diff --git a/build.php b/build.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39115f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.php
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+<?php
+$plugin = new stdClass;
+include('version.php');
+
+$a = explode("_",$plugin->component,2);
+$plugin->type = $a[0];
+$plugin->name = $a[1];
+
+$exclude_paths = [
+    "build",     // dir for build zip files
+    "build/*",
+    "build.*",
+    "amd/src",
+    "amd/src/*",
+    ".git",
+    ".git/*",
+    ".gitignore",
+    "*.zip",
+];
+
+// Determine some paths 
+$wd = realpath(dirname(__FILE__));
+$parent = dirname($wd);
+$plugindirname = basename($wd);
+$builddir = $wd."/"."build";
+$zipname = $builddir."/"."{$plugin->name}-{$plugin->version}.zip";
+
+// create the exclude line
+$exclude = "-x ";
+foreach($exclude_paths as $x){
+    $exclude .= "'{$plugindirname}/{$x}' ";
+}
+
+if(!is_dir($builddir)){
+    mkdir($builddir);
+    if(!is_dir($builddir)){
+        print("Cannot access dir '{$builddir}' to store zip files\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+}
+
+if(file_exists($zipfile)){
+    print("Zip file '{$zipfile}' already exists. Exiting...\n");
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+$cwd = getcwd();
+chdir($parent);
+
+$cmd = "zip -r '{$zipname}' '{$plugindirname}' {$exclude}";
+system($cmd);
+
+chdir($cwd);
+
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7528487
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+SCRIPTDIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
+WD=`pwd`
+
+# run the grunt script in the scripts working directory 
+cd $SCRIPTDIR
+grunt amd
+
+# run the build php script
+php ${SCRIPTDIR}/build.php $@
+
+
+# return to the working directory
+cd $WD
\ No newline at end of file