Your ERP knows the job number but not the export licence, so Devonport compliance still runs on shared drives
For a Plymouth marine engineering or defence subcontractor, a custom ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) that wires job costing to UK export-control records and Devonport dockyard compliance typically runs £70,000 to £180,000 over 5 to 9 months. Off-the-shelf NetSuite or SAP handles the finance ledger fine; it falls apart the moment an MoD audit asks which controlled drawings touched which subcontract.
You run jobs for Babcock or a tier-one defence prime, and your ERP tracks hours, materials, and invoices well enough. The problem starts where the standard modules end: the ML-list classification of a part, the end-user undertaking, the security clearance level needed to view a drawing, the dockyard pass and induction status of every fitter on the boat. None of that lives in NetSuite, so it lives in spreadsheets and a shared drive nobody trusts.
SAP Business One and Microsoft Dynamics can bolt on custom fields, but they were built for distributors and manufacturers selling freely across borders. They have no concept that an item is export-controlled, that a quote to an overseas customer needs a licence check before it goes out, or that an auditor will want a clean chain from drawing revision to delivered part. So the paperwork stays manual, and a single audit request pulls your senior engineers off paid work for three days.
Why the usual tools struggle in Plymouth
- Export-control classification (UK ML list / dual-use) tracked in a separate spreadsheet that nobody reconciles against the ERP item master
- No link between a subcontract job and the security clearance or dockyard pass status of the people working it
- Audit requests from MoD primes force engineers to manually reassemble drawing-to-delivery evidence over several days
- Quotes to overseas marine-science or defence customers go out before anyone checks whether a licence is needed
What a custom erp build changes
A custom ERP makes the controlled status of a part and the clearance status of a person first-class data, not bolted-on notes. The licence check fires automatically when a quote names an overseas end user, every drawing revision is bound to its job and its access level, and an audit pack assembles itself from records you already kept. The build pays for itself the first time an export audit takes an afternoon instead of a week of senior engineering time.
The features that matter for Plymouth
What we build under ERP in Plymouth
The engagements Plymouth teams bring us most often: manufacturing ERP, distribution ERP, custom ERP modules, ERP API integration, ERP implementation and ERP integration.
- More than a fifth of your revenue is export-controlled or dockyard-restricted work
- Audits and clearance evidence are pulling engineers off billable jobs regularly
- You have repeat defence primes who push compliance data requirements onto you
- Your finance, drawing, and clearance data live in three systems that never reconcile
- Most of your work is unrestricted commercial marine or tourism with no export angle
- You are under twenty staff and a clean NetSuite or Dynamics setup covers the finance side
- You can absorb compliance in a few well-run spreadsheets because audit volume is low
- Cash flow won't support a six-figure build and a six-month rollout right now
ERP pricing in Plymouth: the real numbers
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Finance and job-costing core on a custom stack | £45,000 to £80,000 | 4 to 5 months |
| Export-control and clearance module added | £70,000 to £130,000 | 5 to 7 months |
| Full ERP with dockyard compliance, drawing vault, and audit packs | £120,000 to £180,000 | 7 to 9 months |
From kickoff to launch: the schedule
Exactly what you get
You get an ERP where a controlled part can't quietly ship to an overseas customer, where scheduling won't put an uncleared fitter on a restricted job, and where an MoD audit request is answered from records the system already holds. Finance, job costing, drawings, clearances, and export status sit in one model instead of four disconnected tools, so the compliance work that defines Devonport-adjacent business stops being unpaid overtime.
How to choose a developer in Plymouth
Pick a team that can talk credibly about defence supply chains, not just accounting software. Ask how they'd model an item that's commercial in one configuration and controlled in another, and how they'd prove drawing access to an auditor. A good partner will scope the export-control module as its own phase and tell you honestly where Dynamics or NetSuite would actually be cheaper. Beware anyone who treats your dockyard compliance as a few extra form fields.
- Export-control classification and licence status live on the item and the order, so nothing ships or quotes without a check
- A one-click audit pack links drawing revision, controlled-goods classification, subcontract, and delivery for any MoD enquiry
- Dockyard pass, induction, and clearance status sit against each engineer and block scheduling them onto work they can't legally touch
- Job costing finally reflects compliance time instead of pretending it's free overhead
- Connects cleanly to your accounting software, inventory management software, and project management software instead of re-keying
- You own export-control logic that must be updated whenever UK control lists or licensing rules change, which is a real maintenance line
- Migrating years of item and job history out of an entrenched accounting package is slow and rarely as clean as the demo suggests
- If you only do occasional defence work, the compliance depth may be more than your volume justifies
- A bespoke ERP needs an internal owner, not just a vendor; without one it drifts back to spreadsheets within two years
- !A vendor who has never heard of the UK ML list or end-user undertakings; ask them to describe an export-control check before signing
- !Anyone promising a fixed price before discovery; ask what they'll change if your prime adds a new data requirement
- !No plan for who owns the system after launch; ask who maintains the control-list logic in year two
- !Demos that only show the finance ledger; ask to see clearance and dockyard-pass handling specifically
- !Treating migration as a free afterthought; ask for a written data-mapping plan from your current package
Teams investing in erp in Plymouth 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
Can't NetSuite or SAP handle export controls with customisation?
They can store a classification in a custom field, but they have no native logic to block a quote or shipment when a licence is missing, and no concept of clearance-gated drawing access. For a Plymouth defence subcontractor those are the exact controls an audit checks, which is why the meaningful logic ends up custom even on top of a standard ERP.
How long before a custom ERP actually replaces our spreadsheets?
Plan on 5 to 9 months for a defence-grade build. The finance and job-costing core goes live first, then the export-control and clearance modules, then the audit-pack automation. Running the old spreadsheets in parallel for the first two months is normal and sensible.
What does an export audit cost us today versus with a custom ERP?
Most Plymouth subcontractors lose around three days of senior engineering time per significant audit reassembling evidence by hand. With drawing-to-delivery records linked in the ERP, the same pack assembles in an afternoon, which is where the build earns its money.
Should we integrate this with our existing accounting software?
Usually yes. Many firms keep Xero or QuickBooks for statutory accounts and let the custom ERP own job costing, inventory, and compliance, syncing invoices across. That avoids a risky finance migration while still fixing the operational gaps.
What's the single biggest risk in a build like this?
No internal owner. A bespoke ERP that nobody on staff governs drifts back to shadow spreadsheets within two years. Name an internal product owner before you start, and budget their time, not just the developer's.