   • Email Alert: Notify the Inventory Manager or designated user.

2. Activate the workflow rule.

B) Choice #2: Flow (Beginner-Intermediate)

1. Create a Record-Triggered Flow on the Inventory object.
   • Trigger: When a record is created or updated.
   • Condition: Current Stock Level < Reorder Threshold.
   • Action: Send an Email Alert or Post to Chatter to notify the Inventory Manager.

Optional Advanced:

• Instead of just sending an email, update a related object. For example, automatically create a Case or Task for the Purchasing team to restock.
• Add an Approval Process if certain items require manager approval before placing a reorder.
• Use Scheduled Paths in Flow to check items nearing expiry date (e.g., 7 days before expiry) to alert staff to discount or remove soon-to-expire products.

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3. Create Reports & Dashboards

Dashboards help management see overall performance and stock levels at a glance.

1. Create Custom Report Types

   • Base the Report Type on the Inventory object.
   • (Optional) Include Store if you created that object.

2. Build Reports in the Inventory folder:

   • Low Stock Report: Filter where Current Stock Level < Reorder Threshold.
   • Inventory by Category: Group by Category (Food, Beverage, etc.) to see total stock levels.
   • Inventory by Supplier (if you’re using the standard Account object for suppliers).

3. Create a Dashboard

   • Add components referencing the above reports.
   • Consider:
     • Gauge or Metric for total stock count.
     • Donut Chart showing category breakdown.
     • Table listing top low-stock items.

4. Set Dashboard Filters (optional):

   • E.g., Filter by Store location or by Supplier.

Optional Advanced:

• Dynamic Dashboards: Show data relevant to the user who’s logged in (e.g., store manager only sees their location).
• Lightning App Page: Embed a dashboard or charts on a custom Lightning page for the Inventory object.
• Schedule Dashboard Refresh: Have the dashboard email out a snapshot daily/weekly to managers.
• Importing pre-existing data to use in your app: Grab relevant information from an existing dataset and import it into your Salesforce app. Example: Download the Grocery Store Dataset from here. Then, modify the data to only include fields that map to your Salesforce object fields. Then, use the Data Import wizard or Data Loader to import the records.

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4. Testing and Deployment

In your Trailhead Playground:

1. Add Sample Data:

   • Create ~5 Inventory records covering different categories, e.g., Food items like apples, Beverage items like soda, Household items like cleaning supplies, etc.
   • Enter realistic Current Stock Level and Reorder Threshold values depending on the product. Example: a reorder threshold of 100 would make sense for apples, but not for an outdoor Weber grill.

2. Trigger the Automation:

   • Manually lower an item’s Current Stock Level below the threshold.
   • Verify an email or Flow notification is sent to the designated user.

3. Check Your Reports and Dashboards:

   • Ensure that items display accurately (e.g., the Low Stock Report shows the correct items).

4. Documentation:

   • Write a short description or doc explaining how your Inventory object is set up, how the automation works, and the purpose of each dashboard component.

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Putting It All Together

When completed, you should have:

1. A Custom Inventory object (and optionally a Store object).
2. Custom Fields for Category, Stock Level, Threshold, and more.
3. Automation (Workflow Rule or Flow) that triggers reorder alerts or tasks.
4. Reports that summarize inventory status by category and identify low stock.
5. A Dashboard that provides a real-time overview of grocery inventory.

If you choose to do the Optional Advanced pieces, you’ll gain additional experience with Flows, approval processes, and advanced reporting or dashboard scenarios.

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Next Steps & Extensions

• Integration: If you want a more complex project, pretend to integrate with a shipping or warehouse management system by simulating updates via inbound changes in a Flow or using an external data source (in a real-life scenario).
• Enhance Security: Configure permission sets or sharing rules so only certain roles can see or update certain fields (e.g., cost data is hidden from employees).
• Trailhead Modules: Look for modules on Process Automation, Reports & Dashboards, and Data Modeling to further cement your knowledge.

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Project Recap

• Difficulty: Beginner-friendly with straightforward data modeling, but can be made more challenging with advanced automation and reporting features.
• Scenario: Major grocer needing to track inventory, alert staff to low or expiring items, and visualize data in dashboards.
• Key Deliverables:
  1. Custom Inventory object + fields
  2. Automation (Workflow/Flow) for low inventory
  3. Dashboard & Reports for real-time insights

With this Inventory Management-focused project, you’ll practice critical Salesforce Admin skills—designing a data model, building automations, and surfacing analytics. Enjoy exploring these features in your Trailhead Playground!