ERP for a small machine shop: what you actually need
A small job shop needs five things from software: POs in without retyping, every job's current step, a schedule that shows what's late, travelers and packing slips that print themselves, and buyers who stop calling for status. Most shops under 50 people don't need MRP, multi-plant or a six-month rollout. Below: what to look for, what to skip, and how the common options compare on price and setup time.
Do you need an ERP at all?
You've outgrown the spreadsheet when one of these happens every week:
- A buyer calls to ask where their parts are, and someone has to walk the floor to answer.
- A job ships late and nobody saw it coming, often because it sat at the plater or heat treater.
- The same PO gets typed twice: into the spreadsheet, then into QuickBooks, then onto a traveler.
- Only one person knows what's going on, and the shop slows down when they're out.
If none of that happens, a good spreadsheet is fine. Our guide to running a shop on Excel has a free open-order tracker.
What a small job shop actually needs
| Need | Why it matters in a job shop | Ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| POs in without retyping | Most POs come as a PDF in email. Retyping is where wrong revs and quantities start. | Can I forward a PO and check what it read? |
| Your own steps per part | Saw, Op 10, Op 20, deburr, anodize, inspect: the route is the job. | Can I copy last time's route for a repeat part? |
| Floor updates that take one tap | If updating takes longer than doing, nobody updates it. | Show me a machinist finishing a step on a phone. |
| A schedule that shows what's late | You want to call the customer before the due date, not after. | Where do I see every late job, including outside processing? |
| Outside processing | Platers and heat treaters are where most late jobs hide. | How do I see what's at a vendor and when it's back? |
| Travelers, packing slips, invoices | Paperwork from the order, partial shipments included. | Print me a traveler and a partial packing slip. |
| Buyer status updates | "Where's my order?" emails eat hours a week. | What does my buyer see, and do they need a login? |
| Setup you can survive | A long rollout means double entry for months. | Who imports my open orders, and how long until we're live? |
What you can probably skip
- MRP (material requirements planning) if you buy material per job instead of building stock products from bills of material.
- Full accounting inside the ERP. Most small shops keep QuickBooks; check how invoices get there.
- Multi-plant, multi-currency, EDI unless a customer requires it.
- Custom reports on day one. Start with the screens you'll look at every morning.
The common options, side by side
Facts from each vendor's own website, checked October 30, 2026. Prices change; ask each vendor for a written quote.
| Built for | Price | Setup | Where it beats Tehdo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JobBOSS² (ECI) | Job shops and machine shops, high mix low volume | Not published; quote after a demo | "Around 3-6 months" (ECI) | QuickBooks integration, job costing estimate vs actual, many years and "thousands of shops" |
| ProShop | Precision machine shops (aerospace, defense, medical) | Not published; priced by users | Not published | Quality system (QMS), calibration, tool and fixture management, inspection data |
| Fulcrum | Small and mid-size manufacturers | Not published; based on your gross revenue and integrations, not per user | With Fulcrum's launch team; no time published | Inventory and automatic purchase orders, finance reporting, open API |
| MRPeasy | Small manufacturers and distributors up to 200 people | $49 to $149 per user per month | Self-serve, 15 + 15 day free trial | MRP, bills of material, inventory, many store and accounting integrations |
| Odoo | Any business; Manufacturing is one app of many | Per user per month; implementation extra | Self-serve or with a partner | Breadth: accounting, CRM, inventory and more in one system |
| Tehdo | Small US job shops and machine shops | $500 a month, whole shop, setup included | Usually a day; we do the import | (Ours to win: buyer status link, POs read from email, one flat price) |
Sources: ECI JobBOSS², ProShop pricing, Fulcrum, MRPeasy pricing, Odoo pricing.
Where Tehdo fits, and where it doesn't
Tehdo is built for owners of small build-to-print shops who want the whole shop on one screen without a long project: POs read from email, every part moving through your own steps, a planning board, travelers, packing slips, invoices, and a link that shows your buyers where their order is. It's $500 a month for everyone, and we set it up with you.
It's not the right pick if you need MRP for your own product line, a built-in quality system with calibration records, or QuickBooks sync today. Tehdo is young: it runs every day at VTN Manufacturing in San Jose and JHK-Koneistus in Finland. If that's too new for you, ProShop and JobBOSS² have been around for years.
How to choose in a week, not a quarter
- Pick your three worst weekly problems from the list at the top.
- Send each vendor the same real PO and ask them to show it going from email to a printed traveler to a packing slip.
- Ask who does the import and how many weeks of double entry you'll have.
- Ask for the price for your whole shop, in writing, including setup and the first year.
- Have your lead machinist try the floor screen on a phone. If they won't use it, nothing else matters.
Questions
What is the best ERP for a small machine shop?
The one your people will actually update. For a build-to-print shop under about 50 people, look for job-shop software (JobBOSS², ProShop, Fulcrum, Tehdo) rather than inventory MRP built for product makers (MRPeasy, Katana). Then compare setup time, who does the import, and whether everyone in the shop can have a login without paying per seat.
How long does it take to set up an ERP in a machine shop?
It ranges from a day to months. ECI says JobBOSS² implementation takes around 3 to 6 months. Tehdo loads your open orders from a spreadsheet and is usually running in a day; VTN Manufacturing went live the afternoon we visited.
Do I need MRP?
Only if you build your own products from bills of material and stock components. A job shop that buys material per job usually needs purchasing and outside-processing tracking, not MRP.