Custom applications across Canada · Production
Custom production management software tracks every order through your shop: the work order, the steps, the materials, the shipment. Each workstation sees what it has to do, and the office knows where an order stands without walking the floor to find out. Your accounting software stays in place.
Where production gets stuck
In many small plants, production runs on printed work orders, a whiteboard and the memory of two or three people. An order changed after its work order was printed, a forgotten step, a part missing at the wrong moment: the mistake turns up at assembly, or at the customer’s.
Off-the-shelf production software, and the ERPs that include it, suit plants that build in series and accept the software’s way of doing things. When every order is different, it forces you to bend your steps to its screens, or to keep the whiteboard alongside it. Our guide ERP or custom software for a small manufacturer compares the options, with published prices.
Custom software follows your steps as they are: your workstations, your lead times, your checks. It connects to the accounting software you already use, instead of replacing it.
An order’s path through production
What the software includes
We start from the way you produce: your current work orders, your whiteboard, the steps the team knows by heart. The software takes them over, then shows each person the right step at the right time.
Every order reaches the shop floor with its specifications: products, options, dimensions, materials, customer notes. A change made at the office updates the work order, instead of adding one more printed version.
Work orders · SpecificationsOrders are placed by workstation and by day, based on the actual load. A delay shows up right away, along with its effect on the orders that follow.
Scheduling · Workstations · Due datesOn a tablet or a screen on the shop floor, each workstation sees its work for the day and marks the step complete. The screen shows only what that workstation needs.
Tablet · Steps · StatusesThe software calculates the materials and parts each order requires, and flags what is missing before the work begins.
Bill of materials · InventoryThe finished order moves to shipping, then the useful information goes to your accounting software, through an API, an import or an export, depending on what it allows. No one retypes the order to invoice it.
Shipping · Sage 50 · Acomba · QuickBooksOnce delivered and paid for, the software belongs to you: the code, your steps, your production data and its history. No per-seat licence, no mandatory subscription.
Case study · Pavar
Pavar builds chairs and banquettes for restaurants across North America. On an order of several dozen seats, the fabric, the wood finish and the colour of the nails define what will be built. In the application, every choice is tied to the product it applies to, and the approved order becomes a project the team follows all the way to production.
Read the Pavar case studyOur products, the client’s choices and the details of their order all live in the application.
Maria IermieriVP Sales and Marketing and Co-owner, PavarBefore you start
If you build standard products in series, off-the-shelf production software or an ERP will probably do the job, and we will tell you so. Custom is worth the investment in these cases:
Frequently asked questions
An ERP or production software imposes its own steps and screens; it suits series manufacturing well. Custom software starts from yours and contains only what is useful. If an existing product covers your needs, it is often the best choice, and we will tell you so from the start. Our guide custom application or SaaS software helps you decide.
No. Sage 50, Acomba or QuickBooks remains your accounting system. The production software connects to it according to what each one allows: API, import or export. Our guide connecting Sage 50, Acomba or QuickBooks explains the options. The goal is that an order is never retyped.
A tablet or a screen per workstation is usually enough: the application opens in a web browser. Shop floor screens show little information, in large type, so they can be read at a glance.
A first working version is usually ready in about eight weeks. It first covers the step that costs you the most time today, then the application evolves with your priorities. The price depends on the steps, the screens and the integrations; the proposal sets the scope and the price before work begins. Our guide on the cost of a custom application explains what makes the price vary, and the one on digital transformation grants covers the funding that might apply.
You do. Once delivered and paid for, the software belongs to you, with its code, its data and its access, with no licence to renew. Documentation and hosting are planned in the engagement. Our guide who owns the code explains what a contract should include.
Let’s talk about your production
A work order, a photo of the whiteboard or your scheduling file is enough for a first conversation with François. Together, we will see what is slowing your production down and what is worth building. The first conversation comes with no commitment.
