Engineering ERP · Engineer-to-order module
Every machine you build is a one-off. The design changes, the BOM grows and cost moves every week. TECHTARN ETO ERP ties estimate, quote, design, buying, production and billing to one live job, so you see what each change costs before it eats your profit.
The further right you go, the more of the lead time is engineering, and the less a standard ERP can cope. Pick a model to compare.
Engineer-to-order: Designed for each order, BOM grows as you go. Typical: special machines, plants, structures.
Buying starts before design ends, and billing runs all the way through. The ERP keeps every bar on one timeline, tied to the same job number.
Example 16-week special-machine job. Bars overlap because ETO teams engineer, buy and build at the same time.
An ETO BOM starts as a budget and fills in as engineering finishes. Each revision shows what changed and what it did to cost, so nothing slips through.
Rev A: budget BOM used for the quote.
Without a change process, extra work is quietly absorbed. With it, the cost and delay are worked out, approved by the customer and billed.
A typical pattern we see in ETO firms running on spreadsheets. Each step down is money that an ERP makes visible and recoverable.
Illustrative figures based on common ETO cost leaks, not a specific client. Use the calculator below with your own numbers.
Move the sliders to match your business. This is an estimate to start a conversation, not a promise.
Nine connected parts, from the first estimate to the last spare part. Each links to the module page for more detail.
The ERP compares each item's lead time with when the shop needs it, and flags anything that must be ordered now to hold the delivery date.
If every order needs drawings before it can be built, this module is for you. See the ERP pages for each industry.
Bring BOMs in from CAD, post invoices to your accounts and give site teams a mobile app, through our API integration work.
We prove it on one of your real jobs before going live across the company.
Not ready for a demo yet? Check how ready your business is for ERP first.
Take the free ERP auditTalk to an ETO consultantEngineer-to-order works with every other part of the suite.
Straight answers for owners, project managers and finance heads in engineering firms.
ETO means each product is designed for a specific customer order. Engineering, the bill of materials and the cost are created during the order, not before it, which is why ETO firms need ERP that handles changing designs.
Make-to-order builds a fixed design after an order arrives. Engineer-to-order includes the design work too, so the BOM is incomplete at the start and keeps changing as engineering progresses.
Yes. You can raise purchase orders from the early or budget BOM for critical items such as gearboxes, PLCs or special steel, and track their need-by dates against the project schedule.
Each change is raised as an engineering change order with the cost and schedule impact worked out. It can be sent to the customer for approval and billed as a variation, so changes are charged instead of absorbed.
Yes. We can import BOMs from SolidWorks, Inventor or AutoCAD exports, or connect to your PDM or PLM so part masters and drawing revisions stay in sync.
Yes. Bill advances, drawing approval, dispatch and commissioning milestones or a percentage of completion, with retention and GST-compliant invoices.
A typical rollout takes 8 to 10 weeks: discovery, configuration, data migration, a pilot on one live job and go-live. Larger multi-plant setups take longer.
Yes. It can post to Tally, Zoho Books, SAP or Dynamics, so finance keeps its books while projects run in the ERP.
Yes. We work with engineering firms in India, the UAE, the UK, the USA, Australia and Fiji, with multi-currency quotes and local tax setups.
Tell us what you build, how you quote today and where margin slips. We reply within 4 business hours and can show a demo on your own job data.