Close the gap between the ERP and what happens on the floor
Most plants have an ERP, a few spreadsheets and a lot of knowledge that lives on the floor. We build the layer in between: tablets that operators will actually use, machine data that arrives without retyping, and quoting and quality tools that fit how your shop works. We work alongside your IT and your supervisors, not around them.
What the software has to survive
These conditions decide what we build before any feature list does.
- The ERP and the floor disagree
- Work orders get updated at the end of the shift, from memory or from a paper traveler. By then the schedule has already moved, and planning is working from yesterday.
- Downtime codes nobody trusts
- When the code list is long, operators pick the first one that fits. OEE numbers built on those codes look precise and mislead anyone who relies on them.
- Machines from every decade
- A single plant may run new PLCs, 20-year-old controllers and machines with no network port at all. Sensor data comes in different protocols and formats, and none of it was designed to be shared.
- Customers ask for traceability
- Lot, heat, serial and inspection records are often requested after the fact. When they live in binders and spreadsheets, answering a single customer question can take days of searching.
What we build for manufacturing
- Shop-floor tablets for work orders
- Operators clock on to a job, log quantities, scrap and notes, and attach photos, with large controls built for gloves and shared devices. Entries flow to the ERP and tolerate a brief loss of connectivity.
- Downtime and OEE capture
- Machine signals tell us when a machine stopped, and a short reason prompt tells us why. We keep the code list small and meaningful, so supervisors can see real patterns by machine, shift and part number.
- Quoting from drawings and history
- We build quoting tools that read RFQ packages, find similar past jobs and draft a cost build-up for the estimator to review. AI handles the repetitive reading and lookup. The estimator still owns the number, especially on new parts.
- BOM and routing control
- Engineering changes reach the floor with revision control and an approval trail, so the shop builds to the current revision. Where BOMs and routings sit in separate spreadsheets, we consolidate them into one maintained source.
- Quality and traceability records
- Inspection forms, nonconformance reports and certificates are captured at the point of work and linked to lot and serial numbers. A customer question about a shipped part gets answered from one system.
- Maintenance driven by real usage
- Preventive maintenance schedules follow actual run hours and cycle counts instead of the calendar. Technicians get work requests on a tablet, with the machine history in front of them.
Systems we connect to
We work with what you already run. Replacing a system is a last resort, not a starting point.
- SAP
- NetSuite
- Epicor
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs
- OPC UA and MQTT
- SCADA and historians
- CMMS platforms
- CAD and PLM
- Barcode scanners and label printers
Services that fit
- AI agents & automationAgents that read documents, triage inboxes and flag problems, with a person approving the output.
- Custom software & internal toolsOperator-facing apps, floor tablets and customer portals that replace the spreadsheet running the business.
- Legacy system modernizationMove off AS/400, green-screen, VB6 and Access systems in stages, without a risky big-bang cutover.
- Data platforms & analyticsOne trusted source of data and the dashboards operations actually read, down to margin by load.
- Integrations, ERP & EDIEDI, APIs and ERP connections that move orders, shipments and scale data between systems reliably.
Questions buyers ask
Do we need to replace our ERP to get shop-floor visibility?
No. In most plants the ERP stays as the system of record, and we add a floor-facing layer that reads from it and writes back to it. A replacement only makes sense if the assessment shows the ERP itself cannot support the processes you need.
Can you pull data from older PLCs and machines?
Often yes, though the method depends on the controller. Many can be read over industrial protocols such as OPC UA or Modbus, and machines with no network can use a simple sensor or signal tap. We survey what you have in the assessment and tell you plainly which machines are easy and which are not worth the effort.
Can AI help us quote faster?
Yes, for the repetitive parts: reading RFQ packages, extracting part details, finding similar past jobs and drafting a quote for an estimator to check. It does not replace estimator judgment on new or unusual work, and we build the review step into the workflow so the estimator stays in control.
How do you roll out software in a plant that cannot stop production?
We pilot on one line or cell during normal production, and run the old and new methods side by side until the floor trusts the new tool. Working software is shown to supervisors and operators every week, so changes come from the people using it.
Further reading
- Building a single source of truth for operations data
How to bring scale tickets, work orders and loads into one trusted data layer, and build dashboards operators open daily instead of reports nobody reads.
- EDI, APIs and spreadsheets: a practical integration guide for mid-size manufacturers and shippers
How to choose between EDI, APIs, file drops and spreadsheets when connecting customers, carriers and your own systems, with a plain guide to what fits when.
- How to hire a software consultancy for an industrial business
Questions to ask, red flags to watch for, how to structure the contract, and why you should own your code and data when hiring software help for a plant.
- How to modernize an AS/400 or legacy ERP without stopping operations
A practical guide to replacing or surrounding an AS/400 or legacy ERP in stages, so orders, scale tickets and shipments keep moving while the system changes.