# Job Shop ERP Selection Scorecard > Source: https://netray.co/tools/job-shop-erp-selection-scorecard > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Free Tools ## Short answer Ten questions about how your shop quotes, schedules, tracks and certifies work. Shows how demanding your ERP requirements are and what to prioritize when comparing systems. ## Category erp-migration ## Industry Job Shop Machining ## Audience - Shop owner - Operations manager - General manager ## Tool **Kind:** assessment **Questions:** #### How do you quote work today? **Help:** Quote complexity drives estimating features. **Options:** ##### Mostly repeat parts with known prices **Score:** 1 ##### Spreadsheets with a mix of repeat and new parts **Score:** 2 ##### Detailed routings, multiple quantity breaks, outside processing **Score:** 3 ##### Complex assemblies with customer-specific terms and revisions **Score:** 4 #### How much of your work needs lot, heat or serial traceability? **Options:** ##### None **Score:** 0 ##### A few customers **Score:** 2 ##### Most jobs **Score:** 3 ##### All jobs with audit evidence required (aerospace, medical, defense) **Score:** 4 #### How do you schedule the floor? **Options:** ##### A whiteboard or the supervisor's head **Score:** 1 ##### A spreadsheet updated daily **Score:** 2 ##### Finite capacity by work center with due dates **Score:** 3 ##### Finite scheduling with outside process and tool constraints **Score:** 4 #### How do operators report time and progress? **Options:** ##### Paper travelers keyed in later **Score:** 1 ##### Clock in by job on a PC at the office **Score:** 2 ##### Floor terminals or tablets by operation **Score:** 3 ##### Machine data collection tied to operations **Score:** 4 #### What quality records do customers require? **Options:** ##### Basic certs of conformance **Score:** 1 ##### Inspection reports on request **Score:** 2 ##### First article, NCRs and corrective actions tracked **Score:** 3 ##### Full AS9100 or ISO 13485 records linked to jobs **Score:** 4 #### How many users will need access? **Options:** ##### 1 to 5 **Score:** 1 ##### 6 to 15 **Score:** 2 ##### 16 to 40 **Score:** 3 ##### More than 40, or multiple sites **Score:** 4 #### Which integrations are must-haves? **Options:** ##### None, standalone is fine **Score:** 0 ##### Accounting export only **Score:** 1 ##### CAD or CAM, shipping and a customer portal **Score:** 3 ##### EDI, CAD, CAM, shipping and machine monitoring **Score:** 4 #### How good is the IT capacity inside the shop? **Help:** Higher score means you can handle a more configurable system. **Options:** ##### None, we want it hosted and simple **Score:** 1 ##### Someone part time **Score:** 2 ##### A dedicated administrator **Score:** 3 ##### An IT team and developers **Score:** 4 #### How do you want to host the system? **Options:** ##### Vendor hosted cloud **Score:** 1 ##### Either, price decides **Score:** 2 ##### On-premises for control **Score:** 3 ##### Private or air-gapped for data restrictions **Score:** 4 #### How much change can your team absorb in the next year? **Options:** ##### Very little, keep it simple **Score:** 1 ##### Moderate, one phase at a time **Score:** 2 ##### A lot, we want full process change **Score:** 3 ##### A full transformation including finance **Score:** 4 **Bands:** #### Simple needs: lightweight job shop system **Min:** 0 **Max:** 39 **Verdict:** Your requirements are modest. A lightweight job shop system with quoting, job tracking and basic scheduling likely covers you. Prioritize ease of use, support and price over depth. **Recommendations:** - Shortlist two or three small-shop systems and ask for demos on your own parts - Check that data collection works on your floor hardware - Confirm the vendor's data export before you sign #### Mid-range needs: established job shop ERP **Min:** 40 **Max:** 69 **Verdict:** You need real scheduling, tracked quality records and solid costing. Established job shop ERPs such as the ones many machine shops use are a fit. Spend time on routing, scheduling and integrations in demos. **Recommendations:** - Write a requirement list and score each vendor against it - Ask for references from shops with similar size and customers - Plan data cleanup before any migration quote #### Demanding needs: configurable manufacturing ERP **Min:** 70 **Max:** 100 **Verdict:** Traceability, compliance, integrations and hosting needs go beyond many small-shop packages. Evaluate configurable manufacturing ERPs and budget for a longer implementation and stronger internal ownership. **Recommendations:** - Get a documented compliance and traceability walk-through - Include integration and security requirements in the contract - Budget for more services and training than a basic system needs ## Content **Intro:** Choosing between JobBOSS, E2 Shop System, Global Shop Solutions, ProShop, Fulcrum and similar tools starts with knowing how demanding your own requirements are. This scorecard turns ten shop-floor realities into a result you can use to frame demos. **Sections:** #### How to use the scorecard **Body:** Answer for the shop you have in twelve months, not the shop you wish you had. Answer as a group if you can: the owner, the estimator, the shop supervisor and whoever handles quality will give different answers on quoting, scheduling and traceability, and the disagreements are useful. The result places you in a simple, mid-range or demanding band and lists priorities for vendor demos. #### What the questions measure **Body:** The questions cover quoting depth, traceability, scheduling, shop floor data capture, quality records, user count, integrations, internal IT capacity, hosting and appetite for change. These are the areas where job shop systems actually differ. Basic job tracking looks similar across vendors in a demo. The differences show up in scheduling logic, quality and traceability, reporting and how much the system can be configured. #### Turning the result into a shortlist **Body:** Do not pick a system from a scorecard alone. Use the band to decide how many vendors to demo and which scenarios to insist on. Send each vendor the same three real jobs, including one with outside processing and one with a certificate requirement, and ask them to run each end to end. Score what you see, not what the brochure says. **Bullets:** - Use the same demo script for every vendor - Ask to see reporting on a closed job - Ask how updates, support and data export work - Talk to a reference shop of similar size #### Common mistakes **Body:** Shops buy on price alone, skip the data cleanup, underestimate training, and choose features they will never configure. Another mistake is ignoring the exit: confirm you can get your data out in a usable format if you ever leave. **Cta:** If your requirements come out in the demanding band, or you are weighing cloud against private hosting, we can talk through the options. For simple needs, a vendor-led process is usually enough. **Faq:** #### Is this scorecard vendor neutral? **Answer:** Yes. It does not rank products. It measures how complex your own requirements are so you can decide what kind of system to evaluate and what to ask in demos. #### How long does job shop ERP selection take? **Answer:** Small shops often decide in one to three months: requirements, three demos, references and a quote. Rushing the demo stage is the usual regret, so insist on your own real jobs. #### Do I need an ERP or is a job tracking tool enough? **Answer:** If you only need to track jobs and time, a lighter tool can work. Once you need costing, purchasing, inventory, quality records and scheduling in one place, an ERP built for job shops earns its cost. #### Should a small machine shop go cloud? **Answer:** Most small shops without IT staff do well with vendor hosting. Choose on-premises or private hosting when customer contracts restrict data location or when internet reliability on the floor is a real problem. ## Search terms job shop erp selection, choose erp for machine shop, jobboss vs e2 vs global shop, erp scorecard small manufacturer, proshop vs jobboss, fulcrum erp for job shops, job shop software evaluation, erp requirements for machine shop --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json