Your Derby machine shop ships to Rolls-Royce, but the traceability pack is still rebuilt by hand every order
A custom ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for a Derby aerospace or rail supplier ties your works orders, material certs, inspection records and dispatch packs into one traceable spine instead of a SAP module bolted to three spreadsheets. Expect $95k to $185k and 6 to 10 months for a connected core that survives a Rolls-Royce SABRe or AS9100 audit. The win is not features, it is producing a full traceability pack per part in minutes rather than a day of copy-paste before every shipment from your Derby shop.
You run a tier-two engineering business in Derby feeding Rolls-Royce, Alstom at Litchurch Lane or the Toyota line at Burnaston, and your works orders, heat-treatment certs and inspection results live in different places that only connect when someone retypes them. NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics and Odoo all promise one system, but their standard quality module assumes batch consumer goods, not a single titanium billet that has to be traced from goods-in cert through every operation to a serialised finished part.
So the pattern repeats: the prime contractor demands a digital quality data pack in their format, and your team rebuilds it from the ERP, the calibration log and a spreadsheet of measured features, one part at a time. A late or incomplete pack holds the invoice, and the manual re-entry is exactly where a wrong cert number or a transposed serial slips through and triggers a concession.
Where the off-the-shelf tools fall short
- Material certs and heat-treatment records sit in PDFs and a shared drive, disconnected from the ERP works order, so traceability is reassembled by hand
- First-article inspection (AS9102) data is captured in Excel and never flows back into the dispatch pack, forcing double entry
- Rolls-Royce SABRe and Alstom quality formats differ, so every prime needs its own manual export from the same job
- Serial and batch genealogy breaks the moment a part is split, reworked or re-serialised on the shop floor
Custom erp: what Derby teams actually get
A custom ERP earns its place here because your real product is provable traceability, and no packaged aerospace module models the way a Derby shop actually splits billets, routes through outside heat-treat, and re-inspects after rework. Build a core where the works order carries its material cert, every operation stamps the operator and machine, and the FAI features attach to the serial, and the traceability pack stops being a rebuild job and becomes a one-click export in whichever prime's format the order demands.
Feature priorities for Derby teams
What we build under ERP in Derby
Digital Heroes builds the full ERP stack for Derby teams. Typical engagements cover ERP implementation, ERP integration, NetSuite customization, SAP integration, Odoo development and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
- Your primes demand digital quality data and you rebuild the pack by hand for every shipment
- Traceability genealogy lives across PDFs, a shared drive and inspection spreadsheets that only connect manually
- You serve more than one prime and each wants its own export format from the same job
- Concessions are being triggered by re-keying errors rather than real process defects
- You make commercial or non-flight parts where standard NetSuite or Odoo traceability is enough
- You run one prime with a single quality format that a configured module can satisfy
- Your part numbers are stable and you rarely split, rework or re-serialise mid-job
- You need to be live this quarter and cannot wait for a structured build
The honest cost picture for Derby
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Traceability spine over your existing ERP and certs | $95k to $140k | 5 to 7 months |
| Full custom engineering ERP core with FAI and multi-prime export | $140k to $185k | 8 to 10 months |
| Annual support, prime-format updates and enhancements | $24k to $48k | ongoing |
Timeline: what happens, and when
Exactly what you get
You get a works order that carries its own genealogy, so the cert, the heat-treat record and the inspection results stay attached to the serial through every operation, split and rework. The traceability pack your prime demands becomes a one-click export in their format rather than a day of copy-paste, and the re-keying errors that trigger concessions disappear because nobody retypes a cert number again. Pair it with an inventory management system for material certs, a warehouse management system for serialised dispatch, and business intelligence dashboards so the owner sees first-pass yield and on-time delivery by prime at a glance.
How to choose a developer in Derby
Pick a team that asks to stand on your shop floor and watch a part go through inspection before they quote, because Derby runs on precision-engineering pride and your developer should respect that the genealogy is the product. Insist on a named maintenance lead, a clear plan for split and rework genealogy, and exports proven against at least two of your primes. Avoid anyone who calls traceability a folder of PDFs or hand-waves the migration of your existing cert records.
- Full part traceability pack generated per serial in minutes, in Rolls-Royce, Alstom or Toyota format, instead of a day of manual assembly
- Material certs and heat-treat records linked to the works order at goods-in, so genealogy never depends on someone retyping a cert number
- FAI and in-process inspection captured once on the shop floor and reused in the dispatch pack, killing the double entry
- Concession and nonconformance rate falls because transposed serials and cert numbers stop entering through manual re-keying
- Built around how your Derby shop splits, routes and reworks parts, not a generic batch-manufacturing template
- A traceable core is a genuine 6 to 10 month commitment, and you own the maintenance afterwards instead of renting a SAP subscription
- You lose the prime contractor's tacit blessing of a name-brand ERP; some procurement teams still ask to see a recognised system on an audit
- Migrating years of cert PDFs and inspection spreadsheets into a structured genealogy is slow and will expose gaps in your existing records
- If your routings still change job to job, hardcoding them risks locking in shop-floor habits you should standardise first
- !They quote before seeing a real works order travel through your shop; ask them to follow one billet from goods-in to dispatch first
- !They treat traceability as file attachments; ask how genealogy survives a part split and a rework loop
- !No plan for multi-prime formats; ask to see SABRe and Alstom exports from one job
- !They demo a generic aerospace ERP screen; ask how FAI measured features attach to a serial number
- !They cannot name who owns the build after go-live; ask for a named maintenance lead and an audit-ready handover
If erp is on the roadmap, internal tools, shopify, inventory management usually follow within the year. Budget them as one conversation.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a custom engineering ERP take for a Derby supplier?
A traceability spine over your existing ERP and cert library takes 5 to 7 months. A full custom core with FAI capture and multi-prime export runs 8 to 10 months. The variable is almost always how clean your existing cert and inspection records are when you migrate them into a structured genealogy.
Can we keep our current ERP and add traceability on top?
Yes, and many Derby shops should. The custom build owns genealogy, FAI and the prime-format exports while your existing ERP keeps doing scheduling and accounts. The integration syncs works orders and dispatch so you avoid a risky big-bang replacement during a live aerospace contract.
Why not just use SAP or NetSuite quality modules?
You can for commercial parts. Derby tier-two suppliers outgrow them because the standard module assumes batch goods, not a single billet split into serialised flight parts that get reworked and re-inspected. Forcing that through packaged customisation often costs as much as a focused custom build and still struggles with multi-prime formats.
Will it pass a Rolls-Royce SABRe or AS9100 audit?
It passes when the genealogy is complete, the measurements name a calibrated gauge, and the export matches the prime's format. A custom build designed around those audit requirements is usually easier to defend than a generic module bent into shape, but the discipline of capturing data at the machine is what actually clears the audit.
What does ongoing support cost?
Budget $24k to $48k a year for a system this size, covering hosting, prime-format updates when Rolls-Royce or Alstom change requirements, small enhancements and a named maintenance contact. That is the real cost of owning your traceability rather than renting it.