ERP Solutions
for Custom Manufacturing

It all starts in the quoting/prototyping phase, which is the initial stage where cost and revenue estimates are made for the proposal. From here, several workflows are triggered that involve operational, technical, and sales teams. During this phase, businesses may face challenges that, if not successfully addressed, could jeopardize the entire project organization.

Common challenges include accurately assessing costs and revenues, appropriately valuing technical interventions or markups, and ensuring access to and modification of historical data, which should then be shared with all stakeholders involved in the project.

Many project-based manufacturers intend to use their ERP system for production planning but often only partially rely on it. They start with the ERP to outline production, then move outside the system to tools like Excel and Microsoft Project.

This fragmented approach introduces risks, as it provides visibility into only a portion of the data required for effective planning, and the data isn’t integrated with the ERP or synchronized across departments. This lack of alignment makes it challenging to keep key departments—such as engineering, sales, procurement, and production—coordinated, which is essential for maintaining on-time delivery.

Limited visibility into supply chain and production data can lead to issues such as material shortages, machine downtime, and unexpected delays, resulting in missed delivery deadlines and increased costs.

Using ERP systems to track production orders, both in terms of cost and performance, enables companies to understand the margin on each job and maintain a real-time view of the business’s financial health.

With the data provided by the system, companies can quickly pinpoint any necessary corrective actions, reducing response times and improving overall efficiency.

Specific Features:

• Creation of a manual quote/prototype, from template, from Bill of Materials, or using a configurator.
• Bulk editing of components within various prototypes.
• Prototype cost recalculation based on the latest average, last purchase, or standard material costs.
• Archiving of documents related to the prototype and associated quote.
• Management of versions and commercial status of the quote/offer.
• Display of quotes in progress, closed, or canceled.
• Comparison between initial quote and actual job costing once in production.

Specific Features:

• CAD Integration with tools like Solid Edge, CATIA, etc., using approval workflows for drawing revisions, technical specifications, and project confirmations.
• Integration with Project Management Module to support scheduling and activity reporting.
• Document Management allowing technical specifications, drawings, control plans, etc., to be attached within the project.
• Resource Assignment to specific project Work Packages (Planner for schedule management synced with Outlook calendars).
• Creation and Management of Purchase Requisitions (PRs) directly from the project within the Project Management module.
• Real-Time Monitoring of project status based on declared project activities.
• RFQ Management for streamlined procurement requests.

Specific Features:

• Creation and modification of accounting entries
• Viewing, opening, and closing accounts
• Currency adjustments and year-end journal entries
• Management of VAT movements, VAT protocols, annual VAT communications, periodic VAT settlements, and VAT payments
• Electronic invoicing with non-resident entities / VAT reporting
• Management of VAT limits (Plafond)
• Management of VAT Reports (Spesometro)
• Intrastat reporting and related forms
• Management of loans, accounts payable/receivable, payments, collections, commissions, and reminders
• Interest management and internal transfers (giroconti)
• Commission calculations, F24 forms, Enasarco management, and withholding certificates
• Asset management, depreciation, and related accounting entries
• Management of leasing and maximum lease payments (maxicanone)
• Management of SDI documentation: incoming purchase documents, outgoing sales invoices, outgoing VAT communications, and international documents

Specific Features:

• Management and analysis of cash flow and off-balance sheet due dates.
• Management of advance invoices (down payments).
• Creation of promissory notes, overdue payments, and management of telematics files for RiBA (Bank Collection) and SDD (Direct Debit).
• Payment management, accounts payable, and bank account reconciliation.
• Use of credit lines, risk and exposure calculation for customers, average payment currency calculation, and lock management.
• Integration with DocFinance and Piteco.

Specific Features:

• Closing of interim accounts, non-accounting entries, consolidation, integration, and adjustment entries.
• Management of analytical accounting and budgeting entries.
• Use of reclassification models and related comparisons.
• Management of sales forecasts, market, and product centers.
• Recalculation of costs and yields.
• Ability to value assemblies.
• Product cost calculation, project reporting.

Specific Features:

• Automatic conversion of quotes into orders once confirmed, including approval workflows.
• Creation of supplier orders from sales orders.
• Details on sales terms, credit limits, cash flow, and delivery dates.
• Linkage within the order to technical projects and specific work units.
• Integration with the CRM module for managing potential customers and opportunities.
• Direct import of quotes from CRM contacts.
• Conversion of CRM contacts into customers when the order is confirmed.
• Multilingual document management.
• Automatic order fulfillment in delivery notes (DDT).
• Automated email notifications for order confirmations with attachments.
• Visualization of the project status once the order is released for production.
• Management of agents and commissions per agent.
• Management of billing schedules with proposed billing dates.
• Management of the accounts receivable schedule.
• Management of a project with hierarchical structure (WBS) or by order.
• Import of WBS project structure into an order.
• Management of project milestones.
• Automatic generation of production orders.

For some clients, the concept of a “job” (or “order”) extends beyond production and also covers post-sales activities, or even spans across all business functions. Fluentis is designed to manage this broader view of “job” or “order.”

In the Project Management module, Fluentis supports tracking the various components of a project/order through Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) nodes at multiple levels.

This enables us to handle all aspects of external project planning. We can plan, monitor, and track external tasks and resources using various devices (smartphones, tablets, or PCs).

Some specific features:

• Finite and infinite capacity scheduling.
• Customizable alerts to track changes to bills of materials or work cycles.
• Analysis of item availability.
• Release of planned orders based on job priorities.
• Material planning and resource scheduling with both finite and infinite capacity.
• Project resource planning through a Planner and calendars managed by a Project Manager.
• Production simulations.
• Verification and analysis of work centers.

Some specific features:

• Definition of the Master Production Schedule (MPS).
• Definition of single-product or multi-product work orders.
• Work order costing for real-time tracking of costs and revenues.
• Finite and infinite capacity scheduling.
• Planning by work order and priority.
• Visibility of production capacity by work center.
• Ability to simulate work orders and view them using a Gantt chart.
• Material requirements planning (MRP) execution.
• Automatic generation of production, subcontracting, and purchase orders for seamless integration with the Supply Chain.
• Analysis of bill of materials (BOM) requirements for assemblies.
• Real-time availability analysis of materials.

Some specific features:

• Management of resources and scheduling of internal or external interventions through project WBS (Work Breakdown Structure).
• Declaration of interventions with invoicing and management of project costs and final reporting.

Some specific features:

• Management of Requests for Quotation (RFQ) and Purchase Requests (PR).
• Automatic generation of supplier orders from PR or RFQ, or from Customer Orders.
• Goods receipt and creation of Purchase Delivery Note (DDT).
• Automatic generation of purchase invoices from receipts or DDT.

Some specific features:

• Warehouse management with the ability to manage by location.
• Location management.
• Management of batch and serial number records.
• Advanced picking management using WMS (Warehouse Management System).
• Management of UDC (Unit Load) by order.
• Management of load parameters and daily operations.

Some specific features:

• Management of technical data sheets with appropriate product revisions.
• Creation and management of control plans.
• Monitoring of items from subcontracting returns, purchases, or production receipts.
• Management and creation of certificates of analysis.
• Management of complaints and non-conformities (NC).
• Handling of corrective actions following complaints or NC.
• Management and creation of personnel certificates.
• Compliance management of standards and regulations.