Manufacturing ERP System
A purpose-built ERP platform combining OMS, MES, and WMS to manage the full manufacturing lifecycle — from incoming order and design through production, QC, and final dispatch — in one coordinated digital workflow.
Overview
This system was a custom-built ERP platform for a manufacturing company — not an off-the-shelf rollout. It was designed around the factory's actual operating model, where procurement, design, planning, production, refurbishment, warehouse, packing, and dispatch all needed to work from the same operational data.
Before the system, much of the operation depended on spreadsheets, whiteboards, and disconnected stock records. The platform replaced this with a single digital workflow that managed every order item from design release through production, QC, and final shipment — giving management full visibility into where each item was in the process at any point in time.
The Core Architectural Idea
Single Source of Truth
Every department — planning, design, production, warehouse, dispatch — works from the same operational data, eliminating spreadsheets and manual cross-team coordination.
Smart Order Routing
Before any production starts, the system evaluates whether each item can be fulfilled from stock, recovered through refurbishment, or truly requires new manufacturing — reducing waste and cost.
Real-Time Shopfloor Visibility
Mobile scanning at every production, QC, packing, and dispatch step creates item-level traceability without manual paperwork or retrospective data entry.
Top-Level Architecture
Interface Layer
Web ERP Console
Planners, buyers, designers, warehouse supervisors
Mobile Scanning Interface
Production, QC, packing, and dispatch workers
Domain Workflow Layer
Order & Project Planning
Design & Itemization
Decision Engine
Procurement & Receiving
Cutting Optimization
Production / MES
Refurbishment
Quality Control
Warehouse / WMS
Packing & Dispatch
Data & Platform Layer
NestJS
Domain services & orchestration
MongoDB
Operational data & workflow documents
Redis
Queues, events & caching
AWS
Infrastructure & storage
Architecture Components
Order & Project Planning
Operational control point for every incoming order
- —Register customer orders and delivery requirements
- —Create the project or production job context
- —Define target dates and operational milestones
- —Assign ownership across planning, design, procurement, and production teams
- —Break large projects into manageable operational units
Product Design & Order Itemization
Translates sales orders into production-ready items
- —Itemize ordered products into components or production units
- —Define specifications, dimensions, and production attributes
- —Release design outputs into the planning and production workflow
- —Provide data needed for reuse checks, material planning, and cutting optimization
Stock Balance & Reuse Matching
Decision engine routing items to stock, refurb, or new production
- —Check available stock balance against newly itemized order requirements
- —Identify reusable items already present in inventory
- —Route suitable items toward refurbishment instead of new production
- —Reduce unnecessary purchasing and manufacturing cost
Procurement & Raw Material Receiving
Material supply chain from purchase order to warehouse receipt
- —Create purchase requirements from production demand
- —Issue purchase orders for raw materials
- —Track supplier delivery status
- —Receive materials into warehouse inventory with location and quantity tracking
Cutting List Optimization
Minimizes raw material waste through optimized cut planning
- —Convert itemized production demand into cuttable material requirements
- —Group similar dimensions and material types
- —Calculate efficient cutting patterns to reduce scrap
- —Send optimized cut lists directly to the factory floor
Production Execution (MES)
Shopfloor tracking and real-time work-in-progress control
- —Create and release work orders to the shopfloor
- —Track each production stage in real time
- —Record who processed an item and when
- —Capture progress updates directly from production workers
- —Keep planners aware of bottlenecks and completion status
Mobile Scanning Interface
Real-time shopfloor execution via scan-driven updates
- —Scan job items or labels as they move through process steps
- —Confirm production step completion at the point of execution
- —Record item movement between stations
- —Capture QC status and inspection outcomes
- —Eliminate manual paperwork and delayed data entry
Refurbishment Workflow
First-class recovery path for reusable and reworkable items
- —Identify items suitable for reuse or recovery
- —Route them into dedicated refurbishment jobs
- —Track refurbishment progress and readiness
- —Validate refurbished items through QC before re-allocation
- —Return approved items to usable inventory or direct order fulfillment
Quality Control
Embedded QC gate before warehouse staging
- —Verify production output before warehouse staging
- —Validate refurbished items before reuse
- —Record pass, fail, hold, and rework decisions
- —Maintain item-level traceability of inspection status
Warehouse, Packing & Dispatch
Final fulfillment — staging, packing, loading, and shipment
- —Stage completed items in warehouse locations
- —Prepare items for packing by order or shipment
- —Confirm packed quantities via scanning
- —Support loading verification before carrier handoff
- —Track dispatch readiness and final shipment release
End-to-End Operational Flow
- 1
Customer Order & Project Setup
An incoming customer order or project is registered. Planning assigns milestones, delivery targets, and ownership across departments.
- 2
Design & Order Itemization
The design team breaks down the order into production-ready components with specifications, dimensions, and production attributes — the structured inputs required for every downstream step.
- 3
Stock, Refurb, or New Production Decision
The decision engine evaluates each itemized line against available inventory and recoverable items. Items are routed to stock allocation, refurbishment, or new production. Only what truly needs to be made reaches manufacturing.
- 4
Procurement & Material Receiving
For items requiring new production, purchase orders are raised and materials are received into inventory. Raw material availability is updated in the system immediately on receipt.
- 5
Cutting List Optimization & Work Order Release
Production demand is converted into optimized cutting plans to minimize material waste. Work orders are released to the shopfloor.
- 6
Production Execution with Mobile Scanning
Workers scan each item at every production step. Progress is captured in real time — no paper checklists, no verbal updates. Supervisors and planners see actual work-in-progress status from the system.
- 7
QC Inspection
Production output and refurbished items pass through a QC gate before warehouse staging. Pass, fail, hold, and rework outcomes are recorded with full traceability at item level. Nothing moves forward without a validated inspection result.
- 8
Warehouse Staging, Packing & Dispatch
Approved items are staged, packed by shipment, scanned for loading verification, and dispatched to the customer. The system records exactly what was packed, loaded, and shipped.
Key Design Patterns
Event-Driven Module Coordination
Departments are modeled as loosely coupled domain modules. State changes — order created, design released, material received, production completed — are emitted as domain events. Modules react to events rather than calling each other directly, allowing independent operation while staying synchronized through shared operational state.
Stock Reuse Decision Engine
Before any production starts, every itemized order line is evaluated against available inventory and recoverable items. The system routes items to stock, refurbishment, or new production — helping the business avoid making or buying what already exists in a usable or recoverable form.
Scan-Driven Shopfloor Execution
All shopfloor actions — production step completion, QC results, packing, and loading — are recorded through mobile scanning at the point of execution. Workers update the system as they work, not after the fact, eliminating reporting lag and keeping WIP status accurate in real time.
Cutting List Optimization
Production demand is converted into optimized cut plans before work orders reach the factory floor. Items are grouped by material type and dimensions, and efficient cutting patterns are calculated to minimize scrap and reduce raw material overconsumption — with direct impact on manufacturing margin.
Refurbishment as a First-Class Path
Refurbishment is not treated as an exception or manual workaround. It is modeled as a dedicated operational route with its own job tracking, progress visibility, and QC validation gate. Approved refurbished items re-enter the fulfillment flow in a controlled, traceable way.
Item-Level QC Traceability
QC is embedded into the operational flow, not recorded separately. Every production output and refurbished item passes through a QC gate with pass, fail, hold, or rework status recorded at item level. Nothing reaches packing or dispatch without a validated inspection outcome.