Blocker & issue tracking
Anyone can report a blocker from their phone in twenty seconds, with a photo. It gets an owner, a severity and a due date, and escalates on its own if it sits too long.
Custom software
Software that fits how your shop and job sites actually work.
Your ERP keeps the books. The rest of the day — blockers, check-ins, inspections, estimates, the order that needs a phone call — runs on spreadsheets, whiteboards and email. I build the small, focused apps that replace them, connected to the ERP you already have, so nothing is re-keyed, nobody is chased for a status, and everyone sees where things stand.
- A first version typically in 2–4 weeks
- Works on phones, tablets and desktops
- You own the code and the data
Built to replace
The work your team runs by hand, outside the ERP, every single day.
- The whiteboard in the foreman’s trailer
- The estimating workbook with forty tabs
- Paper travelers and inspection checklists
- The PO follow-up list that lives in someone’s inbox
- The “where’s that order?” email chain
When custom makes sense
Seven signs your ERP isn’t the right tool for the job.
Custom software isn’t always the answer — sometimes a setting in your ERP is. If one of these sounds familiar, a focused app is usually worth a conversation.
- 1
The capability is missing
The process has real requirements that your ERP, and the modules you could add to it, don’t cover.
- 2
It exists, but fits poorly
People keep working around its steps, fields or permissions — so the real work happens somewhere else.
- 3
Nobody wants to use it
A focused app built for one job gets used — and captures far better data than a screen nobody opens.
- 4
The process crosses several systems
No single ERP module owns the whole process or has all the information needed to finish it.
- 5
The workflow changes often
The business needs changes faster than ERP customization and release cycles allow.
- 6
Outside people are involved
Suppliers, subcontractors or customers need simple, limited access to take part — not an ERP login.
- 7
It’s how you win work
A proprietary estimating, engineering, fulfillment or service method deserves software built around it, not squeezed into a template.
Not sure which it is?
I’ll look at the process with you and tell you straight whether it needs custom software, an ERP setting, or just a report.
On the floor and in the field
Know what’s stuck, where every job stands, and who’s on site — without chasing anyone.
Status tracking
Every job, order or work order moves through your stages — not a generic template. Everyone sees the same status, and a customer can be given a read-only view of theirs.
Shop floor & job site check-ins
Crews check in by scanning a code at the station or the site gate. Daily logs, headcount, weather, photos and “what got done today” land in one place instead of a notebook.
Around the ERP
For the parts of your ERP nobody uses because they’re too rigid.
Most ERPs have an estimating module, an RFQ screen and a PO approval flow. Most teams work around them anyway, because the real work — the email with the customer, the spreadsheet, the call to the supplier — happens outside them. I build the app that owns that outside work, so it is one flow instead of a screen and a workaround.
Estimating
Estimates & RFQs
RFQs come in by email, get re-keyed into a spreadsheet, priced from memory, and sent as a PDF someone formats by hand. I turn that into one flow:
- 1
Intake. RFQs logged with drawings, due date and customer — nothing lost in an inbox.
- 2
Estimate builder. Your rates, routings, assemblies and markups, with current material pricing.
- 3
Review & quote. Approval rules by size or margin, then a branded quote in one click.
- 4
Won. The accepted quote becomes the order in the app, with nothing re-keyed and every version of the estimate kept.
Sales
Sales orders & acknowledgments
Enter orders the way customers send them, check them against the quote, and send an acknowledgment with confirmed ship dates — the back-and-forth with the customer in one place.
Purchasing
Purchase requests & POs
A foreman or planner requests material from a phone; approvals route by amount and job; the approved PO goes to the supplier, and their promised dates are tracked against the dates the job needs.
And the rest
Whatever you’re working around
Where it would help, and where your ERP allows it, the result — a won quote, an order, an approved PO — can also be sent to the ERP, so it stays the system of record. That connection is its own piece of the build, not a given: whether you want it, and what your systems allow, is settled on the scoping call.
People
Floor, field, office
Phones, tablets and desktops. Only the screens each role needs.
MVP FastPass apps
Your workflow, your rules
Estimates, check-ins, blockers, inspections, approvals. Your fields, your stages, your permissions.
System of record
Your ERP
Items, customers and prices flow in. Orders, POs and costs can be sent back, where you want that and the ERP allows it.
Experience integrating data from
ERP
- Vista Viewpoint
- CMiC
- JDE
- Epicor
- Coins
- NetSuite
- Dynamics
- FACS
CRM / Other
- Zoho
- FreshDesk
- Compass
- Lasso
- ADP
- Concur
Don’t see yours? If it has a database, an API or an export, I can pull from it.
More workflows
The other places the ERP stops and a spreadsheet starts.
Workflows I get asked about, with what the app takes over and where the ERP module usually runs out. Most ERPs cover some of it; the app is for the part they don’t.
Project coordination
The app owns
Milestones, dependencies, assignments, handoffs, progress updates, closeout
Where the ERP stops
Job costing and basic project tracking are usually there. They stop when each project type has its own stages, several departments or subs take part, or people need updates without opening the financial screens.
Supplier bids & approvals
The app owns
RFQs to suppliers, bid comparison, vendor communication, scoring, approval routing
Where the ERP stops
Purchasing is standard; comparing bids with your own scoring, technical reviews and outside participants usually isn’t. The app is for the work that happens before a PO exists.
Material readiness & PO expediting
The app owns
Supplier promises, delivery milestones, shortage follow-up, substitutions, escalation
Where the ERP stops
A PO has a due date. It doesn’t capture the phone call, the partial shipment, or which missing part is holding up which job.
