Small manufacturing businesses operate in a wide range of industries from making small intricate components to putting together larger items such as barbecues and even truck bodies and trailers.
The variety is immense.
Regardless of the industry in which they are operate their fundamental business requirements and processes are often very similar.
They need to be able to:

• Accurately estimate and cost a job
• Provide a quotation to the enquirer
• Receive an order
• Ensure there is sufficient inventory to build the order
• Purchase consumables and stock
• Create a work order for the job
• Produce and / or read technical drawings
• Define cutting, bending and / or machining requirements
• Track the job on the shop floor
• Cost labour and materials
• Despatch the finished goods
• Prepare and despatch an invoice
• Track accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Receive and bank payments

All of these need to be done in a timely manner often in a  very competitive business environment.
  Accurate job cost estimation is crucial because it is here that the a profit is made or lost.
Poor estimations for man hours, material requirements and job time can lead to costly over runs or urgent ordering which quickly erodes any profit margin.
  Other factors which can impact profit are poor material usage and cutting, incorrect selection of material and casual component assembly.
All of this leads to excessive wastage of both material and time.
In the past much of this knowledge resided with key or long standing employees or was embedded in copious handwritten notes.
Today however such a practice is restrictive and can be very costly to a business.
Such a practice may in fact be sounding the death knell of the business.
The better option is to have all of this data stored in a readily accessible database repository which is supported by an appropriate manufacturing application that quickly provides and processes all of the information for the dot points listed above.
In addition as the information in the database grows the business can refine many of its processes, give quicker and more accurate job quotations, improve cutting and manufacturing techniques, maintain tighter controls on inventory, improve assembly methods, despatch the order correctly and reduce outstanding invoice time.
This all leads to an improved business image for your customer and a very much improved bottom line.
This in turn can lead to increased business as satisfied customers give you word of mouth advertising.
Your shop floor time per job will also reduce as tasks are completed more expeditiously so you will be able to complete more jobs with the same workforce with a better outcome.
If you have not considered the use of some form of Manufacturing Software yet I would strongly encourage you to do so in the near future.
Take your time over your investigation and make your your software selection carefully.
Ask for appropriate assistance if need be but do not let the sales and marketing arm of any software company divert your attention from the fundamentals of your business requirements.
The size of the software company is not necessarily a measure of the support and guidance that you will receive in the future.