- product
- Frame assembly FA-20
- quantity
- 40 · due Thu
- material
- Steel tube lot L-5530 · issued
- routing
- R-FA20 v4 · 5 operations
- customer order
- SO-7720
§ 05Manufacturing
Manufacturing software development
We build the business software that runs a production operation: plans, work orders, routings, operator reporting, quality holds and traceability. It is connected to stock and finance, so what the shop floor reports is what planning and costing see.
- Cut: done40 / 40 · 0 scrap
- Weld: done40 / 40 · 1 rework
- Paint: in progress22 / 40 reported
- Final inspection: awaiting a decisionsample 5 · hold if fail
- Pack: not started
What this page covers
- 01Planning
- 02Work orders
- 03Routings
- 04Operator reporting
- 05Quality holds
- 06Traceability
- 07Costing
§ 01Scope
What we build for production
Our custom manufacturing software development services cover six areas. Most plants start with work orders and shop-floor reporting, because every other area depends on knowing what was actually produced.
- planning
Production planning
Turn customer orders and forecasts into work orders, sequenced against work-centre capacity and material availability. Planners adjust a plan rather than rebuild a spreadsheet.
- work centres
- capacity
- material check
- work-orders
Work orders and routings
Each work order carries its bill of materials, its routing (operations, work centres, standard times) and its documents, versioned so changes do not silently affect orders in progress.
- BOM
- routing
- revision
- reporting
Shop-floor reporting
Operators start, pause and complete operations on a tablet or terminal, reporting good quantity, scrap and reasons. Supervisors see progress per order and per work centre as it happens.
- start / stop
- good / scrap
- downtime reason
- materials
Material issue and consumption
Materials are issued to the work order by scan or backflushed on completion, so stock and work-in-progress stay consistent.
- issue
- backflush
- WIP
- quality
Quality and traceability
Inspection plans, quality holds and nonconformance reports linked to lots, so you can answer which customer orders used which material lot.
- inspection
- hold
- NCR
- lot genealogy
- maintenance
Maintenance requests
Operators raise a request against a machine from the same screen; the work centre’s capacity reflects it.
- request
- work centre status
§ 02Before / after
From paper travellers to a production system
Software development for manufacturing companies usually replaces paper, whiteboards and spreadsheets that people trust because they can see them. The system has to be just as visible, and faster.
| BeforeToday: paper, whiteboard, walking | AfterIn the production system |
|---|---|
| paper travellerA printed traveller follows the job; quantities are written by hand and typed in at the end of the week. | recordEach operation is reported on a tablet at the work centre; the work order updates immediately. |
| whiteboardThe schedule lives on a whiteboard updated in the morning meeting. | stateThe plan shows each order’s current operation and what is waiting at each work centre. |
| walking aroundThe planner walks the floor to find out whether an order will ship on time. | ruleLate operations are flagged against the due date as soon as they slip. |
| email to qualityA defect is reported by email; the affected parts keep moving. | decisionA quality hold blocks the lot from the next operation until quality decides. |
| spreadsheet costingActual costs are estimated from the standard at month end. | integrationReported time, materials and scrap feed costing and the ledger. |
§ 03Work order
The work order lifecycle
Production management software development centres on one record: the work order. Its states tell planning, the floor, quality and finance what they can do with it.
- Planned: donefrom SO or forecast
- Released: donematerials available
- In production: in progressreported per operation
- Quality hold: awaiting a decisiononly if inspection fails
- Completed: not startedoutput to stock
- Closed: not startedactual cost posted
↺ Rework · a failed inspection sends affected units back to the operation that caused the defect
§ 04Quality
Quality holds and nonconformance
When an inspection fails, the lot is put on hold automatically and cannot move to the next operation. A nonconformance report collects the finding, the lot and the decision (use as is, rework, scrap or return), and the decision is made by the role that owns it.
