A custom production system built by Black Badger is the best way off spreadsheets for a manufacturer that already has an ERP, because the spreadsheets exist to hold the rules the ERP could not, and a second product rarely holds them either. Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform is the best product for the job, since its packages start at the plant level and one subscription covers unlimited users and machines.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for plants where the working schedule and job status live in Excel
This is an outgrowing list, so custom goes first. A manufacturer that runs production on spreadsheets beside its ERP has already designed its own system. The workbooks are the specification. Black Badger, which publishes this guide, turns them into one shared application with the same columns, the same rules and the same reports, connected to the ERP so nothing is typed twice. The ERP stays, and there is no per-seat fee.
Watch for. Not every spreadsheet deserves a system. Discovery sorts the ones that run the plant from the ones that are habit, and the written scope covers the first kind.
- How it charges
- One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
- Main limit
- Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
2 Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform
Best for plants ready to put the floor on a manufacturing platform
Plex is the best product for this problem. The spreadsheets usually track what the ERP cannot see on the floor, and Plex tiers its packages by scope, with plant-level MES and MOM below the full-business ERP. Unlimited users and machines on one subscription means the people who keep the spreadsheets today can all work in it. It is second because you take on the Plex way of running a plant, which may not match the workbook.
Watch for. Ask whether you can stay on the plant-level package beside your current ERP, and what the connection between the two will cost.
- How it charges
- Annual subscription, quoted, with no per-user license
- Main limit
- Quote only, built for manufacturers, and sold as a plant to business package
3 Fishbowl inventory and manufacturing
Best for spreadsheets that mostly track stock, materials and work orders
Fishbowl ranks third. A large share of production spreadsheets are inventory spreadsheets, tracking what is on hand, what is allocated and what each work order consumed. Fishbowl is built around inventory, warehouse and manufacturing and connects to accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online. It ranks below Plex because a manufacturer of 50 or more employees is on the quoted Advanced plans, priced by users and deployment.
Watch for. Check that Fishbowl connects to the finance system you run. The connections its pricing page names are accounting tools.
- How it charges
- Monthly rate by plan, billed annually, Advanced plans quoted
- Main limit
- Plans include 2 to 10 users, and the Advanced plans need a quote
4 Epicor Kinetic
Best for make-to-order plants whose ERP is the cause of the spreadsheets
Epicor Kinetic ranks fourth. Sometimes the spreadsheets are a symptom, and the cause is an ERP that was never meant for make-to-order work. If that is your situation, replacing the ERP with one specialized for discrete, make-to-order manufacturing removes the reason the workbooks exist. It is fourth because that is an ERP replacement, the most expensive way to retire a spreadsheet, and worth it only when the diagnosis is right.
Watch for. Check whether the gap is your ERP or how it was set up. Epicor publishes no price, so the business case needs a quote.
- How it charges
- Quoted by sales, no published price
- Main limit
- Quote only, built for discrete make-to-order manufacturers
5 Katana Cloud Inventory
Best for plants that want a quick shared replacement for tracking sheets
Katana ranks fifth. It puts inventory and production tracking in one cloud tool that everyone can open, which is most of what a shared spreadsheet was doing. The Advantage contract includes unlimited users and integrations and comes with implementation. It ranks lower because it has no finance ledger and your ERP remains the system of record, so the value depends on how well the two are connected.
Watch for. The Free plan stops at 30 SKUs and names only Shopify as a connected e-commerce integration. A plant needs the quoted Advantage contract.
- How it charges
- Free plan to 30 SKUs, then one quoted annual contract
- Main limit
- Only a Free plan up to 30 SKUs or a custom Advantage contract
6 Odoo
Best for manufacturers open to replacing the ERP with a flexible one
Odoo ranks sixth. Its appeal for a spreadsheet-heavy manufacturer is that the Custom plan includes Studio, so some of what lives in workbooks can be modeled in the system with a partner. That plan is charged per user and billed yearly. It ranks low on this list because it means replacing the ERP you have, and the upkeep of custom code is not part of the plan price.
Watch for. Only the Custom plan can be hosted on Odoo.sh or on premise. Confirm where your custom developments will run and who maintains them.
- How it charges
- Per user, billed yearly or monthly, one app free
- Main limit
- Mid-size firms usually need a partner, and Custom adds multi-company and Studio
7 Acumatica Cloud ERP
Best for plants whose spreadsheets exist because seats were rationed
Acumatica ranks seventh. Some production spreadsheets exist because the ERP charges per user, so only a few people have logins and everyone else works from an export. Acumatica prices by resources and not by seats, which removes that cause. It is last because it only helps if rationed access is your problem, and it is another ERP replacement arranged through a reseller.
Watch for. If the spreadsheets hold rules as well as exported data, giving everyone a login to a new ERP will not retire them.
- How it charges
- Quoted by applications and usage, not by user seats
- Main limit
- Quote only, sold through resellers, priced by resources and not by users
How this list was ranked
This list assumes you have an ERP you intend to keep for finance, and that production is planned, tracked or reported in spreadsheets beside it. We ranked by whether an option retires the spreadsheets for good, which depends on whether it can hold the rules they contain.
Custom is first here because this is a list about outgrowing a setup, and the spreadsheets already work as a custom system. On our overall list custom is third.
Questions buyers ask
Why do manufacturers run production on spreadsheets when they own an ERP?
Manufacturers run production on spreadsheets beside an ERP for one of three reasons. The ERP was set up for accounting and never fitted to the plant. The ERP cannot hold a rule the plant depends on. Licenses were rationed and most people have no login. The right fix is different for each, so work out which one you have first.
What is the risk of leaving production on spreadsheets?
The risk of leaving production on spreadsheets is that they depend on the people who built them. Formulas break without notice, two copies disagree, and nobody can audit how a number was reached. The cost shows up as late jobs, wrong inventory and month-end figures that need explaining.
Can a custom system reuse the logic in our spreadsheets?
Yes, a custom system can reuse the logic in your spreadsheets. The workbooks are the best specification you have, because they show what your people decided the ERP was missing. Black Badger reads them in discovery, keeps the rules that matter and builds them as a shared application connected to the ERP.
Should we replace the ERP instead of the production spreadsheets?
Replace the ERP instead of the production spreadsheets only if the ERP is wrong for the kind of manufacturing you do. If it handles finance and orders well and the gap is on the production side, replacing it is the costliest way to fix a narrow problem.