# How to add Slack to Made2Manage > Source: https://netray.co/integrations/made2manage-slack > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Integrations ## Short answer Build a small Slack app that polls Made2Manage for exceptions, posts them to the right channel, and exposes slash commands for lookups. Interactive buttons capture approvals, but the change is applied in M2M through a reviewed path. ## System Made2Manage ## Capability slack ## Intro Shops that run Made2Manage and Slack together tend to be newer, tech-leaning manufacturers, contract machine shops and electronics assemblers, where the ERP is old and the collaboration tools are modern. Engineering, production control and sales live in Slack. The ERP is where a handful of people actually post transactions. That means the real value of a Slack integration is pulling ERP truth out into channels: late jobs, shortages, new orders and holds, so people stop asking in chat and then waiting for someone with a terminal. The ERP side is the constraint. Without webhooks or a documented modern API, you build the integration around reads, polling and carefully governed writes. ## Use Cases ### New order announcements **Description:** Post a compact message in a sales-ops channel when a sales order is booked, with customer, value band, and requested ship date. ### Slash command part lookup **Description:** A command like /m2m part 77-1204 returns on-hand, allocated, on-order and the next PO due date from read-only views. ### Job traveler status **Description:** /m2m job 15022 shows the current operation, work center, and percent complete, so supervisors can check without a terminal. ### Expedite requests **Description:** A sales rep clicks an Expedite button on an order message, which opens a thread and notifies production control and purchasing with the shortage list. ### Engineering change heads-up **Description:** When a BOM or routing is flagged as revised, notify engineering and production channels with the affected open jobs. ### End-of-day exception report **Description:** A scheduled post listing past-due jobs, open holds and unfulfilled shipments for the morning meeting. ## System Surface - Database reads: SQL Server (or Visual FoxPro tables on older installs) holding sales orders, jobs, inventory and POs. Build whitelisted views instead of letting Slack commands run arbitrary SQL. Verify table names in your version's dictionary. - Change feed: no native event hooks in classic M2M, so use scheduled queries on status and date columns, or a snapshot-diff process. - Exports: M2M's report writer can output scheduled files that a watcher can parse if direct DB access is not permitted. - BOM and routing data: the structure tables behind engineering changes can feed the 'affected jobs' lookup, but the join logic is version specific so test it on a copy. - Slack side: Slack apps with Socket Mode or HTTPS events, slash commands, Block Kit interactive messages and incoming webhooks. ## How It Works ### Create the Slack app **Detail:** Define the bot user, slash commands and interactivity. Socket Mode lets the app connect outbound only, which avoids opening an inbound port on your network. ### Expose safe read views **Detail:** Create views for part availability, job status and order status. Every command maps to exactly one view with parameters, never free SQL. ### Add exception pollers **Detail:** Scheduled jobs find late jobs, shortages and holds, and post to channels with a dedupe key so an issue is posted once and updated after. ### Make messages interactive **Detail:** Add buttons for acknowledge, expedite and approve. Verify the Slack signature on every callback. ### Map Slack users to roles **Detail:** Keep a table connecting Slack IDs to M2M users and permitted actions, because M2M itself will not know who clicked. ### Queue ERP changes for review **Detail:** Any change requested from Slack goes to a review queue and is entered by an authorised user, with the Slack thread linked for context. ## Example Flows ### Shortage alert with expedite **Trigger:** A released job is short a purchased part with the start date in two days. **Steps:** - Poller finds the shortage against open PO coverage. - Message posts to the purchasing channel with part, job and PO due date. - Buyer clicks Expedite and picks a supplier contact. - Request is logged and a draft email is prepared for the buyer to send. **Result:** The shortage is seen the same day and the follow-up is documented in one thread. ### Slash lookup **Trigger:** A planner types /m2m part 77-1204. **Steps:** - App verifies the Slack signature and user. - Query runs against the stock view. - Reply shows on-hand, committed, on-order and next receipt date. **Result:** A routine question is answered in seconds without opening M2M. ## On Prem Run the Slack app and its queries inside your network and use Socket Mode so only outbound HTTPS is required. The M2M database never needs to be exposed to the internet. Slack is a cloud service, so keep posts to identifiers, quantities and dates, and keep drawings, costs and customer-confidential details out of channels. If you add natural-language commands, serve an open-weight model locally to translate questions into approved views so message text is not sent to an outside model provider. ## Security - Verify Slack request signatures and reject stale timestamps. - Restrict commands to a whitelist of parameterized views with a read-only login. - Use private channels for anything with customer or financial detail. - Map Slack users to roles and check permission server-side per action. - Retain an audit log of commands and button actions. ## Options ### Incoming webhooks plus scheduled reports **Fit:** Cheapest way to get daily exception posts. **Effort:** Days. ### In-house Slack app **Fit:** Slash commands and interactive messages if you have a developer. **Effort:** Two to five weeks. ### Partner build such as Netray **Fit:** Natural-language questions with an on-prem model and an approval workflow. **Effort:** Scoped pilot, then iteration. ## Pitfalls - Free-text commands mapped to raw SQL are an injection and data-leak risk; use whitelisted views. - Slack channels are broad by default, so sensitive posts end up visible to too many people. - Slack's retry behavior can double-fire callbacks; make handlers idempotent. - Polling too often on a FoxPro share slows the desktop client. ## Faq ### Is there a Slack app for Made2Manage? **Answer:** I am not aware of an official one for the classic product. Check with your M2M support provider. In practice most teams build a small custom app or use a generic integration tool fed by scheduled exports. ### Can Slack buttons change data in M2M? **Answer:** They can record a decision, but applying it to M2M should go through a reviewed route like a clerk, a supported import or a stored procedure you control. Avoid writing tables directly. ### Does it need an inbound firewall port? **Answer:** Not with Socket Mode, which has the app connect outbound to Slack. Otherwise Slack needs an HTTPS endpoint to call, usually through a reverse proxy. ### How is this different from the Teams version? **Answer:** The ERP side is identical. The difference is Slack's Block Kit, slash commands and Socket Mode versus Teams bots, adaptive cards and Entra ID. Pick the one your office already uses. ### Can we ask questions in plain English? **Answer:** Yes, with a language model that maps the question to approved queries. Running that model on your own hardware keeps both the question and the ERP results inside your network. ## Search terms made2manage slack integration, slack for made2manage, m2m erp slack alerts, slack slash command erp, made2manage notifications slack, legacy manufacturing erp slack bot, made2manage late job alerts, slack approvals manufacturing erp, on-prem erp slack app, made2manage shortage alerts --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json