Off-the-shelf ERP
SAP, Oracle, Infor, Epicor, the big suites.
What you get
- Real-time dashboards across the org.
- Audit trail and compliance as features, not afterthoughts.
- Vendor support when something breaks.
What it costs
- 6–18 month implementation before you touch the workflow.
- Six-figure license plus per-seat fees that scale with the team.
- Your floor learns the ERP's workflow, not the other way around.
Verdict: Built for enterprises with a CIO, change-management budget, and a team whose full-time job is the rollout.
Custom software
A developer, an agency, or an in-house build.
What you get
- The system matches how your floor actually runs.
- No per-seat licensing — your cost is the build.
- You own the code and can change it without waiting on a vendor.
What it costs
- You are the product manager — and you're not getting paid for it.
- Maintenance, bug fixes, and updates are now your problem forever.
- If the developer walks, the system stops evolving.
Verdict: A real fit if you have a CTO and a roadmap — but most 50-person shops haven't allocated that person yet.
Spreadsheets + memory
Excel, Google Sheets, the foreman's whiteboard.
What you get
- Free, fast to set up, and easy to tweak.
- Everyone on the team already knows how to use one.
- No vendor relationship, no procurement, no integration project.
What it costs
- Jobs fall through — every weekly status meeting proves it.
- No real-time margin: you find out if a job was profitable after the invoice is paid.
- When the one person who knows the spreadsheet is out, the floor stops.
Verdict: It's the default most shops grow into — and the one most shops eventually outgrow at 30+ people.