Job shop software for machine shops and contract manufacturers
For contract machine shops and small fabrication and finishing shops with about 10 to 200 people who make other companies' parts to drawings, in short runs, and run on a whiteboard, paper travelers and a job log workbook. We build a web system around your own routing: a work orders board, a tablet page at every machine, and the quality records an ISO 9001 auditor or a customer asks for, kept as the work happens. A typical build costs $8,000 to $25,000 at a fixed price, and hosting and support start at $350 a month.
Last reviewed: November 5, 2026
What job shops need that a whiteboard and a workbook handle badly
- "Where is this job?" Which operation it's at, who is running it and what is holding it up, without walking the floor.
- "Is it going to ship on time?" Late jobs and the reason for each, before the customer calls.
- Travelers and checks that don't get lost or coffee-stained, with in-process checks written down when they're made, not filled in afterwards.
- "Which gauge did you use, and was it in calibration?" Calibration due dates that are true, and a gauge past due that can't be picked.
- NCRs and corrective actions an auditor can follow from the part to the root cause to the check that the fix worked.
- A quality packet with the shipment: certificate of conformance, final inspection results, heat number and mill cert.
- Customer POs retyped into jobs, including the new revision nobody noticed and the new part that needs a routing.
ISO 9001:2026 is the reason to move now
ISO 9001:2026 was published on September 16, 2026 (NSF), so every certified shop updates its quality system once, with a transition ending around September 30, 2029 (LRQA). That's a natural moment to stop keeping quality records in Word files and spreadsheets. The system keeps the records an auditor asks for; the audit itself is still your registrar's call.
What we build for a job shop
The demo shows each piece working for a fictional machine shop, Penwick Machine Works. The routing, statuses, roles and forms are your own, named the way your shop talks.
- A work orders board: a column per stage, from draft and released through in process, on hold and ready to ship, to shipped this week. A card moves when the job does, and the board refreshes itself on a screen on the wall.
- A shop board: a lane per machine and bench, with what's running, what's paused and why, and what's next.
- A tablet page for every machine: the job on the machine, the traveler's instructions, big Start, Pause and Done buttons, good and scrap counts, and the operation's in-process checks, on gauges in calibration only. A reading out of tolerance offers "Hold and report".
- Quality records ready for an audit: inspections and first articles passed or failed against the drawing's tolerances (never typed as a verdict), the NCR log, corrective actions that close only with their effectiveness check, the calibration register, and an audit page with each record exported to Excel. Records can't be changed once saved.
- A quality packet for every shipment.
- Customer POs read by AI: the AI reads an emailed PO and its drawing notes into draft work orders. A repeat part drafts complete. A new revision is flagged, and nothing is released until someone confirms they checked the drawing; the job then gets a first article. A part never made before gets a suggested routing and inspection plan. A person checks every line beside the PDF and releases it.
- Corrective actions drafted by AI: from the NCR, the notes from the floor and earlier corrective actions on the same part family, the AI drafts the problem statement, containment, likely causes, a proposed action and the effectiveness check, and notices when it looks like a recurrence. The quality manager edits it before anything is saved.
- The owner's dashboard: on-time delivery, late jobs, holds, NCR cost, the audit countdown, and a plain-English summary every Monday.
- Your old records come with you: the demo's eighteen months of history came in from its old job log, with its mess cleaned and every correction shown, and its gauge list became the calibration register with due dates worked out again.
The AI reads and drafts; the system decides, and a person approves. You own all of it: the code, the data and the address.
What it costs, and how long it takes
A job shop system is a fixed-price build, typically $8,000 to $25,000, then hosting and support from $350 a month. The price depends on your routing, your quality records and how your job log is kept today, and you see it in writing before anything starts.
| Blueprint | From $1,500: the written plan and the fixed price for the build, credited in full to it |
|---|---|
| Build | Fixed price per phase; most projects $8,000 to $25,000 |
| Included | The first 3 months of Standard support |
| After that | Support plans from $350 a month, hosting included, month to month |
Your whiteboard and workbooks keep running beside the new system until the day you switch.
How it compares with the alternatives
| Option | Cost | Fits best when |
|---|---|---|
| Whiteboard, travelers and workbooks | Time | A few machines, one person who knows every job |
| Low-cost quality tools | From about $10 per user a month | You need quality records only, not the shop floor |
| Quality management software | About $12,000 a year plus $3,000 per user (one estimate) | You are a regulated, validated manufacturer |
| Rowhouse Systems | $8,000 to $25,000 once, then from $350 a month | You want your shop's own workflow and its quality records in one system you own |
Low-cost quality tools start near $10 per user a month (iTQlick, isoTracker) but don't run the shop floor. Quality management software is often priced for regulated life-sciences firms: one estimate for Qualio is about $12,000 a year plus $3,000 per user (softwareconnect). Prices change, so check each vendor's own quote.
See it working
The demo is Penwick Machine Works, a fictional machine shop with eighteen months of history. Sign in with one click as the production manager, a machinist at a machine, the quality manager or the owner. Release a job from a customer PO, run an operation on the tablet page, and follow a failed inspection to a closed corrective action. The data resets every night, so you can't break anything.
Questions
Will my machinists use it?
Each machine gets one page, made for a tablet: no menus, big buttons, and three taps for a whole job.
Can it read our customers' POs?
Yes, as PDFs by email, drawing notes included. A person checks every line before a job is released, and a new revision isn't released until someone confirms they checked the drawing.
What happens to our old job log and gauge list?
They're imported as part of the build, with every correction shown, and the gauge list becomes the calibration register with its due dates worked out again. The demo's eighteen months of history came in this way.
Will it pass an audit?
It keeps the records an auditor asks for (calibration, nonconforming output, corrective action, release of product and traceability), unchangeable once saved and each exported to Excel. The audit itself is still your registrar's call.
Do we have to change how we work?
No. The routing, statuses, roles and forms are your own, named the way your shop talks.
What if a gauge is out of calibration?
It drops off every gauge list on the floor until it's calibrated, and the register shows it.
Does it do scheduling, quoting or invoicing?
Not in the demo. A client system can add them, quoted as part of the build.
What does it cost, and who owns it?
A fixed-price build, typically $8,000 to $25,000, then from $350 a month for hosting and support. The system, the code and the data are yours, with an export to Excel at any time.