Cheap ERP Software for Steel Manufacturing Industry

• Bill of Materials (BOM) complexes and multi-stage manufacturing (melting, casting, rolling, finishing)
• Costs of materials and energy are high, requiring tight control to maintain margins.
• Variations in quality, quantity and frequency of rework based on furnaces and batches.
• Stock juggling with bulky raw materials and semifinished products
• Safety, compliance and traceability requirements.

• Cloud/SaaS models often have lower up-front subscription/license fees
• Standardized modules that require fewer customizations
• Pre-configured manufacturing workflows allow for faster deployment
• Pay-as-you-go pricing (per user, per module, or per site)
• Consultancy engagements are often too long and expensive.

1. Material & Inventory Control

• Tracking of multiple warehouses, roll/coil/billet inventory, weight-based options, and FIFO/LIFO.

2. Production Planning and Scheduling

• Create jobs/works orders, manage routes and master production scheduling for multi-stage processes.

3. Bill of Materials Management (BOM) and Recipe Management

• Support for nesting BOMs, variable output, and conversion units.

4. Shop Floor Data Collection (SFC)

• Simple barcode/RFID data capture or mobile data collection for start/stop time, yield, scrap and operator inputs.

5. Quality Management

• Checklists for inspection, reporting non-conformance, tracking heat/lots and printing certificates.

6. Procurement & Supplier Management

• Supplier performance metrics, weight of GRNs (goods receipt notes) and approvals for purchases.

7. Traceability & compliance

• Heat number tracking, batch genealogy, export documentation support.

8. Basic Financials & Costing

• Material cost roll-ups and job costing reports, as well as integration with accounting.

9. Reports and Dashboards

• Inventory aging and financial summaries.

10. Integration and Extensibility

• Excel imports/exports and APIs for PLCs, weighing scales.

• Does it support weight based inventory and conversion units?
• Can you record and report batch numbers/heat numbers?
• Does shop-floor data collection require a simple solution (barcodes, mobile apps) or a complex and expensive one?
• What is included in the base cost vs. add-ons that are charged? (user seats, modules, integrations)
• How long will it take to implement the project? Fast wins are important
• Do templates exist for manufacturing workflows?
• Is it possible to export data into standard formats for accounting and BI tools?
• What kind of training and support is included in the package?
• Can you easily export your data?
• Does the company offer a month-to-month or pilot subscription?

• Pilot first in a single workshop or production line. Validate processes, gain operator buy-in and demonstrate benefits before scaling.
• Avoid deep customizations when launching. Configure business rules instead of rewriting products.
• Prioritise modules that have the highest impact: inventory, production and shop floor capture are typically those with the fastest ROI.
• Cloud/SaaS: This reduces the costs of infrastructure and IT setup and speeds up deployment.
• Short, interactive sessions are more effective than long classroom training programs.
• Many systems can be used with Android smartphones or tablets at a low cost, rather than expensive proprietary hardware.
• Plan data cleanup. A little effort is all it takes to standardize unit and part codes before going live.
• Negotiate support as part of the contract. Fixed-hours implementation and an SLA defined for the first 90 days can help prevent surprises.

• Better visibility reduces stock obsolescence and over-ordering.
• Reduced scrap and rework (between 5-15%): Improved traceability, quality checks, and reduced defective output.
• Simplified scheduling and coordinated shop floor coordination will result in faster order-to delivery cycles (between 10-30%).
• Automated invoices, purchase orders and reports reduce administrative work by 20-40%.
• Better scheduling and fewer errors in the manual process will improve on-time deliveries and customer satisfaction.

• Choose based solely on price: The absolute cheapest vendor may lack crucial steel features. Score vendors based upon functionality and not just cost.
• Over-customization: long development cycles destroy ROI. Custom work should be kept to a minimum at first.
• Importing messy master data produces garbage outputs. Before migration, clean up part codes and unit lists.
• Operators resisting change: poor change management - engage them early, demonstrate quick wins and provide on-floor coaching.
• Undefined success metrics. Set KPIs before and after (scrap percentage, inventory turns and OTIF).