Answers for facade fabricators
The questions shops actually search
Plain-language answers to the ERP, BOM, shop-floor, shipping, and install questions metal panel and curtain wall teams type into Google. When you want to see it on your jobs — not a generic demo — talk to us.
Choosing software
- Best ERP for facade fabricators
- Best ERP for curtain wall fabricators
- Best ERP for metal panel fabricators
- Best ERP for ACM panel fabricators
- Best software for architectural metal fabricators
- Best ERP for engineer-to-order manufacturers
- What ERP do metal panel shops use?
- Is there an ERP built for facade fabrication?
- Manufacturing ERP vs project ERP for fabricators
- What software do curtain wall companies use?
- Do I need an ERP or just project management software?
- What is an ERP system for fabricators?
Spectr vs other systems
- Why SAP doesn’t work for facade fabricators
- Why Oracle NetSuite fails for custom fabrication
- Why Microsoft Dynamics is a poor fit for curtain wall shops
- Why Epicor is hard to use for one-off panels
- Can JobBoss handle curtain wall projects?
- Is Procore enough for a fabrication shop?
- Why generic manufacturing software breaks on custom facades
- Make-to-stock ERP vs engineer-to-order
- The customization trap in ERP
- Spectr vs SAP for facade fabricators
- Spectr vs Oracle NetSuite
- Spectr vs Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Spectr vs Epicor
- Spectr vs JobBoss
- Spectr vs Jonas
- Spectr vs Sage 300
- Spectr vs Procore for fabricators
- Spectr vs Logikal
- Spectr vs spreadsheets
Design, CAD & BOMs
- How to generate a BOM from AutoCAD
- How to generate a BOM from Rhino
- How to generate a BOM from SolidWorks
- How to stop rebuilding BOMs in Excel
- What is a virtual twin for a metal panel?
- How to manage nested BOMs for custom panels
- How to generate cutlists from shop drawings
- What is a panel system manager?
- How to lock approved materials on a facade project
- How to handle drawing revisions after a BOM is issued
Shop floor & inventory
- How to track every panel on the shop floor
- How to locate inventory with barcodes in a fab shop
- How to find a container on the shop floor
- How to schedule cutlists on CNC machines
- How to tell forklift operators which skid to deliver
- Shop floor dashboards for metal fabricators
- How to know what’s being fabricated today
- How to track labour hours by facade project
- How to allocate inventory to a specific project
- How to receive material and allocate it to a job
Shipping, crates & finishing
- How to know what’s in every crate
- How to build a shipping list for a curtain wall job
- How to generate a packing list from fabricated panels
- How to generate a bill of lading for facade shipments
- How to track crates from shop to job site
- How to coordinate painting and anodizing
- How to schedule finishing without delaying install
- What is a services calendar for fabricators?
Installation & the field
- How to track facade installation progress
- How to scan panels on the job site
- How to know which panels are installed vs staged
- How to give installers a packing list on their phone
- How to capture install photos tied to a panel
- How to prove what was installed on a guaranteed-dimensions job
- How to handle field measurement changes
- How to keep the office and field on the same system
Cost, budget & profitability
Projects, submittals & schedules
Integrations
Implementation & buying
- How long does Spectr take to implement?
- How much does an ERP for facade fabricators cost?
- Can I customize Spectr for my shop?
- Is Spectr only for large fabricators?
- How do you migrate from spreadsheets to an ERP?
- Is Spectr cloud-hosted?
- Do I need an IT team to run Spectr?
- What happens to my existing CAD and accounting tools?
By facade system
Problems shops hit every week
- How to stop spreadsheet errors in a fab shop
- One source of truth for fabricators
- How to survive being the last trade on site
- What to do when nobody knows where a panel is
- Why our inventory count is always wrong
- How to prove compliance months after install
- How to get the shop and the field talking
- How to handle design changes mid-fabrication
Experience how Spectr could fit in your shop
From the jobs you're quoting now to the installs you're managing next month, let us show you how Spectr can handle your specific projects.