ERP for Aerospace Build-to-Print Machine Shops: What to Require

Requirements That Come From AS9100 and the Primes

Unlike a commercial job shop, your system has to prove what you did on every part. That drives a specific feature set.

• Drawing and revision control tied to the job, with the customer's rev on the PO checked at release
• Electronic traveler or router with operation sign-off, inspector stamps and hold points
• Material and lot traceability from mill test report to finished serialized or lot-controlled part
• Outside processing with approved supplier list, Nadcap status and certificate capture on receipt
• FAI (AS9102) record linkage and nonconformance, corrective action and rework records
• Certificate of conformance generation and record retention for the customer's required period

Quote-to-Cash Fit for Job Shops

Aerospace work is high mix, low volume, so the system has to support fast quoting from a drawing, flexible routings, and accurate actual costing by job. Look at how estimates convert to jobs without re-keying, how engineering changes update open jobs, and how setup and run time are collected on the floor. Shops often find that an ERP strong on MRP for repetitive manufacturing is clumsy for one-off jobs with outside processing, while shop-focused systems like JobBOSS, E2 and ProShop handle that flow naturally but may lack depth in multi-site finance or complex bills of material.

SyteLine and Epicor Kinetic suit shops growing into assemblies and multiple plants, at higher implementation effort.

Where Shops Get Disappointed

Four problems come up repeatedly. Quality records live in a separate system, so traceability requires cross-checking by hand. Shop-floor data collection is skipped, so actual hours are guesses and quotes stay unreliable.

Outside processing is tracked as a PO only, without capacity or lead-time visibility, so schedules slip at the plater or heat treater. And implementation is treated as an IT project: the quality manager and estimators are not involved, so the configuration mirrors the old spreadsheets. Insist on a pilot with real jobs including a full traveler, a lot-traced material, an outside processing loop and a FAI, not a demo with sample data.

Data, Security and CUI

If you handle controlled unclassified information or ITAR technical data, ERP hosting matters. 204-7012 applies. On-prem or private cloud hosting keeps that boundary under your control.

Document how the ERP, file shares for drawings and your document control system fit in your System Security Plan. Do not assume the vendor's certifications automatically cover your obligations; you remain responsible as the contractor.

Adding AI Without Replacing the ERP

Once the data is clean, a private AI layer can answer questions like which jobs for this part number ran over estimate, what lot numbers went into this shipment, or which open jobs are waiting on outside processing, directly against ERP tables. This does not require changing systems. The honest caveat is that AI over messy data returns messy answers, so fix routings, labor reporting and lot capture first.

If you are small and your current system works, spend on discipline before spending on AI.