From Excel Chaos to Operational Control: How a Custom ERP Transformed an Industrial SME
Introduction: When Experience Isn’t the Problem — Systems Are
Many industrial SMEs have something invaluable: experience.
They’ve executed similar projects dozens of times.
They know their costs, materials, workflows, and constraints.
Their engineers and technicians are skilled.
Yet despite all that, operations feel heavy, slow, and stressful.
This case study tells the story of a metal fabrication and industrial services company in Morocco that faced exactly this contradiction:
deep expertise, but shallow systems.
They didn’t lack know-how.
They lacked structure.
The Initial Request: “Should We Choose SAP, Odoo, or Something Else?”
Induware was contacted directly by the company’s business owner and administration team.
Their question was simple—and very common:
“We want an ERP. Should we go with SAP, Odoo, or a custom solution?”
Instead of jumping to a product recommendation, our team did what we always do first:
👉 We listened.
👉 We audited.
👉 We mapped reality.
Because choosing the wrong ERP is often worse than having none.
To understand their needs, we spent time analyzing:
- Their business model
- Their internal workflows
- Their communication patterns
- Their operational bottlenecks
What we found was not unusual—but it was costly.
The First Major Bottleneck: Quotation Hell
The company operates in project-based industrial work, such as:
- Maintenance and refurbishment of industrial equipment (e.g. conveyors)
- Custom metallic constructions
- One-off and repeat industrial projects
They regularly receive quote requests for work they’ve already done before.
In theory, quoting should have been fast.
In reality, it was exhausting.
What Should Have Happened
- Reuse previous project data
- Reference historical prices
- Apply known cost price
- Adjust margins if needed
What Actually Happened
- Every quote was recreated from scratch
- Engineers and admins rebuilt cost structures manually
- Quotes were made in Excel
- Files were stored in local folders on personal computers
There was:
- No centralized database
- No versioning
- No traceability
- No way to learn from past projects
The same work was done again and again—by different people—every time.
Excel Wasn’t the Only Problem
As the audit went deeper, more issues surfaced.
Manual, Physical Communication Between Departments
Communication between departments (engineering, purchasing, administration) was done:
- Face-to-face
- Verbally
- With zero traceability
An operator would physically walk to purchasing to ask:
“How much does this material cost today?”
No emails.
No system.
No history.
This made:
- Follow-ups difficult
- Accountability unclear
- Errors impossible to trace
The Illusion of “Zero Inventory”
The company believed they had no inventory, operating fully on a Just-In-Time (JIT) model.
But reality told a different story.
What We Observed
- Materials lying around in work areas
- Leftovers from past projects
- No one knew:
- What existed
- What was missing
- What was usable
At the same time, management wanted to:
- Build a small buffer stock
- Protect against price fluctuations
But they had:
- No SKUs
- No inventory tracking
- No stock valuation
- No inventory management knowledge
In short: inventory existed, but invisibly.
The Strategic Decision: Why Custom ERP Was the Right Choice
After consolidating all findings, Induware evaluated three paths:
- Large enterprise ERP (SAP)
- Generic modular ERP (Odoo)
- Custom-built ERP
For this specific case, the third option was the most optimal and profitable.
Why Not Off-the-Shelf ERP?
- Too much unused complexity
- Forced workflows that don’t match reality
- High customization cost for basic needs
- Poor user adoption risk
Why Custom ERP?
- Exact fit to existing workflows
- Faster adoption by teams
- Lower long-term operational friction
- Full ownership and flexibility
👉 We didn’t adapt their business to software.
👉 We adapted software to their business.
The Solution: A Tailored ERP Built from Scratch
Induware designed and developed a custom ERP system, hosted on-premises, tailored specifically for a project-based industrial environment.
Modules Implemented
- Project Management
- Quoting & Costing
- Purchasing
- Inventory Management
- Human Resources
- Reporting & Analytics
Every module was designed to talk to the others, eliminating silos.
Architecture & Technology: Built for Industrial Reality
Our engineering team selected a:
- Reliable and robust tech stack
- Microservice-based architecture
- Scalable and maintainable over time
This ensured:
- System endurance under operational load
- Easier evolution as the company grows
- Separation of concerns between modules
This ERP was not a prototype.
It was built for daily, mission-critical use.
UI & UX: Killing the “Ugly ERP” Myth
One thing the client explicitly feared was:
“Enterprise software that nobody wants to use.”
So we made UX a priority.
What We Delivered
- Clean, modern interface
- Smooth navigation
- Clear dashboards
- Role-based views
Engineers, admins, HR, and management all see what matters to them—and nothing more.
The result?
Adoption without resistance.
Testing, Validation & Real-World Alignment
After development:
- Multiple review sessions were held
- Real scenarios were tested
- Workflows were stress-tested
We validated:
- Compatibility with daily operations
- Ease of use
- Data accuracy
- Performance under load
Only after passing real-world checks was the ERP rolled out.
Operational Impact: Everything Changed
Projects & Quotes: Fully Centralized
- Every project is now tracked digitally
- Quotes are saved, searchable, and reusable
- Quotes and purchase orders are generated automatically
- Documents are exported as PDF, ready to send
👉 Excel is gone.
Traceable Communication & Collaboration
All inter-department communication now happens inside the ERP:
- Requests
- Responses
- Actions
- Status updates
With:
- Real-time notifications
- Activity logs
- Full traceability
No more “who said what, when”.
Project Transparency at a Granular Level
For every project, the company now knows:
- Materials used and their exact cost
- Who worked on it
- How many hours or days were spent
- Actual cost vs selling price
This level of detail was impossible before.
Lean Flow with KANBAN
Projects move through clear stages:
- Purchasing
- Manufacturing
- Completed
- Delivered
- Failed
A KANBAN view allows instant visibility into:
- Bottlenecks
- Delays
- Work In Progress (WIP)
This brought lean thinking directly into daily operations.
Reporting & KPIs: Management Finally Sees the Business
The reporting module gives leadership:
- Revenue vs expenses
- Project performance
- Service rate (Taux de service)
- WIP overview
- Activity logs (who did what, and when)
With role-based access, departments see their scope, while admins see the full picture.
Decision-making shifted from intuition to data.
HR: From Paper and Excel to Control
HR management was fully digitized.
The HR team now manages:
- Employees
- Contracts
- Historical records
- Leaves
- Payroll
- Project assignments
No Excel.
No paper.
“This will help me a lot and save me time instead of doing manual work and looking for paper and documents around.”
— HR Manager
Inventory: Education + System = Control
Beyond software, Induware educated the client on inventory best practices.
We:
- Defined SKUs for all materials
- Optimized physical placement in the factory
- Implemented real-time stock tracking
- Linked inventory movements directly to projects
The ERP now tracks:
- Stock in / out
- Low stock alerts
- Usage by project
- Inventory valuation
What was once invisible is now fully controlled.
The Final Result: A Lean, Scalable Operation
This ERP did more than digitize processes.
It:
- Eliminated repetitive work
- Reduced operational stress
- Improved cost control
- Increased accountability
- Enabled data-driven growth
A lean design and lean process, built on reality—not assumptions.
Why This Story Matters to Other SMEs
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Many industrial SMEs:
- Outgrow Excel silently
- Repeat the same work unnecessarily
- Operate without visibility
Induware exists to fix exactly this.
If you’re facing similar challenges, explore:
Or take the first step: 👉 Contact Induware for an operational audit
Induware helps industrial SMEs and enterprises optimize operations through custom ERP systems, automation, and engineer-led digital transformation.