Industry · Mechanical engineering
ERP & CRM for mechanical-engineering mid-market
Order processing with hundreds of options per machine, after-sales over 10 years, multi-level bills of material — all of this needs an architecture that scales.
Pain Points
What companies in this industry struggle with.
- Configurator options for a machine are so diverse that standard order forms are overwhelmed — Excel configurators are the consequence.
- Multi-level bills of material (assembly → component → individual part) — standard ERPs break with too deeply nested logic.
- After-sales service runs 10+ years — service contracts, spare parts, and maintenance dates have to be tracked over a long time.
- Workshop staff need mobile order data — at the machine, not at a desk.
Tech Stack
Our typical tech stack.
weclapp OR Odoo
ERP with bill-of-material logic, order processing, DATEV
Custom configurator integration
Configurator output (Excel or web tool) is handed over as an order to the ERP
Service-contract module
Maintenance plans, spare-parts recommendations, automatic reminders
Mobile workshop app
Order data, bills of material, hour booking at the workplace
Outcomes
What it gets you in the end.
- 01 Configurator output lands automatically as an order in the ERP — no more Excel transfer.
- 02 Bills of material modeled at any depth — assemblies, components, individual parts, all linked.
- 03 Maintenance contracts with 10-year horizon — appointments, spare parts, reminders automatic.
- 04 Workshop works with tablet/smartphone directly on the order — hour booking, material capture at the workplace.
Deep dive
Industry in detail.
What makes mechanical-engineering IT special?
Mechanical engineering is the industry with the longest lifecycles. A machine is built once and then maintained for ten, fifteen, or twenty years. This has deep consequences for the ERP architecture: it must not only model the sales process (configurator → order → build → delivery → invoice), but also the complete after-sales lifecycle — maintenance dates, spare-parts tracking, warranty cases, contract renewals over years.
Three peculiarities make mechanical-engineering IT particularly demanding: First, configurator logic — a machine can have hundreds of options, every combination is its own product. Second, bill-of-material depth — a machine is an assembly of assemblies, each with components, each with individual parts. Third, workshop reality — staff work at the machine, not at the desk. Mobile order data is mandatory, not bonus.
Our typical setup
We build mid-market mechanical engineers an ERP base on weclapp or Odoo, depending on the complexity of the configurator and service logic. Custom modules complement the standard ERP:
- Configurator integration — automatic handover of configurator output to the ERP, with all specs in the order attachments
- Bill-of-material module for deeply-nested structures — assemblies → components → individual parts, all linked
- Service-contract module — maintenance plans, automatic appointments, spare-parts recommendations, reminders
- Mobile workshop integration — tablet/smartphone access to orders, hour booking at the workplace
DATEV integration is standard, the accounting interface runs daily.
When this fits
- You’re a mid-market mechanical-engineering company with 20–250 employees.
- You sell configurable machines with a long after-sales tail.
- Bills of material and configurator logic are in Excel or isolated solutions today.
- Workshop staff need mobile order data.
If that fits — write to us.
FAQ
FAQs from this industry.
weclapp or Odoo for a mechanical-engineering company? +
For classic mid-market mechanical engineering with standard bills of material and DACH focus, weclapp fits well. For very specific workflows (own configurator logic, own service-contract complexity, custom integration to CAD or PLM), Odoo wins. SAP or Microsoft Dynamics become relevant from ~250 employees — below that it's typically over-engineering.
How is the configurator integrated? +
Configurators typically run in Excel or as a custom web tool. We build a bridge that hands over the configurator output (machine spec with all options, price, delivery time) automatically as an order into the ERP — with all configuration data in the order attachments, so the workshop sees in plain text what to build.
How does after-sales over 10 years work? +
Each delivered machine is created in the ERP as an asset — with delivery date, configuration, maintenance contract, warranty. Maintenance dates are scheduled automatically (typically 12-month cycle), spare-parts recommendations are generated from the bill of material, the service technician sees on the on-site appointment immediately which maintenance points are due. Renewal of the maintenance contract is reminded 90 days before expiration.
How long does the rollout take? +
Mechanical-engineering setups are the longest in our portfolio — typically 16–28 weeks. Bill-of-material migration is the most complex part (often thousands of components in multiple levels), configurator integration adds on top, the service-contract module is built as a custom extension. We recommend starting with a pilot product and rolling out the system in production.