Choosing The Right Software: Your 10-Point Checklist

Job shops, machine shops, and make-to-order manufacturers may differ in size and scope. Still, they have several things in common: increasing pressures from their customers, dealing with constant change, meeting customer’s dues dates, scheduling the shop floor, and trying to increase revenue and profitability. In today’s business climate, companies look to information technology to help improve their processes and gain a competitive edge.

Most manufacturing systems have a heritage in the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) philosophy developed in the 1960s. This concept utilised computer power to calculate time-phased material requirements. It later evolved into MRP II, promoted by APICS and Ollie Wight during the 1980s, and further evolved into the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems available today.

The original premise of these systems is that material planning is the centre of the universe. The typical manufacturing system was designed with an MRP process at the heart of the system. Such systems emphasise standard bills, routings, and standard costs.

Job shops, machine shops, or make-to-order manufacturers have a different focus. To win business, you must provide accurate estimates and quotations to a demanding customer base. In many cases, bills and routings are specific to a job, and you must closely monitor actual costs versus the original estimate to ensure profitability.

There are many reasons why implementations fail. Lack of management commitment, inadequate education and training, poor planning, and insufficient resources are just a few, but there is a more basic reason – choosing the wrong system.

While large companies can absorb the cost of a failed implementation, small companies can be devastated by the wrong choice. Most job shops, machine shops, or make-to-order manufacturers are small, privately owned businesses, so it is essential that they make the right choice the first time. Taking the time to ask the right questions and focus your evaluation on the things that matter will help ensure you make the best possible choice.

This 10-point checklist walks through everything that job shops, machine shops, and make-to-order manufacturers need to know when evaluating the right software for their business.  

Get the key questions your software needs to answer during the process to ensure it is the right fit for every unique component your business has.