Manufacturing software development
Manufacturing software that closes the gap between plan and floor
The ERP says what the plant should make. The machines know what it actually made. Most manufacturing software problems live in the gap between the two, and most projects fail by pretending it is not there. We build for the gap.
- Peer-reviewed releases
- NDA before your first call
The plan and the floor never agree
A production order leaves the ERP with a quantity, a routing and a date. On the floor, a machine goes down, a batch is scrapped, a substitute material is used, an operator records the count at the end of the shift instead of as it happened. By the time the numbers return to the ERP, they describe a different day.
Plants cope with whiteboards, spreadsheets and people who walk between the office and the floor. The software projects that help are the ones that decide, deliberately, what crosses from the floor to the plan, how often, and which system is right when they disagree.
That decision comes before any screen or dashboard.
- 01
What crosses
Which floor events the plan needs: counts, scrap, downtime, material consumed.
- 02
How often
Real time, per shift or per order, chosen for the decision the data feeds.
- 03
Who is right
Which system is the record for stock, quality and genealogy when the two disagree.
What we build
Manufacturing software we develop
Six kinds of system, alone or connected to the ERP and the equipment you already run.
- 01
Production scheduling and planning
Schedules built from real capacity, changeovers and material, updated when the floor changes rather than once a week.
- 02
Shop floor data and MES functions
Work order execution, counts, scrap and downtime captured where they happen, from operators or from the machines.
- 03
Quality and traceability
Inspections, non-conformances and lot genealogy, so a problem batch can be traced forward and back in minutes.
- 04
Inventory and material flow
Raw material, work in progress and finished goods tracked across stores, lines and warehouses.
- 05
Maintenance tools
Planned and condition-based maintenance, driven by machine hours or sensor data where you have it.
- 06
ERP integration and extensions
The connections and custom modules that make your ERP fit the plant, rather than the plant fitting the ERP.
Integration
The systems a manufacturing build has to talk to
The ISA-95 standard describes the layers of a plant, from business planning down to machine control. Most projects sit between two of them.
| Layer | Usual interface | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| ERP (business planning) | ERP APIs, IDocs, scheduled files | Orders changed in the ERP after the floor has started them |
| MES and operations | Vendor APIs, databases, ISA-95 style messages | Counts recorded per shift arriving as if they were real time |
| Machines and control (PLC, SCADA) | OPC UA, MQTT, vendor protocols | Older equipment with no standard interface at all |
| Quality systems | APIs, exports | Inspection results that never reach the lot they belong to |
| Suppliers and customers | EDI, portals | Forecasts and orders in each partner’s own format |
Machine data is the part vendors oversell. Start with the few signals that change a decision, such as counts, downtime reasons and scrap, before streaming everything. Where the gap is in the ERP itself, see our ERP software development service.
Before you build
What to settle between the ERP and the floor
Seven questions to answer in writing before any vendor builds manufacturing software, including us. The ISA-95 standard gives a shared vocabulary for the layers involved.
ISA: The ISA-95 standard- 01Which floor events the ERP needs, and how quickly each one must arrive.
- 02Which system is the record of truth for stock, work in progress and quality results.
- 03What happens when a production order changes after the floor has started it.
- 04Which machines can provide data today, and which will rely on operator entry.
- 05How lot and batch genealogy is recorded, and how far back a recall must trace.
- 06Who on the floor enters what, on which device, and what happens when it is offline.
- 07Who owns the integrations, the code and the data when the engagement ends.
Plants that answer these first get software the floor uses. Plants that skip them get a dashboard that reports yesterday.
Standards, explained
What each standard changes in the build
Manufacturing software is shaped less by one regulator than by industry standards and the rules of what you make.
- 01
ISA-95
The ISA-95 standard defines the layers from business planning to control, and the information exchanged between them. Using its terms keeps the ERP team, the plant team and the vendor talking about the same thing.
- 02
OPC UA
OPC UA is a widely used standard for reading data from industrial equipment securely. Where machines support it, integration is far cheaper than a custom driver for each one.
- 03
Quality management (ISO 9001 and sector rules)
Quality systems such as ISO 9001 expect records you can trust and trace. The software should capture who did what, when, against which specification, without relying on memory.
- 04
FDA 21 CFR Part 11 (regulated products)
Plants making FDA-regulated products need electronic records and signatures that meet Part 11. It changes audit trails, validation and signatures, so decide early whether it applies.
Proof
Rated by the clients who have worked with us
Manufacturing is one of the sectors we have shipped systems into. We name clients only with their written permission, so our reviews live on Google and Clutch, where we cannot edit them.
When to buy a platform instead
Three cases where a product beats a custom build:
- 01
Your ERP already has the module
If your ERP’s production or quality module fits your process, configure it first. Build only the parts it cannot do.
- 02
A mature MES fits the plant
For standard discrete or process manufacturing, an established MES brings validated functions and support. Extend it rather than replace it.
- 03
Nobody will own it on the floor
Floor software needs a champion among supervisors. Without one, even good software goes back to paper.
Custom work pays where your process, your equipment mix or the link between ERP and floor is what off-the-shelf products keep getting wrong.
How we work
From the floor to a system in use
The same five stages we use for every engagement, with notes where manufacturing changes a stage.
Discovery
We map your workflows, systems, and constraints with the people who use them every day, before anything is scoped.
For manufacturing: shifts on the floor with operators and supervisors, and an inventory of which machines can provide data.
Scope and plan
You get a scope, a timeline, and a price that hold. Architecture decisions are made and documented before code starts.
Build in stages
Senior engineers deliver in planned stages, with working software demonstrated at every step, not a reveal at the end.
For manufacturing: one line or one cell first, proven before the next.
Launch
Data migration, training, and a production cutover planned around your operations and your calendar, not ours.
For manufacturing: go-live planned around production, never in the middle of a run.
Run and improve
The team that built your system stays on it: monitoring, support, and the next improvements on one roadmap.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask about manufacturing software development
What is manufacturing software development?
Building software that plans, runs and records production: scheduling, shop floor data capture, quality and traceability, inventory and maintenance, connected to the ERP above it and the equipment below it.
What is the difference between ERP and MES?
An ERP plans the business: orders, materials, finance. An MES runs production on the floor: what is being made now, on which line, with which result. Most plants need both, and most manufacturing software projects are about the connection between them. Our ERP software development service covers the ERP side.
How much does custom manufacturing software cost?
It depends on the number of lines and machines involved, how much equipment can provide data, and how deep the ERP integration goes. We do not publish prices; our guide to what decides custom software cost explains the drivers.
Can you connect to our machines?
Where the equipment supports standards such as OPC UA or MQTT, yes, and that is the cheapest route. Older machines may need a gateway or operator entry. We survey the equipment in discovery before promising any data.
Should we build custom or buy an MES?
Buy when an established product fits your process. Build or extend when your process, equipment mix or the ERP link is what products keep getting wrong. Our build vs buy guide covers the decision.
How long does a manufacturing software project take?
A focused tool on one line can take a few months. Rollout across lines and plants takes longer and is usually done in stages. We give a timeline after discovery.
Can you modernise our legacy production system?
Yes, in stages, with the old and new systems running side by side until their results agree. See our application modernization service.
Who owns the code and the data?
You should own both, written into the contract before the work starts.
Start with the floor,
then the dashboard
Tell us what the plant makes, what the ERP knows and what it does not. We will map the gap and the equipment before we estimate.
