Choosing software

What ERP do metal panel shops use?

Most metal panel shops run a mix: CAD, a nesting tool, QuickBooks or Sage, and a thicket of spreadsheets for BOMs, shipping, and install. Purpose-built options like Spectr exist so those operational pieces share one record.

See this on your jobs What Spectr connects

Key facts

There is no single “industry standard” ERP for North American panel shops — which is why Excel won by default.
Accounting systems get adopted first because payroll and tax force the issue.
Operations stay fragmented until a missed crate or a blown job cost makes the case.
Spectr is used as the operational system of record next to existing accounting and CAD.

How shops handle this

Inventory what you already pay for
CAD, accounting, nesting, time clocks, and the unofficial Excel ERP.
Circle the handoffs
Every export/import or retype is a candidate to kill.
Pick a backbone, not a fifteenth app
The backbone should own product identity from drawing to wall.
Keep tools that are good at one job
Nesting and accounting can stay. Status should not live in both.

Common questions

Do big facade contractors all run SAP?

Some try. Many still keep shop and field data outside it because the fit is poor.

Is Excel an ERP?

It is a file. It cannot enforce one version, barcode a crate, or update the field in real time.

Experience how Spectr could fit in your shop

From the jobs you're quoting now to the installs you're managing next month — we'll walk through your actual work, not a canned tour.

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