Custom Manufacturing Software Development Services

About Our Firm

Excel Complete provides custom manufacturing software development focused on improving operations, costing, planning, and reporting for manufacturers with complex workflows and operational requirements. Many manufacturing environments rely on Excel spreadsheets, manual processes, and systems that struggle to support quote-to-order, quote-to-cash, inventory, production, and financial reporting workflows.

Backed by experience in accounting, operations, reporting, and software development, we build systems that connect operational and financial data into more reliable workflows and reporting environments. Our work often includes custom dashboards, SQL reporting, ERP integrations, pricing and costing systems, workflow automation, and operational reporting designed to improve visibility, reduce manual effort, and support better decision-making across the organization.

Most projects are led by our principal consultant, Allen Frantsen, a licensed Michigan CPA and software developer with experience in manufacturing operations, financial modeling, workflow automation, and reporting systems. You’ll work directly with an experienced consultant to review your operational workflows, identify bottlenecks, and design systems tailored to your business processes.

Our Process

Our approach is designed to help you get the most from your existing platforms while filling gaps with software built around your operations.

Step 1: Understand operations

We start by understanding how your manufacturing operation actually runs today. This includes reviewing existing ERP and production systems, mapping operational and production workflows, and tracing how production, costing, and reporting data moves across teams and tools. This step establishes a clear, realistic view of current-state operations, constraints, and gaps.

Step 2: Design the software

Using that understanding, we design a software approach aligned to your operational reality. This includes defining system architecture, data models, reporting requirements, and integration points, with controls, traceability, and maintainability considered from the start. Depending on the situation, this may involve extending existing platforms or designing a custom system around non-standard workflows.

Step 3: Build and support

We build and integrate the system, validate and migrate data as needed, and support rollout and adoption. The focus is on reliability, clarity, and long-term use, ensuring the software can be used effectively in daily operations, supports accurate reporting, and scales as operational complexity grows.

Manufacturing Software Development Cost

Custom manufacturing software pricing depends mainly on scope and system complexity. Smaller tools such as quoting, production reporting, costing, or workflow add-ons typically range from $10,000 to $30,000.

Larger systems that span multiple processes or integrate deeply with ERP and production systems usually cost $25,000-$100,000+. Rather than defaulting to full rebuilds, we focus on scoping the right-sized solution and often recommend targeted builds that solve specific problems first.

On-site consulting is used to quickly scope requirements and create a clear roadmap with a detailed quote without committing to a build upfront. This is ideal for manufacturing teams navigating complex workflows and needing help with software strategy. On-site sessions help align teams and validate workflows on the shop floor. Common on-site consulting locations close to our Ann Arbor, Michigan, include:

• Detroit, MI
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Toledo, OH
• Akron, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Chicago, IL
• Cleveland, OH
• Cincinnati, OH
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Indianapolis, IN

Job Costing

Manufacturing job costing breaks when costs and customer pricing logic drift out of sync. Our software development connects product costs, and customer pricing to improve manufacturing operations. This includes quote-to-order and quote-to-cash logic, customer-level pricing, and price lists tied directly to underlying cost drivers. These systems help manufacturers understand margin exposure, respond to changing business conditions, and maintain consistent pricing across sales, operations, and finance. These solutions are often developed alongside our manufacturing accounting services, where we handle daily bookkeeping and spot bottlenecks by doing the supporting work.

Production Monitoring

Production execution is about understanding what actually happens after an order is placed. We build systems that track orders through production, capture actual output, and surface gaps between plan and reality. This includes production status, throughput, scrap, rework, delays, fulfillment visibility, and operational reporting tied directly to orders and schedules.

These systems may integrate with barcode systems, IoT sensors, production floor reporting, machine data, and operational monitoring tools to improve visibility across manufacturing workflows. Rather than replacing core ERP or production platforms, the goal is to provide operations teams with more accurate, timely insight into performance, constraints, and issues impacting delivery, costs, or customer commitments.

Data Integrity

As manufacturing systems grow more complex, minor data issues can cause significant downstream problems. We design software with data integrity built in, linking production actuals, costing, pricing, and financial data so numbers reconcile and decisions can be trusted. This includes validation rules, micro-controls, audit trails, and role-based access controls.

Strong data integrity allows manufacturers to connect operational reality to financial reporting, forecasting, and planning without constant reconciliation. In many environments, before a complete software build, a lightweight reporting layer, often implemented with our PHP development services, helps stabilize data, enforce consistency, and establish a reliable foundation before larger system builds or platform consolidation. As operations scale, these foundations support more advanced analysis with confidence.

ERP Integrations

Most manufacturing ERP systems handle core accounting, inventory, and operational functions well. However, many businesses still struggle with reporting gaps, disconnected workflows, pricing logic, and operational tasks that are difficult to manage within standard ERP functionality.

Rather than replacing existing systems, we often build lightweight React JS applications, reporting layers, dashboards, and workflow tools on top of existing ERP environments. These systems help manufacturers improve operational visibility, reduce manual work, streamline reporting, and support tailored business workflows.

Common ERP tools we work with include:

• Epicor
• NetSuite
• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Infor

Common workflow gaps include:

• Quote-to-cash workflows
• Change order tracking
• Pricing research and costing logic
• WIP and operational reporting
• KPI dashboards

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions cover how we approach manufacturing software projects and how we work with clients.

When Does Custom Manufacturing Software Make Sense?

Custom manufacturing software makes sense when spreadsheets, ERP systems, or existing tools no longer support your operational workflows, costing, reporting, or production complexity. Common signs include disconnected systems, manual workarounds, unreliable reporting, duplicate data entry, and growing gaps between operations, production, and financial data.

What are manufacturing software development services for digitizing production workflows?

Manufacturing software development services digitize production workflows by replacing manual or disconnected processes with software that tracks production steps, machine states, quality checks, and operational data in real time. This often includes capturing inputs from machines or microcontrollers, writing data to a central database, and linking production activity to reporting, KPIs, and downstream systems so operations can be continuously monitored and improved.

Do you provide manufacturing software development for custom factory management systems?

We design and build custom factory management systems tailored to how manufacturing operations actually run. Our work includes production tracking, work orders, inventory movement, machine and equipment status, and performance metrics, with integrations to existing systems. Rather than forcing a generic platform, we develop systems that fit current workflows while supporting automation, visibility, and long-term scalability.

What is quote-to-order?

Quote-to-order is the process of turning a customer quote into an executable order. This includes applying pricing rules, validating costs and margins, linking quotes to bills of materials, and ensuring orders flow cleanly into production and downstream systems. We help manufacturers design quote-to-order logic that reflects how pricing and operations really work, reducing manual rework and pricing errors.

What is quote-to-cash?

Quote-to-cash covers the full lifecycle from quoting through order fulfillment, invoicing, and revenue recognition. Problems often arise when pricing, production, and financial systems don’t stay aligned. We build software that connects these steps, helping ensure what was quoted, produced, and invoiced remains consistent and traceable.