Buyer checklist
Fabrication ERP Buyer Checklist
Practical selection criteria, demo questions and implementation considerations for steel and metal fabricators evaluating manufacturing ERP.
Criteria · demo script · go-live readiness
Answer
What should fabricators check when buying manufacturing ERP?
Prioritise heat or batch traceability when customers require it, revision-controlled BOMs, job-work challans, live WIP, quality holds before dispatch, and GST documents from shipped quantity. Ask every vendor to demonstrate your messy job — not only a clean sample. FOS ERP maps those discrete workflows through Inventory, Planning & MRP, Production, Subcontracting, Quality and Accounts; specialised packages (for example dedicated WPS libraries) are scoped only when confirmed.
Selection criteria
Use these as a scorecard in every demo.
1. Traceability
Can GRN capture heat or mill certificate references and carry them through issue and dispatch when required?
2. BOM & revisions
Can estimators and the floor share revision-controlled structures without re-keying into Excel?
3. Job work
Do outward challans reconcile receipts, scrap and pending balances to the parent work order?
4. Planning
Does MRP use live stock and open supply, or yesterday’s spreadsheet snapshot?
5. Quality gates
Can inspection holds block dispatch until disposition is recorded?
6. Commercial close
Do invoices and e-Way documents reflect packed / dispatched quantity from the same thread?
Demo questions to ask
- Show a mid-job BOM revision and what stores still can issue
- Issue material to a coater and reconcile a partial return with scrap
- Fail an inspection and show whether dispatch is blocked
- Produce a dispatch document from completed quantity — not a retyped invoice
- Explain what is configuration versus a future customisation
Implementation considerations
Owners must name BOM and inventory masters owners, decide which jobs pilot first, and schedule role training before cutover. Duration depends on plants, data readiness and integrations — see implementation stages and FOS implementation. Customer outcome percentages are published only with approval.
Steel fabrication industry Traceability guide Subcontracting module
Bring this checklist to a FOS demo.
We will walk your criteria against live module workflows — without invented customer results.
Book a demoNo obligation · Fabrication-focused walkthrough
Who should use this fabrication ERP checklist?
Steel and metal fabricators evaluating manufacturing ERP for heat or batch traceability, job work, BOM revisions, WIP and dispatch-linked documents.
Does the checklist replace a commercial proposal?
No. It prepares demos and internal scoring. Scope, timeline and commercial terms are confirmed after discovery.
Are specialised welding or NDT packages assumed?
No. Ask vendors to confirm specialised packages separately. FOS scopes them only when verified for your plant.
Where do I see FOS fabrication workflows?
Start with /industries/steel-fabrication and /modules/subcontracting, then book a demo via /contact.
Is there an approved steel case study with results?
Published case studies appear only with customer approval. Request a reference conversation via /customers or /contact.