CRM for Manufacturing
A customer calls to ask when their order will be ready — and you walk to the shop floor to find out. A salesperson promised a price nobody else knows about. Half the agreements live in someone’s phone, and nobody can answer “how much does this customer owe us” without a calculator.
CRM in a manufacturing company is not a funnel for the sake of a funnel. It answers three questions: what we promised the customer, where it stands, and whether they paid. In ERPJS customer work lives in the same system as the shop floor, so a sales order is linked to a production order — you see the status without leaving the record.
What CRM gives a manufacturer
Customer base and history
Who ordered what, at what price and when. The history does not depend on which salesperson is in today.
Orders with statuses
From quote to shipment: what is in production, what waits for materials, what is ready to ship.
Prices and discounts per customer
Each customer has their own price or discount — the system applies it automatically.
Debts and payments
How much a customer owes, against which invoices, and how many days overdue.
An order from the first call to shipment
- Customer enquiry. The quote is based on the bill of materials: the cost is known, so the price is built from it rather than guessed.
- Sales order. You record what you promised, how much, at what price and by when.
- Production order. It launches the shop floor for that order — the system shows the material requirement and issues materials at start.
- Finished goods. They arrive in stock with the actual cost already calculated.
- Shipment and invoice. A delivery note, and the payment and remaining balance are visible afterwards.
The point is the link: the salesperson sees the production stage inside the order, instead of calling the shop floor.
The price is built from cost, not guessed
In manufacturing you cannot take a price from a competitor’s list: first you need to know what the item costs you. ERPJS calculates the actual cost from the bill of materials, and the selling price is built from it with the margin you need.
Prices and discounts are tied to the customer: a regular buyer gets their agreed terms, a new one gets the base price. Nobody has to remember it or negotiate from scratch every time.
How much a customer owes
Invoices, payments and the outstanding balance per customer are visible without merging spreadsheets: who owes what, against which documents, and how many days overdue. This is the report you start missing as soon as you pass twenty orders a month.
A sales order and a production order are not two separate worlds. The salesperson sees the production stage, the shop floor sees who the work is for, and the owner sees whether each order was profitable.
What about production accounting itself?
Bills of materials, production orders, material issues and actual costing are all in the same system. Details on the production side: production accounting software, bills of materials and materials accounting.
Which manufacturers is it for
Small and mid-size manufacturers that work to order and have repeat customers:
- Furniture and woodworking
- Sewing and textile
- Food and confectionery
- Metalworking and assembly
- Signage and printing
- Windows, doors and structures
Frequently asked questions
How is CRM for manufacturing different from a regular CRM?
A regular CRM handles communication with the customer and stops at the deal. In a manufacturing company the important part starts after that: is the order launched, are there enough materials, when will it be ready. So the CRM has to be connected to the shop floor and the warehouse — otherwise the salesperson ends up calling the foreman anyway.
Can I see what stage a customer’s order is at?
Yes. The sales order is linked to the production order, so the record shows the status: created, in progress, completed, shipped.
How do I set special prices for regular customers?
Prices and discounts are tied to the customer — the system applies their terms to the order automatically. The base price itself is built from the product cost with the margin you set.
Does the system show customer debts?
Yes: how much each customer owes, against which invoices, and how many days overdue.
Is there a free plan?
Yes, with no time limit: one user and 512 MB of data. The functionality is not cut down — both customer work and production accounting are available.
Can it run on our own server?
Yes. ERPJS runs in the cloud or is installed on your company’s own server — your choice.