Built by a maker, for makers.

It started with Aurora Lites

Aurora Lites LLC is a small maker in Concrete, Washington — fire starters, fire colorants and cedar gift crates, made in batches and shipped across the country. Like most small makers, it ran on spreadsheets.

“I hated using Excel. I called several manufacturing ERP and AI companies and looked into the top solutions, and none of them fit — or they were too expensive. So I started building an app for Aurora Lites, and I suddenly thought: what if I made this to help other small businesses? How can I make a powerful app that saves them money and time?”

The search for a solution

The options were all wrong for a small shop. Spreadsheets meant typing the same numbers over and over, and they never stayed current. The big manufacturing systems were built — and priced — for companies with IT departments. Nothing connected the materials coming in, the batches being made and the money going out, at a price a small maker could pay.

So Robert built it. Long hours and brainstorming sessions later, an app for one small business grew into GodKey MFG: inventory, recipes and costing, production, purchasing, invoicing, accounting and team tools in one connected system. And it’s still growing.

Robert’s background

Robert Pytell has spent his career at the point where small businesses meet technology. He earned an associate degree in Computer Information Systems from Skagit Valley College and an associate in Advanced Avionics from Redstone College, studied Information Technology Administrative Management and cyber security at Central Washington University, and is CompTIA A+ certified.

• He started in hands-on IT: help desk support, computer and server work for enterprise clients, and building out server cabinets for a large data-center deployment.
• As the sole Director of IT for a small consumer-products brand, he built the online store with Square and Clover point-of-sale inventory integration, organized SKUs and product variants, designed product labels and packaging, and handled licensing and labeling compliance through a move to a new state.
• As a business and IT consultant for a specialty retail store, he set up the point-of-sale system, synchronized online and in-store inventory, and built buy-online-pick-up-in-store.
• He is co-owner of Skagit Safety Services, a Washington security and fire watch company, where he runs technology, finance and information security — and he owns Aurora Lites LLC.
• Years in commercial driving, rail-yard logistics and customer service taught him what running on a tight schedule — and keeping customers happy — really takes.

GodKey MFG draws on all of it: inventory, point-of-sale, barcodes, compliance and the books — connected in one system built for a small shop.

The idea: automation and logic for the little guy

Big manufacturers have had connected systems for decades. GodKey MFG brings that same automation and logic to the little guy — so the numbers a small shop needs (what’s in stock, what each unit really costs, what you owe and what you made) work themselves out, instead of being rebuilt by hand in a spreadsheet.

Aurora Lites is GodKey’s first customer — and gets no special treatment. Every company on GodKey gets exactly the same software.

Who we build for

Small manufacturers and makers with about 1–20 people who make products from recipes in batches: soap and candle makers, bath and body and skincare brands, and other small-batch producers. Shops that have outgrown spreadsheets but don’t need — or can’t afford — enterprise software.