Guide / Manufacturing
Small machine shop ERP: keep, replace or connect
A small machine shop ERP needs to do five things well: quote, open jobs, track the floor, buy material and invoice. If yours does most of them, keep it and connect the gaps. Replace it only when the core is broken or unsupported. Migration usually costs the most, so treat it as the last option.
01
What a small machine shop ERP must do
| Job | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Quote | Prices from your rates; won quotes become jobs without retyping. |
| Job | Routing, material and drawing revision on one record. |
| Floor | Status and hours recorded as work happens. |
| Purchasing | Material and outside processing ordered against the job. |
| Quality | Inspection records tied to the part and revision. |
| Invoice | Shipped jobs reach accounting once. |
Everything else is optional for a small shop.
02
Machine shop ERP software, as vendors describe it
From vendor websites, October 2026. Their words, not a ranking:
- ProShop. ERP, quality and shop-floor system in one, aimed at precision machine shops; says 700+ precision manufacturers run on it.
- JobBOSS². Job and machine shop management for small and mid-sized manufacturers; cloud or on-premise.
- Fulcrum. Cloud manufacturing software for precision CNC shops and sheet metal fabricators.
Most job shop management software covers the table above. The difference is fit to your floor and how much your team actually uses it.
03
Keep, replace or connect
| Decision | When | Cost to you |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | It works; people just don't use all of it. | Setup and training time. |
| Connect | The core works; data gets retyped around it. | A custom layer, then a monthly retainer. |
| Replace | Unsupported, or the core records are wrong. | Migration, retraining, a stretch of double entry. |
04
Fill gaps without migrating
- List every retype. Where does someone copy data from one screen, sheet or email to another?
- Check the module. Many gaps are features you own but never set up.
- Check the access. API, import files or database. That decides what a layer can do.
- Build the costliest gap. Often RFQ intake, floor status or quote vs actual.
deltaV builds and hosts the layer. The ERP keeps its records; your data stays yours. See workflow automation, closing the quoting gaps and build vs buy.
The CNC RFQ-to-job demo shows one gap closed: a won quote becoming the job.
Questions
Direct answers
Which ERP is best for a small machine shop?
The one your team will keep updated. Compare on your own jobs: quote one, run it, invoice it. Demos with the vendor's sample data hide the gaps.
Can you add features to our ERP without replacing it?
Usually. A custom layer reads and writes through the ERP's API, imports or database, where the vendor allows it. The ERP stays the system of record.
What does it cost to fill the gaps?
It depends on complexity and the business case. Book a call and bring the list of things you retype.