Fishbowl counts boxes; your Windsor shop needs to know which steel heat lot and which insert crossed to Detroit
Custom inventory software for a Windsor tool-and-die or parts shop runs $35,000 to $95,000 and 3 to 5 months. Fishbowl and Cin7 count uniform SKUs in a warehouse. Your inventory is steel by grade and heat lot, reusable remnants, tooling consigned at an OEM, and inserts that cross the border, none of which fits a simple quantity-on-hand model.
Off-the-shelf inventory software wants your steel to be a SKU with a count. But a $9,000 block of P20 has a heat lot you must trace for IATF, an offcut remnant worth reusing on the next die, and a certification that follows it. Fishbowl sees 'steel: 4 units' where you need grade, heat lot, dimensions and traceability. The mismatch means your shop tracks the real detail in a spreadsheet beside the software.
Then there's tooling that isn't even in your building. A mould you built sits consigned at a Stellantis plant in Michigan, and inserts cross back and forth for repairs. Generic inventory tools have no concept of consigned, cross-border, serial-tracked tooling. For a Windsor shop, the inventory that matters most is the inventory the off-the-shelf system literally can't represent.
- You must trace steel by heat lot for IATF and quality audits
- Reusable remnants have real value you're currently losing track of
- Tooling consigned at OEM plants needs to be visible as inventory
- Cross-border components lose their chain in your current tool
- Your inventory is uniform, countable SKUs in one warehouse
- No heat-lot or traceability requirement applies
- Fishbowl or Cin7 covers your reorder and counting needs
- You have no consigned or cross-border tooling to track
- Steel tracked by grade, heat lot and dimensions with IATF-grade traceability
- Remnants and offcuts catalogued so you reuse them instead of buying new steel
- Consigned tooling at OEM plants visible with location and repair status
- Cross-border components tracked with their customs chain intact
- One inventory system replacing the software-plus-spreadsheet patchwork
- More expensive than a Fishbowl licence, and you own the maintenance
- Heat-lot and remnant tracking adds complexity to data entry; floor discipline matters
- Overkill if your inventory really is uniform, countable SKUs
- Integrating with quoting and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) adds scope and cost
Inventory Management pricing in Windsor: the real numbers
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Steel + heat-lot tracking module | $35k to $55k | 3 to 4 months |
| Inventory with remnants + consigned tooling | $55k to $78k | 4 to 5 months |
| Full system with ERP/customs integration | $78k to $95k | 5 months |
The features that matter for Windsor
Windsor inventory management: the full scope
The engagements Windsor teams bring us most often: stock control system, barcode scanning, multi-location inventory, inventory tracking, Fishbowl alternative, Cin7 alternative and real-time inventory.
Exactly what you get
An inventory system that fits a tool shop's real holdings: steel by grade and heat lot with audit-ready traceability, a searchable remnant catalogue so offcuts get reused, consigned tooling visible wherever it sits at an OEM, and cross-border components with their customs chain intact. The result is the death of the spreadsheet beside Fishbowl. It connects to ERP software, a warehouse management system for the floor, and supply chain tooling for cross-border movements.
How to choose a developer in Windsor
Pick a developer who immediately asks about heat lots and traceability, not just quantities. The right partner understands IATF traceability, consigned tooling and cross-border chains, and will show you a manufacturing inventory build with those. Floor-data discipline makes or breaks heat-lot tracking, so ask how they'll make scanning fast for operators. Confirm integration with your quoting and ERP so inventory drives jobs instead of standing apart.
From kickoff to launch: the schedule
- !They model steel as a plain SKU; ask how heat-lot traceability works
- !No concept of consigned tooling; ask how OEM-located tools are tracked
- !They ignore remnants; ask how reusable offcuts are catalogued
- !No customs-chain tracking; ask how cross-border parts stay traceable
- !No manufacturing inventory reference; ask for one with traceability
Most Windsor teams pricing inventory management end up comparing notes on accounting, project management, lms too; the systems share one data spine.
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
Why won't Fishbowl work for our steel?
Fishbowl tracks uniform SKUs with quantities. A tool shop's steel has grade, heat lot, dimensions and certification you must trace for IATF, plus reusable remnants. Fishbowl flattens all that to 'steel: 4 units,' so shops keep the real detail in spreadsheets. Custom software puts it in one place.
Can it track tooling consigned at a Detroit plant?
Yes. A custom system models consigned tooling as inventory with its OEM location and repair status, and tracks inserts that cross the border for repair with their customs chain intact, which generic tools simply can't represent.
How does remnant tracking save money?
By cataloguing offcuts so your estimator and floor can find and reuse a usable remnant instead of buying a fresh steel block. Over a year of dies, that reuse adds up fast.