| NCR | Finding | Lot | Decision by | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCR-207 | Paint thickness below spec on 3 of 5 | L-5530 | Quality lead | Awaiting decision |
| NCR-206 | Weld spatter, cosmetic | L-5528 | Quality lead | Use as is |
| NCR-205 | Hole position out of tolerance | L-5521 | Engineering | Rework |
| NCR-203 | Wrong tube grade received | L-5507 | Purchasing | Return to supplier |
§ 05Integrations
Connected systems
Production software sits between the ERP that sells and pays, the inventory that supplies materials, and engineering that defines what is built.
| Connected system | Direction | What moves | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERP / accounting | Production system ↔ ERP / accounting | orders · actual costs | on release / close |
| Inventory | Production system ↔ Inventory | material · output | on issue / complete |
| CAD / PLM export | CAD / PLM export → Production system | BOMs · drawings | on revision |
| Label printers | Production system → Label printers | lot labels | on completion |
| Email & chat | Production system → Email & chat | holds · late orders | on state change |
§ 06Boundary
Where MES begins, and where our scope ends
Manufacturing execution system development is a specialist field, and the search results for it are dominated by product vendors. As a manufacturing software development company, our scope is the business layer of execution. We do not claim to build machine control systems.
In our scope
- Work orders, routings and operation-level reporting by operators
- Material issue, consumption and lot genealogy
- Quality inspections, holds and nonconformance workflows
- Production dashboards built from reported data
- Integration with machine or line data where an existing system already exposes it (for example, a database or file export)
Outside our scope
- PLC programming, SCADA, or real-time machine control
- Direct connectivity to machines without an existing interface
- Validated or certified systems for regulated production (for example, GMP validation)
- Supplying industrial hardware or networks
§ 07Delivery
How a production system is rolled out
- 01phase
Floor walk and routing review
We follow two or three typical orders through the plant and review how routings, BOMs and travellers are kept today.
- Handed over
- Work-order model and reporting points
- 02phase
Pilot cell
Operator reporting goes live in one cell or line first, on tablets at the work centre, with supervisors watching the data.
- Handed over
- Working reporting in one cell
- 03phase
Planning, quality and stock
The plan, quality holds and material movements are added and connected to inventory.
- Handed over
- Plan view, NCR workflow and stock integration
- 04phase
Costing and rollout
Actual cost feeds finance; remaining cells go live one at a time.
- Handed over
- Costing reconciliation and rollout plan
Ideal when
- Work orders, travellers and schedules live on paper, whiteboards and spreadsheets
- Planning cannot see progress or scrap until the end of the shift or week
- You must trace which material lots went into which customer orders
You receive
- Work-order, routing and reporting model
- Operator screens for the shop floor and planner and quality views
- Integrations with inventory and finance
- Source code, runbooks and training per role
Not in scope
- Machine control, PLC or SCADA work
- Certified MES for regulated production
- Industrial hardware and networks
§ 08Questions
Questions about manufacturing software
What is the best ERP for manufacturing?
There is no single answer. Several packaged ERP products are designed for manufacturing and fit well when your processes match them. Custom manufacturing software makes sense when your routings, configurations or quality steps are unusual, or when you want to keep your accounting system and add production management around it.
Do you build manufacturing execution systems (MES)?
We build the business layer of execution: work orders, operator reporting, materials, quality and traceability. We do not build machine control or certified MES for regulated industries. If you need those, we can integrate with the system that provides them.
Will operators actually use the system?
Operator screens are designed with operators, at the work centre, for gloves and short interactions: start, report quantity, report scrap with a reason, done. We pilot in one cell first and change the screens based on what happens there before rolling out.
Can it work with our existing ERP or accounting system?
Yes. Production software commonly receives orders and items from the ERP and returns completions, consumption and actual costs. Each exchange is specified with its trigger and handling of errors.
How do you handle BOM and routing changes?
BOMs and routings are versioned. A released work order keeps the revision it was released with, and a change creates a new revision that applies to new orders unless a planner chooses to update orders already in progress.
Next step
Bring one traveller and one week’s schedule.
A real job card and a real schedule show us more than a requirements document. Describe them, along with the systems production must report into.
brief.txt · what helps us most
- 01How work orders, routings and BOMs are kept today
- 02Work centres, shifts and who reports what
- 03Quality checks and how holds are handled
- 04The ERP, accounting or inventory system to connect