Custom software for manufacturing companies

The everyday problems on a small shop floor

A 20 to 200 person manufacturer usually has an ERP or accounting system that handles invoicing, and a long list of things it does not handle well. Those things end up on whiteboards, in spreadsheets and in the head of the one person who has been there longest.

• Quoting a part from a customer drawing means pulling material prices, machine times and outside processing like plating or heat treat from different places, and the quote takes days.
• The production schedule is a whiteboard or a spreadsheet, so nobody can answer “when will my order ship?” without walking the floor.
• Work order travelers are printed, marked up by hand and keyed back in later, if at all.
• Inventory counts do not match the system, so buyers order material that is already on a rack somewhere.
• Lot and heat numbers, inspection results and certificates of conformance are scattered, which hurts during an audit or a customer complaint.
• Nobody knows the real cost of a job until long after it ships, so underpriced repeat work keeps getting quoted at the same price.

What we build: manufacturing CRM, scheduling and management software

Custom software for manufacturing is built around your routings, your machines and your customers. Typical pieces include:

• Quoting from drawings, with your material, machine rates, setup times, outside processing and quantity breaks, and quote history by part number.
• A manufacturing CRM that tracks buyers, RFQs, quote win rates, repeat parts and reorder timing for each customer.
• Work orders and digital travelers with routings, operations and instructions, opened on tablets at each work center.
• Production scheduling software: a drag-and-drop board by machine or cell that shows capacity, due dates and late jobs.
• Shop floor time tracking by job and operation, so actual hours flow back to job cost.
• Inventory and purchasing for raw material, purchased parts and finished goods, with reorder points and lot tracking.
• Quality records: inspection checklists, nonconformance reports, corrective actions and certificates attached to each lot.
• A customer portal for order status, shipping documents, certs and reorders.
• Integrations with your ERP or accounting system, shipping carriers and, where machines support it, machine monitoring.

Off-the-shelf manufacturing management software vs. custom

Manufacturing ERPs exist for good reasons. Epicor is a full ERP used by many mid-sized manufacturers. Fishbowl is often paired with QuickBooks for inventory and manufacturing orders. Katana is a cloud tool popular with smaller makers who sell direct or online. ProShop is built specifically for machine shops and other job shops. If one of these fits how you work, buy it.

Custom software fits when your process is the reason customers pick you and the ERP keeps fighting it. Common cases are high-mix, low-volume shops whose quoting logic is too specific for a standard module, manufacturers that need a scheduling view the ERP does not offer, and plants that want to keep their ERP for accounting but replace the spreadsheets wrapped around it. Building only the missing pieces and connecting them to the ERP is often the best of both.

How a manufacturing software project works

1. Walk the floorWe follow a few real orders from RFQ to shipment, talking to estimating, scheduling, the floor lead, quality and shipping.
2. Map the dataPart numbers, routings, work centers and bills of materials are written down so the software uses your structure, not ours.
3. Design the screensYou click through the quote screen, the schedule board and the tablet view operators will use with gloves on.
4. Build in roundsWe start with the piece that costs you most, often quoting or scheduling, and add modules in short rounds you review.
5. Connect and importOpen orders, parts and inventory come over, and the system is linked to your ERP or accounting so nothing is typed twice.
6. Run one cell firstOne department or work center goes live, operators give feedback, and then it rolls out across the plant.

Where AI helps manufacturers

AI can read incoming RFQs and drawings and fill in the basics of a quote for an estimator to check, pull line items from supplier quotes and packing slips, and answer customer emails asking “where is my order?” from live work order status. It can also summarize nonconformance reports to show which parts and operations cause repeat problems. None of it replaces your estimator or quality manager; it removes the retyping.