Should I buy an ERP or use a purpose-built tool?
For a custom shop under ~50 staff, a tier-one ERP is almost always the wrong answer. ERPs assume stable BOMs, repeat SKUs, and a full-time controller to maintain master data — none of which fit a shop where every kitchen, balustrade, or shopfront is one-off. Implementations regularly run six figures and 12–18 months, and most shops keep their spreadsheets running alongside because the ERP cannot model spec changes mid-build. A purpose-built custom- manufacturing tool models the quote, BOM, production stages, and job margin natively — without the master-data overhead. Move to ERP only when you have multiple plants, dedicated finance staff, and stable repeat product, not before.
Glossary: quote-to-job→
How do I structure production stages in a custom shop?
Start from the physical work, not the org chart. Map the actual sequence a job passes through — value-stream mapping, in Lean Enterprise Institute terms — and make each handoff a discrete stage. For a kitchen shop that's typically Cut → Edge → Drill → Assembly → Paint → QC → Pack → Deliver. Keep stages coarse enough that scans take seconds, fine enough that bottlenecks show up. Each stage carries its own dependencies (material reserved, spec approved, prior stage signed off) so the system can block progression when a precondition fails — not after the next stage has already started rework.
Glossary: production stage→
Where should QC checkpoints sit?
At the end of every stage that creates an irreversible commitment, not only at end-of-line. The classic checkpoints in a cabinet shop are post-cut (panel sizes against cut-list), post-edge-band (adhesion and trim), post-drill (hinge and shelf-pin position) and post-assembly (squareness, hardware fit) — then a final inspection before pack. ISO 9001 Clause 8.1 treats this in-process verification as a core operational control. Each checkpoint should capture pass/fail plus a photo or measurement; failures route the job back to the originating stage with a documented defect, not to “rework” as a vague queue.
Glossary: QC checkpoint→
How do I track WIP across active jobs?
Work-in-progress is the value of jobs started but not yet invoiced — material issued, labour booked, overhead absorbed — sitting on the shop floor. Procore's WIP guide frames it as a financial report, not a production view: at month-end the WIP schedule compares revenue earned (typically % complete on quoted value) against costs incurred to-date, exposing over-billing and under- billing. For a custom shop, the practical mechanic is: each job carries its own ledger of material issued and hours booked, the production stage % drives revenue recognition, and the WIP report is a single roll-up across all active jobs. Without it, cash-flow forecasting is guesswork.
Glossary: job cost→
What is a typical custom-manufacturer gross margin range?
Gross margin in custom manufacturing varies sharply with geography, positioning and product mix, so any single number is illustrative rather than benchmark. Industry primers (Procore on construction margins; Pro Builder on residential trades) commonly show 25–35% gross margin on installed custom work, with bespoke high-end shops at the upper end and volume cabinetry below it. The number that matters is whether closeout margin matches the margin you quoted — a 30% quoted job that closes at 18% is the leak, not the headline target. Job-order costing reveals which kinds of work consistently underclose so the next quote can correct.
Glossary: job cost→
How does ISO 9001 alignment work for small shops?
ISO 9001 is process-based and scale-agnostic — small shops do not need a separate quality department to align with it. Clause 8.1 (operational planning and control) asks four practical questions: what are the requirements for the product, what processes deliver them, what controls verify they were met, and what records prove it. For a custom shop, that maps directly to: an approved spec from the client portal, a defined production stage sequence, stage-gate QC checkpoints, and a job record carrying the evidence. Most of the documentation auditors look for is a by-product of running the work this way — not a separate folder somebody maintains for audit week.
Glossary: QC checkpoint→
