Your Detroit Plant Runs on Spreadsheets and Paper Travelers, and the OEM Just Found Out
A custom ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for a Detroit Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier runs $90k to $230k over 5 to 9 months. The case is rarely accounting. It is that your production schedule, supplier POs, and EDI 830/862 releases live in spreadsheets and paper travelers, so a single late steel or harness delivery becomes a missed line build at the OEM that nobody saw coming until the expedite freight invoice landed.
NetSuite, SAP Business One, Odoo, and Microsoft Dynamics all assume your shop floor speaks their language. A Detroit machine shop running 40-second takt times, hot-swapping between three customer part numbers on one CNC cell, does not. So the planner keeps the real schedule in a spreadsheet, the operator follows a paper traveler stapled to the tote, and the ERP becomes a place you key numbers into after the fact for the controller.
The gap shows up the week an OEM moves a release. SAP shows the old 830 forecast, the spreadsheet shows the planner's gut, and the paper traveler is already two ops deep on the wrong quantity. By the time anyone reconciles it, you are paying for an air freight skid to keep a Ford or GM line from going down, and your PPM number takes a hit you will be explaining in the next supplier scorecard review.
The problems nobody warns you about
- EDI 830 forecasts and 862 ship schedules from the OEM live in a portal, while your real plan lives in a planner's spreadsheet that never syncs back
- Paper travelers mean lot traceability is a binder, so a containment or recall takes three weeks of manual digging instead of a query
- No live view of supplier PO status, so a late tier-3 casting becomes a missed line build before anyone escalates
- Quoting a new program means re-keying BOMs and routings into Excel because the ERP cannot model your real cell sequencing
The case for owning your erp
You build custom when your scheduling logic is your competitive edge. A Detroit supplier juggling JIS sequencing for one customer, kanban pull for another, and build-to-forecast for a third needs an ERP that models all three on the same cell, ties each work order to a live EDI release, and flags a supplier slip against the line-down risk it creates. Off-the-shelf forces all three into one rigid MRP run, which is exactly why your planner abandoned it for a spreadsheet.
Budgeting a erp build in Detroit
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Core MRP + EDI 830/862 + traceability MVP | $90k to $135k | 5 to 6 months |
| Multi-mode scheduling + supplier portal + PPAP tooling | $135k to $190k | 6 to 8 months |
| Multi-plant + EV program costing + full IATF audit suite | $190k to $230k | 8 to 9 months |
What your build should include
ERP services we deliver in Detroit
The engagements Detroit teams bring us most often: ERP migration, cloud ERP, manufacturing ERP, distribution ERP and custom ERP modules.
Exactly what you get
A working ERP that ingests your OEM's 830 forecast and 862 ship schedule, turns them into a live floor schedule across your CNC and assembly cells, and tracks every lot by genealogy. Your planner stops maintaining a parallel spreadsheet because the system finally holds the real plan. When a tier-3 supplier slips a casting date, you see the specific line build it threatens before you are paying for hot freight, and a containment event becomes a query instead of a binder hunt.
How to choose a developer in Detroit
Hire a partner who has shipped automotive EDI and shop-floor scheduling, not just dashboards. Ask them to walk through how they would model a JIS sequenced delivery against a kanban pull on the same cell, and how lot genealogy survives a containment. The Detroit shops that respect proven results want to see a prior build, not a slide deck. Pair the ERP work with your inventory management software, supply chain software, and warehouse management system roadmap so the EDI integration is built once and reused across all four.
- !They have never integrated automotive EDI; ask which OEM portals and X12 sets they have shipped
- !They demo a generic MRP run with no concept of JIS sequencing; ask how they model a sequenced delivery
- !They treat traceability as an afterthought; ask to see lot genealogy on a prior build
- !They quote a fixed price before seeing your real travelers and releases; ask for a paid discovery first
- !No plan for when an OEM changes its EDI spec; ask who owns that fix post-launch
Teams investing in erp in Detroit usually scope it next to internal tools, shopify, inventory management, since these systems share data and budgets.
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 much does custom ERP cost for a Detroit auto supplier?
Plan for $90k to $230k. A core MRP with EDI 830/862 and lot traceability starts near $90k to $135k over 5 to 6 months. Add multi-mode scheduling, a supplier portal, and full PPAP tooling and you are in the $135k to $230k range over 6 to 9 months.
Can custom ERP handle our OEM's EDI releases?
Yes, that is the core reason to build. A custom ERP maps 830 forecasts and 862 ship schedules directly to live work orders, so an OEM pull-ahead reprioritizes the floor automatically instead of being re-keyed from a portal into a spreadsheet.
Why not just use SAP Business One or NetSuite?
They run a single rigid MRP and assume one scheduling mode. A Detroit supplier running JIS for one customer, kanban for another, and build-to-forecast for a third ends up maintaining spreadsheets alongside the ERP, which is the problem you are trying to kill.