Manufacturers lose margin between the quote and the invoice. We find where.
A job shop or engineering works makes its money on the floor and loses a fair bit of it in the office. Quotes get built by hand. Job cards get typed out again. The software that matters most is understood by one person, and the reports are not quite trusted. We sort the office side, so more of the margin you win on the floor reaches the bank.
Job cards, quotes and the gaps between systems
Most works run an ERP or job system, an accounts package, spreadsheets for planning and a shop-floor system of some kind. Each does its job. The trouble is the gaps between them, where people copy figures across and hope they match.
Those gaps are why a quote takes two days and the forecast is a guess. They are also why you cannot say which jobs made money last quarter until the accountant has been in.
What AI is useful for on a works
AI is good at reading drawings, specifications and customer emails and turning them into a first draft of a quote or a job, for an estimator to check. It is good at answering “where is my order?” from your own data.
AI will not paper over a job system that does not work. If the data underneath is wrong, it makes the same mistakes faster and sounds sure of itself. So we usually fix the links between systems first and add AI after.
| Where it leaks | What it costs | What we change | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ageing in-house software | Slow screens, risky changes, one person holding the keys | Modernise it in small, safe steps, then hand it to your own people | Oldham Engineering |
| ERP and shop floor not talking | Job status retyped; planning built on stale figures | Link the ERP to the shop-floor system so status flows on its own | Oldham Engineering |
| Big customer changes the rules | Orders and invoices must be electronic, or the account goes | Digital ordering and invoicing in the customer’s format, checked before sending | Everything Boxed |
| No forward view of work | Hiring and buying decided on gut feel | A contract forecast report from the data you already hold | Oldham Engineering |
Source: Oldham Engineering and Everything Boxed case studies.
Heavy engineering, modernised and handed back
Oldham Engineering machines, fabricates and assembles heavy components for nuclear, defence, oil and gas, rail and power generation.
Oldham Engineering
We modernised its contracts, sales, production and reporting software a module at a time, upgraded the JobBOSS ERP link and started a Fastems shop-floor link. Then we recruited their in-house specialist and stepped back.
Halo Traffic Systems
A maker of portable traffic signals runs its whole fleet from a control system it now owns. It went live under five months after our first proposal.
Where we start on a works
- 1
One job, from enquiry to invoice
We follow a real job from enquiry to invoice and count each time a figure is typed by hand.
- 2
The old system
We read the old software, judge the risk, and tell you whether to repair, replace or leave it.
- 3
The quote
How long a quote takes, how many are won, and whether AI could draft the first version for your estimator.
Questions
- Which ERP and job systems do you work with?
- We have worked with JobBOSS, Sage and bespoke in-house systems, and linked them to shop-floor automation. If yours has a way in, we can usually connect to it.
- Do we have to replace our software?
- Rarely. Oldham kept its system and we modernised it in two-week blocks. We only suggest replacing software when repairing it would cost more.
- Will you leave us dependent on you?
- No. At Oldham we helped recruit the person who took the system in-house, then ended our retainer.
- Can you come on site?
- Yes. We are in Sheffield and visit works across Yorkshire, the Midlands and the North West.
How long does your next quote take?
On a free call we will show where the days go between enquiry and invoice, and what it is worth to get them back.
Max RevittFounder and Director