# ERP for Metal Fabricators: What the System Must Handle > Source: https://netray.co/resources/erp-for-metal-fabricators > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Knowledge Base ## Short answer ERP for metal fabricators and sheet metal shops: nested material, multi-level BOMs, heat number traceability, outside processing, and shop floor data. ## Category erp-general ## Content **Intro:** The best ERP for a metal fabricator is the one that handles nested sheet material, multi-level assemblies, heat or lot traceability, outside processing and job costing without forcing the shop to work around it. Most fabrication shops start on QuickBooks and spreadsheets, move to a job shop system such as JobBOSS or E2 Shop System, and graduate to a larger platform like Epicor Kinetic, Global Shop Solutions, Infor SyteLine, NetSuite or Acumatica as customers demand more. This page covers the requirements that separate fabricators from generic manufacturers. **Sections:** #### Requirements Specific to Fabrication **Body:** Fabrication exposes weaknesses that generic ERP demos skip. A weldment may consist of a laser-cut plate, formed brackets, purchased hardware and a finish, each with its own routing, and the system must roll cost and lead time up through the levels. **Bullets:** - Material by sheet, plate, tube and bar, with dimensions and gauge, not just item and quantity - Nest-based material issue that charges several jobs for one sheet - Multi-level BOMs and routings for weldments and assemblies - Heat number and mill test report traceability for customers that require it - Outside processing: powder coat, plating, anodize, heat treat, with subcontract POs - Revision control for drawings, DXF files and customer part numbers #### Quoting, Estimating and Job Costing **Body:** For a job shop, the estimate-to-job path decides how well the system serves you. Look for estimates that convert into jobs with routing and BOM intact, cost rolled by operation, and actuals captured against estimates so you can see which quotes held. Shops that skip this end up with a quoting spreadsheet disconnected from the shop floor and no feedback. Check how the system handles setup versus run time, outside services and quantity breaks, and whether estimates can be revised without rewriting the job. Test with a real weldment from your own history during evaluation, not the vendor's sample job. #### Shop Floor Data Collection **Body:** A fabricator's most valuable data is what happens between operations: laser, punch, press brake, weld, finish, assembly. Collecting labor and quantities at each step through kiosks, tablets or barcode scans gives real cycle times, WIP location and completion status. Some systems integrate with machine data or an MES layer. The question to ask is whether operators will actually use it. A rugged, simple screen that logs start, stop and quantity beats a feature-rich module that people bypass. Without good floor data, scheduling and costing are both guesses, regardless of how sophisticated the ERP is. #### Choosing by Size and Complexity **Body:** Smaller job shops with under about fifty employees typically fit into JobBOSS, E2, ProShop-style systems or lighter cloud options. Mid-sized fabricators with multiple plants, engineered-to-order work, or customers requiring formal quality records often need Epicor Kinetic, Global Shop Solutions, Infor SyteLine or similar. NetSuite and Acumatica suit shops that want strong financials and cloud delivery but may need a manufacturing add-on or configuration for nested material and shop floor control. Do not pick on feature count. Pick on how well it matches your top three pains, and on what your team can realistically run without a full-time administrator. #### Where AI Adds Value on Top of the ERP **Body:** Whatever ERP you run, AI can sit on top of it and answer questions in plain language: which jobs are late, which customers have the lowest margin, how actual laser hours compare with quoted hours. It reads the ERP in read-only mode, shows the query it ran, and respects existing user roles. This is useful when your reports take an analyst a day to build. If your ERP is not capturing clean data, AI will only give confident answers on bad numbers, so fix data capture first. If your ERP is heavily customized or being replaced, plan the AI layer around the data model you will have after the change. **Cta:** If you run an ERP and still export to Excel for every answer, Netray can add private natural-language access over your live data without replacing the system. **Faq:** #### What ERP do most sheet metal fabricators use? **Answer:** It varies by size. Smaller shops commonly use JobBOSS, E2 Shop System or similar job shop software, and mid-sized fabricators often use Epicor, Global Shop Solutions, Infor SyteLine, NetSuite or Plex. Choose based on fit with your processes, not market share. #### Do I need ERP or can I stay on QuickBooks? **Answer:** QuickBooks works for accounting but lacks routings, job costing by operation, nested material issue and traceability. When you struggle to know job margin, material on hand or what is late, it is time to move to a manufacturing system. #### How long does an ERP implementation take for a fabricator? **Answer:** Small job shop systems can go live in a few months, while larger implementations often take six to twelve months or more. Data cleanup of item masters, BOMs and routings usually takes longer than expected and drives the schedule. ## Related Slugs - manufacturing-erp-selection-criteria - syteline-job-costing-configuration-guide - mes-erp-integration-discrete-manufacturing - erp-data-quality-improvement-guide ## Search terms ERP for metal fabricators, ERP for sheet metal fabrication, job shop ERP for fabrication, best ERP for metal fabrication shops, JobBOSS vs E2 sheet metal, fabrication ERP requirements --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json