If you've been looking for software to run your shop more efficiently, you've probably encountered a wall of jargon. ERP. MRP. Job costing. Shop floor management. Work order tracking. Scheduling software.
What does any of it actually mean — and what does your shop actually need?
Here's a plain-English breakdown.
What Is a Job Shop?
A job shop is a manufacturer that produces custom or made-to-order parts and products, typically in small quantities. Every job is different — different material, different specs, different customer, different delivery date.
This is different from a production shop (same part, high volume) or a process manufacturer (chemical, food, pharmaceutical). Job shops include CNC machine shops, welding shops, fabricators, sheet metal shops, and mixed-process manufacturers.
The defining characteristic: you quote before you build.
What Is Job Shop Software?
Job shop software is any tool that helps you manage the business side of running a custom manufacturing operation. At minimum it handles:
Quoting and estimating — building a price for a job based on labour, material, and outside services. This is where most shops start because quoting is the most time-consuming administrative task.
Work order management — once a quote is accepted, creating a work order that tracks the job through production. Who's working on it, what stage it's at, when it's due.
Scheduling — coordinating which jobs run on which machines or workstations in what order. Flagging rush jobs and due dates.
Job costing — comparing what you quoted (estimated hours, material cost) against what the job actually took. This tells you whether the job was profitable.
What Is ERP?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It's a comprehensive software system that connects every part of a business — manufacturing, inventory, purchasing, accounting, HR, and more — into one database.
ERP is powerful. It's also complex, expensive, and designed for companies with dedicated IT staff and the time to implement it properly. For most job shops under 50 people, ERP is overkill.
What Is MRP?
MRP stands for Material Requirements Planning. It's a module within ERP systems that calculates what materials you need, when you need them, based on your production schedule and bills of materials.
MRP is extremely useful for production shops running high-volume, repeat jobs. For a custom job shop where every job is different, MRP adds complexity without much benefit.
What Does a Small Shop Actually Need?
Strip away the jargon and here's what a job shop with 5–50 people actually needs:
- A fast way to build accurate quotes
- A system that converts accepted quotes to work orders automatically
- A visual schedule showing what's on the floor
- Job costing that tracks estimated vs actual without manual effort
- An accounting integration so invoicing doesn't require re-entering data
That's it. Not MRP. Not multi-facility planning. Not compliance workflows.
The Right Tool for the Job
Quotara is purpose-built for exactly this — job shops, welding shops, and fabricators who need professional tools without the enterprise complexity.
It's not a spreadsheet and it's not an ERP. It's the practical middle ground: AI-powered quoting, work orders, scheduling, job costing, and QuickBooks sync — starting at $109/month CAD with no implementation required.
Start your free 14-day trial at getquotara.com — no credit card needed.