Manufacturing ERP for work measured in weeks, not shifts
One order can occupy a machine for weeks, so progress has to be a specific pending step rather than a percentage somebody estimated on a Friday.
What does a stone processing plant need from an ERP?
Progress recorded as a named pending step rather than a percentage, yield measured from block to slab where the raw material is genuinely variable, and heavy work in progress visible by location so nobody walks the yard to find an order.
A single order occupies a machine for weeks
Gang saw cycles run long, which means work in progress is large, slow and expensive to get wrong. A weekly percentage estimate tells you nothing useful; the pending step and the machine it is sitting on tell you everything.
Yield from block to slab is the margin
The block is variable and so is what comes out of it. Recovery per block, and the reason a particular block under-delivered, is a number that either gets captured at the saw or gets lost. Averaged across a month it stops being actionable.
Work in progress is physical and hard to find
Slabs live in a yard. Knowing which order a stack belongs to, and where it is, is a real operational problem in a way it simply is not in a plant where work in progress fits on a trolley.
Grading and finish create variants after production
The same block yields material of different grades, and finish choices multiply that again. Stock has to hold grade and finish, because a customer order is against a specific combination rather than against square footage in general.
Despatch is weight-constrained and vehicle-specific
Loading is a planning exercise with real limits, and the packing list, the weight and the e-way bill all have to agree with what actually went on the lorry.
Production and job tracking
Progress as a named pending step with the machine it is on, which is the only honest answer when a single order occupies a gang saw for weeks.
Yield and costing
Recovery per block from raw to finished, captured at the saw rather than averaged across the month, with the cost of the block carried through to the slabs it produced.
Inventory and stores
Stock held by grade, finish and location, so a stack in the yard is attached to an order and findable without walking it.
Despatch, GST and e-way bill
Weight-constrained loading with the packing list, the weight and the e-way bill generated from the same despatch record.
How does Facto handle jobs that run for weeks?
Progress is recorded as a named pending step and the machine the job is sitting on, rather than as a percentage. For a gang saw cycle measured in weeks that is the only answer a sales person can usefully repeat to a customer who is asking.
Can we measure recovery per block?
Yes. Yield is captured at the saw against the specific block, with the block's cost carried through to the slabs it produced, so an under-performing block is visible as an event rather than disappearing into a monthly average.
Can stock be tracked by location in the yard?
Stock is held by grade, finish and location, so a stack is attached to an order and can be found without walking the yard. In a plant where work in progress is heavy and slow, that is usually the first thing people notice.