Production work queues
The app owns
Work queues, stages, operator instructions, check-ins, handoffs, timing
Where the ERP stops
Manufacturing modules cover standard routings. Custom, low-volume work with changing stages needs a few simple actions, a barcode scan and a board built for that station.
Engineering changes & configurations
The app owns
Design iterations, engineering approvals, configuration differences, release readiness, drawings and documents
Where the ERP stops
Some ERPs have configuration tools; the back-and-forth of engineering lives elsewhere. The app keeps engineering, production and inventory on the same version.
Maintenance & service
The app owns
Work requests, maintenance scheduling, technician assignments, tasks, parts requests, completion records
Where the ERP stops
Maintenance modules exist, and technicians still avoid them. Barcodes, phones and a schedule that spans several shops and sites are what get used.
Crew & resource scheduling
The app owns
Assignment requests, availability, certifications, crew make-up, schedule changes
Where the ERP stops
Employee records are there. Who can go where depends on certifications, location, equipment and this week’s availability — not on payroll data.
Material & technical libraries
The app owns
Material attributes, approved alternatives, samples, technical documents, sourcing notes
Where the ERP stops
The item master holds what you stock. Evaluating materials before they become items, with supplier knowledge and past-project notes, needs its own place.
Quality control
Capture every inspection. Report on it the same day.
Digital checklists replace paper travelers and inspection forms. Every result is stored as data, so the reporting reads the same numbers — nothing re-keyed from a clipboard, nothing waiting until month-end.
QC tracking
- Checklists by product, operation or inspection type
- Measurements with tolerances — out-of-spec flagged instantly
- Photos, sign-offs and lot / serial traceability
- Nonconformances routed to an owner with a fix date
QC reporting
- First-pass yield, scrap and rework by line, machine or crew
- Which defects repeat most, and where
- Cost of poor quality, in dollars
- Certificates and inspection packets for customers
How I build it
Small first, in people’s hands fast, then grown from real use.
Week 1
Map the process
I start from descriptions from the people experiencing the problem and the people who would benefit from the solution — what actually happens, not what the procedure says.
Weeks 2–4
First working version
One workflow, end to end, in the hands of a pilot crew or team on real jobs. They tell me what’s wrong and I change it.
Then
Connect & roll out
ERP connections, permissions and reporting. Then the rest of the team. Changes take days, not weeks and tickets.
After
Grow what works
Add the next workflow, faster and for less, because the shared parts are built. Every app shares the same data, so reports span all of them.
Depends on complexity, but typically 2–4 weeks for a first version, counted from when I have access to the people and the systems involved. Timelines depend on how quickly that access comes through.
What it costs
Priced by what you need built, not by seat.
The price covers a first workflow, live and in real hands. Custom tools are their own piece of work — a reporting solution or a warehouse is not required. Every engagement is quoted in writing after a scoping call; each workflow after the first is new work under a new or extended contract.
See all pricing- Price
- From $20K
- Retires the side spreadsheets people edit, email around and merge back by hand
- Timeline
- Depends on complexity, but typically 2–4 weeks for a first version
Questions about custom software
Are you replacing my ERP?
No. The ERP stays the system of record for accounting, inventory and orders. I build around the parts that don’t fit. If you want the results sent back to it — a won quote, an approved PO — that can be added as a further step, where your ERP allows it.
Which ERPs can you connect to?
The ones on the home page — Vista, CMiC, JDE, Epicor and the rest — are systems I have pulled data out of, and any system with a database, an API or an export can be read from. Sending data back — a sales order, a PO — depends on what your ERP allows, which is one of the first things I confirm on the scoping call.
Does it work without signal on a job site?
The apps run in the browser on a phone or tablet, so a check-in or a blocker report needs a connection at the moment it is sent. If your crews work where signal drops out, say so on the scoping call: what has to keep working offline is scoped and priced as part of the build.
Do I own what you build?
Yes. The app, its code and its data are yours, in your repositories and your cloud account. There is no platform to keep paying for to keep it running.
Do subs, suppliers or customers need an ERP login?
No. They get access to the app with only the screens they need — a supplier confirms a delivery date, a sub reports a blocker, a customer sees the status of their order. No ERP seat, and their access can be switched off when the contract ends. If all they need is to see the numbers, a shared report does that with no app at all.
Can I start with one workflow?
Yes, and that is the usual way in. Start with the one that costs the most time today. Each workflow after the first is faster and costs less, because the logins, the connections and the shared parts are already built.
Can I report on what the app collects?
Yes. Everything the app captures — blockers, inspections, check-ins, estimates — is stored as proper data, not in a spreadsheet, so it can be reported on like anything else: time to resolve by site, first-pass yield by line, quoted against actual.
What if I only need a report, not an app?
Then that is what I build. A lot of what looks like a need for an app is a need for a report that reads the ERP properly — and a reporting solution already includes editable fields for the notes, statuses and forecasts the spreadsheet was holding. The scoping call is where I tell you which one it is.
Does the app need a data warehouse?
No. Custom tools are their own piece of work, and a warehouse is not required to buy one. If you want what the app collects reported alongside job cost, hours or production, it is brought into the warehouse like any other source.
How much does it cost?
From $20K for a first workflow, quoted in writing after a scoping call. Depends on complexity, but typically 2–4 weeks for a first version. The pricing page says what the price covers and what counts as new work.