Software for Custom Machinery Manufacturers - Current Market Overview

Software Tips

What is software for special-purpose machinery manufacturing?

In special-purpose machinery manufacturing, hardly any two orders are alike. Machines and equipment are designed to customer specifications, usually in a batch size of one, occasionally in small series. Every order runs the full path from enquiry through engineering, procurement and production to assembly and commissioning at the customer's site — which is why it makes sense to manage each one as its own project.

Software for special-purpose machinery manufacturers links the commercial side (quotes, orders, costing) with the technical side (bills of materials, CAD and PDM integration) and with the scheduling of dates, capacity and materials. Sales, engineering, purchasing, production and assembly all work from the same data, instead of passing lists back and forth by email.

Typical areas covered by such solutions include:

• Quotations and pre-costing for customer-specific machines
• Project, schedule and resource planning
• Growing bills of materials and engineering changes
• Project-related materials planning and procurement
• Production planning, detailed scheduling and shop-floor data collection
• Assembly, quality assurance and documentation
• Actual costing, project controlling and invoicing
• Service orders and maintenance after delivery

From quotation to service: the typical workflow in special-purpose machinery manufacturing

The individual phases of a machine-building project are closely interlinked. Industry-specific software supports the whole process and passes data on from one phase to the next.

Sales and costing

It starts with an enquiry. Because every machine is individually engineered, pre-costing often relies on experience from past projects. Quotation management and CRM record what was offered to whom and on what terms. Once the order is confirmed, the quotation flows straight into order processing without having to be re-entered.

Engineering and product data

Engineering produces assemblies, drawings and bills of materials. CAD and PDM interfaces feed this data through into order processing. Change orders and revision control make sure that purchasing and the shop floor never work from an outdated version — in day-to-day operations, this is one of the most important points of all.

Procurement and production

From released bills of materials, the system calculates material requirements, checks availability and generates purchase orders and work orders. Capacity and detailed scheduling distribute the operations across the available resources. Shop-floor data collection and production bookings feed actual times and quantities back into the system — the basis for reliable project controlling.

Assembly, quality and service

Assembly management and quality management support final assembly, inspections and customer acceptance. After commissioning, service orders and maintenance visits continue to be logged against the machine's history. The project closes with the actual costing — and the figures are then available to inform future quotations.

Who uses software for special-purpose machinery manufacturing?

Typical users include special-purpose machinery builders, manufacturers of automation and assembly systems, jig, fixture and test-rig builders, and plant engineers working with customer-specific one-off production. Companies that regularly design custom solutions alongside their series-production business also rely on this kind of software.

This type of software is most common in small and medium-sized businesses — from companies with a few dozen employees up to mid-sized firms with several hundred staff. Several departments typically work in the system at once:

• Sales and quotations
• Project management
• Engineering and development
• Production planning and shop-floor control
• Purchasing and materials planning
• Assembly, quality assurance and service
• Finance and controlling

Which modules are actually used depends on the shape of the business: a test-rig builder without its own service organisation will focus on different priorities than a plant builder who maintains its machines for years after delivery.

Tips for choosing software for special-purpose machinery manufacturing

• Can the software map Engineer-to-Order processes?
  Check whether projects can already be created on the basis of an enquiry or a quotation and then refined step by step during the design phase.
• How are growing bills of materials handled?
  The solution should be able to handle incomplete bills of materials and enable project-based procurement without having to wait for the entire design to be fully approved.
• How are ERP, PPS, PLM, PDM and CAD linked?
  Clarify which system acts as the master data source and how items, bills of materials, documents, revisions and approval statuses are transferred.
• Can changes be implemented in a controlled manner?
  Ensure that change requests, revision control, approvals and a traceable edit history are in place. The impact on materials, costs and deadlines should be clearly identifiable.
• Does the costing process support your order structure?
  Check whether materials, in-house production, design, assembly, external services and travel expenses can be taken into account separately in preliminary and final costing.
• Are project and production planning integrated?
  A suitable solution should be able to coordinate project deadlines with material availability, machine capacity, staff allocation and assembly planning.
• How up to date are the project status and costs?
  Check whether working hours, purchase orders, material withdrawals, production postings and external services are being incorporated into project controlling in a timely manner.
• Can the software accommodate outsourced production and extended production lines?
  For many specialised machine builders, it is important to manage outsourced work stages, supplied materials and external delivery dates transparently.
• What mobile functions are available?
  Mobile feedback can be particularly useful in production, assembly, commissioning and service. You should also check how well it works with a limited internet connection.
• How are quality and machine data documented?
  Measured values, tests, deviations and approvals should be clearly traceable to the relevant order, component or work step.
• Will the data remain usable after delivery?
  For maintenance, spare parts and modifications, it should be possible to trace which components and revision versions have actually been installed in a customer’s machine.