Custom Manufacturing Software Development
The machines are modern. The quoting, the order entry, the production board and the shipping desk often still run on spreadsheets and email. We build the custom software that runs that side of a manufacturing business, connected to the ERP you keep, and we publish our prices.
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Software we have built for companies that make and move physical products
Each one replaced a spreadsheet or a manual process the company's ERP could not handle, and each is in daily use.
Shipping and service for a California equipment company
A company that sells, installs and repairs industrial manufacturing equipment ran its shipping on a shared workbook. Its new platform enforces tracking numbers and prints service reports and packing slips, and it was in production the day after we received the file.
Read the case study →Pricing for a wine producer
A 90-tab pricing workbook covering every product, format, zone and channel, rebuilt as one web app that is now the single source of truth for every price.
Read the case study →Quotes for a surfaces distributor
A quotation and pricing platform for the distributor of a tile and surfaces manufacturer, where one quote can run into the tens of millions of pesos: revisions, signatories, PDF and Excel exports.
Read the case study →Signs your manufacturing business needs custom software
- Quotes are built in a spreadsheet by the one person who knows the pricing rules, and take days.
- Orders arrive by email, PDF or phone and are typed into the ERP by hand, with errors that show up on the shop floor.
- The production schedule lives on a whiteboard or in a workbook, and nobody outside the plant can see where an order stands.
- Shipping, service visits and spare parts are tracked in shared files that break when two people edit them.
- Your ERP holds the accounting and inventory well, but customizing it for any of the above costs more than it should.
What we do not build: machine-control, PLC or real-time MES code, and we do not replace an ERP that works. Our work is the business software around production: quotes, orders, scheduling, shipping and service.
What we build for manufacturers
Most projects start with one of these, usually the one that costs the most hours each week.
| Area | What it replaces | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting and configure-to-order | A pricing workbook and an expert who builds every quote by hand. | Sales builds a correct quote in minutes, with the rules, options and margins built in. |
| Order entry | Orders retyped from email, PDF or the phone into the ERP. | AI drafts the order from the document, a person approves it, and it lands in the ERP. |
| Production tracking | A whiteboard or a workbook showing what is being made, and where. | Everyone sees each order's status, from sales to the plant manager. |
| Shipping and service | Shared files for shipments, service visits, spare parts and paperwork. | One record per shipment or visit, printed documents generated from it, nothing typed twice. |
| Customer and dealer portals | Emails and calls asking where an order is, or for a price list. | Customers and dealers check orders, prices and documents themselves. |
Each of these works next to your ERP, which stays the system of record for accounting and inventory.
How we build manufacturing software
In stages, each one used in production before the next begins, while the plant keeps running on what it has.
- 1
Start from the spreadsheet
We work from the file or the process people actually use, with the people who use it: the estimator, the planner, the shipping clerk. The exceptions and the rules nobody wrote down come out here, before anything is built.
- 2
Build the first slice
One process, live with real data and your team's existing sign-in, connected to the ERP where data has to flow. It replaces the spreadsheet completely rather than sitting next to it.
- 3
Widen it, one process at a time
The next process, the next integration, each added and used before the next. Every stage has a fixed scope and price agreed in writing.
- 4
Run it
We host, monitor and maintain it, with security updates every week, or hand it to your team with the code, the infrastructure and the documentation in your name.
How much does custom manufacturing software cost?
These are the ranges we work to, in US dollars. There is no per-seat licence, but there are running costs, and we list them too.
| Scope | Budget | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| First useful slice | $5,000 to 18,000 | One process replaced and running in production, such as quoting, order entry or shipping. |
| Several processes | $18,000 to 45,000 | Several processes, data migrated from spreadsheets, and integrations with your ERP, accounting or CRM. |
| Multi-department program | $45,000 and up | Sales, production and shipping covered in successive stages against agreed milestones. |
| Running it | from $470 / month | Maintenance with weekly security updates and monitoring, plus infrastructure, often $50 to 100 a month. |
What moves the price: the number of exceptions in your pricing and processes, how many systems the software has to talk to, and how much data has to be cleaned and migrated.
What to ask any manufacturing software developer
- Will you spend time with the people who quote, plan and ship, or only with management?
- Will you start from our spreadsheets and real orders, or from a requirements document?
- What stays in our ERP, and how does the new software stay in sync with it?
- Who owns the code, the data and the infrastructure, and is that in the contract?
- Can we stop after the first slice and still have something that works?
Frequently asked questions
What is custom manufacturing software?
Custom manufacturing software is software built around how a specific manufacturer quotes, takes orders, plans production, ships and services its products, instead of adapting those processes to a generic product. It usually works next to the company's ERP rather than replacing it.
How much does custom manufacturing software cost?
At Reflekt Lab, a first useful slice, one process in production, costs $5,000 to $18,000, several processes with integrations $18,000 to $45,000, and a multi-department program from $45,000. Running it starts at about $470 a month for maintenance, plus infrastructure.
Do you replace our ERP?
Usually not. Your ERP stays the system of record for accounting and inventory, and we build the processes it handles badly, such as quoting, order entry, production tracking or shipping, connected to it.
Do you write machine-control or PLC software?
No. We build the business software around production: quotes, orders, scheduling, shipping, service and portals. For machine control, a controls integrator is the right partner.
Can AI read orders and drawings into our systems?
Orders, purchase orders and invoices that arrive as email, PDF or photos can be read by a model and drafted as ERP records, with a person approving each one. Technical drawings are a harder case, and we would test on your own documents before promising anything.
Do you work with US manufacturers from France?
Yes. A California industrial equipment company runs its shipping on a platform we built. We work in English, invoice in US dollars, and calls can be booked until 5 p.m. ET.
Tell us which process runs on a spreadsheet
A free 30-minute call. Describe the quote, the order flow or the schedule that costs you the most hours, and leave with a view on what to build first and what it would cost.
