Key Takeaways
- To decrease BOM errors and quote-to-ship time, an ERP for Engineers is needed to push BOMs directly from CAD to a well-integrated engineering ERP software platform. This eliminates duplicate data entry and costly errors.
- Procurement needs early access to the BOM; using Dynamic BOMs makes this easy. Long-lead items can be ordered earlier, when working with Dynamic BOMs, because revisions are handled automatically, while purchasing is always informed in real time.
- Undeniably, building smarter means ensuring production always works from the latest engineering data, reducing errors, delays, and surprises.
Stop Spending Half Your Engineering Time Improving BOM Management
Engineering teams are hired to design innovative machines, not maintain spreadsheets, and struggle with BOM management. Instead, they should focus on engineering, while the ERP handles information flow.
Still, many Engineer To Order manufacturers, engineers spend countless hours managing revisions, coordinating with procurement, and entering the same information into multiple systems.
Total ETO is an ERP system for Engineers that connects their work with purchasing, manufacturing, and project management into a single platform designed specifically for Custom Machine Builders.
Whether you’re using Autodesk Inventor, SOLIDWORKS, or OnShape, Total ETO helps your team release designs faster, manage changes more effectively, and eliminate duplicate work.
With the right Engineering ERP software, teams can:
✓ Release long-lead components before a project is fully designed
✓ Push BOMs directly from CAD into ERP
✓ Use Dynamic BOMs to manage revisions without spreadsheet chaos
✓ Keep purchasing synchronized with engineering changes
✓ Reduce administrative work and focus on design
✓ Minimize delays by optimizing your supply chain
Why Traditional ERP Systems Frustrate Engineers
Most ERP systems were built for repetitive manufacturing. Generic ERP platforms rarely support engineering BOM management, frequent revisions, or the collaborative workflows required for ETO manufacturers.
Custom Machine Builders operate differently.
In concurrent engineering, every project introduces new designs, new BOMs, new revisions, and new procurement requirements.
As a result, engineering teams often struggle with:
- Re-entering BOM data into ERP
- Managing constant design revisions
- Communicating changes to purchasing
- Tracking project-specific materials
- Releasing parts before designs are finalized
- Maintaining multiple versions of the truth
The result is delays, purchasing errors, and engineering time spent on administration instead of innovation.
Built Specifically for Engineer To Order Manufacturing
Total ETO was developed for companies that design and build custom equipment.
Our engineering ERP software uses Dynamic BOMs to improve engineering BOM management. We tightly connect procurement, inventory, job costing, and project management with engineering into a single platform.
Unlike generic ERP systems, Total ETO supports concurrent engineering is not a one-time event; it continues throughout the life of a project.
The Flexibility of Dynamic BOMs: Release Parts Before Designs Are Finished
Unlike traditional ERP systems, Total ETO supports concurrent engineering by allowing engineering and procurement to work in parallel.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work in concurrent engineering or ETO environments.
However, with Dynamic BOMs, engineers can release portions of a project as they become ready, allowing procurement to begin ordering while engineering continues refining the design.
Benefits include:
- Purchase long-lead items sooner
- Reduce project delays
- Minimize manual engineering BOM management and maintenance
- Improve communication between engineering and procurement
- Support ongoing revisions throughout the project lifecycle
When changes occur, purchasing can immediately see what has changed and respond accordingly.
No spreadsheets. No duplicate data entry. No confusion.
Engineering Change Management Without the Headaches
Changes are inevitable. Managing them shouldn’t be time-consuming or problematic.
Built for concurrent engineering, Total ETO tracks revisions, updates BOMs, and helps ensure that downstream departments have access to current information.
As a result, engineering changes become controlled, visible, and actionable:
Purchasing knows what changed.
Production knows what changed.
Management knows what changed.
Everyone works from the same information.
As an ERP for Engineers, Total ETO helps Custom Machine Builders reduce administrative work, improve Engineering BOM Management, and support concurrent engineering without sacrificing purchasing accuracy or project visibility.
Customer Results
Evidently, manufacturers use Total ETO to:
- Reduce engineering administration
- Improve purchasing accuracy & reduce costs
- Release projects faster
- Better manage revisions
- Increase visibility across departments
- Improve project profitability
The ERP for Engineering; a Case Study Focused on Increased Profitability
With the right ERP/MRP, a Custom Machine Builder can take on more jobs and grow the business without needing more staff. The key to scaling your growth like this is freeing up critical staff from clerical tasks. This allows your talented team to focus on income-generating projects, rather than paperwork.
In the engineering department, for example, designers typically spend about half their time compiling the bill of materials, reissuing drawings, processing change orders, issuing reports, meeting with sales, etc… Imagine the difference if your designers could spend more time designing!
Handling Specialty, an Ontario-based manufacturer, demonstrates the improvements ETO organizations experience when working with the right ERP. Within the first five years of using Total ETO, they doubled their sales. Handling Specialty also reduced their design and shop hours by 10.3%. This led to a six-fold increase in profits!
The Best ERP for Engineers, Proven by Other Custom Machine Builders
"The best CAD to ERP add-in I've ever used".
Bryan Carsrud, Sr Mechanical Engineer
