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FREE ERP System

blackwolf4278

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 1, 2020
Hello everyone.

I've been working on a ERP System for small shops(such as mine) in my spare time.
Likely some or most of you considered purchasing an ERP Software for your shop, but it was just too expensive to justify itself.

As of this moment I would like to begin beta testing of my ERP System that is totally online based, and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. In return I only ask for your opinions on how the System could be made better, what features would you like to see, if there are any bugs and etc....

What you get?
• Attendance/Calendar Feature with features such as logging Employee's Time and Keeping an Employee Calendar
• Database of Employees
• Jobs Control with many features, such as expenses tracking, job time tracking, Profit/Loss tracking, Non-Conformance Tracking, Routing and more..
• Customers Database linked to Jobs
• Shipping/Receiving logs
• Some notifications
• Early development stage of Customer Portal

What is coming?
• Full bookkeeping with-in the ERP linked to Jobs with Automatic connection to your Bank Account for syncing transactions.
• Quoting linked to Customers
• Creating Invoices and Packing Slips
• And more...

I am looking for upto 5 shops that would be interested in participating in this beta testing, which will keep their accounts free forever.

If you are interested, please leave you contact information in the comments and I will contact you to setup an account.
 
As well, I've just setup a demo version.

Portal Access at:
demo.pureaeroportal.com

For shop users(employees) for entering time:
demo.pureaeroportal.com/shop_login.php

For both use credentials:
Login: demo
Password: demo
 
If you don't mind my asking, what's the reason you are against online ERPs/Software?

It is a violation of almost every NDA we sign before we do business with our customers.

I had to explain to Quickbooks recently about them keeping my info in the cloud. I told them the info is not allowed to leave my possession ever. As soon as it leaves my building it is no longer in my possession and I am violating the NDA I just signed.

Even if the data is encrypted and you can guarantee me that no one can access it. That is not as good of a guarantee as me keeping the data on a thumb drive in my safe deposit box.

We cant let any data leave our possession ever. No one else can ever have any access to it. Get rid of those concerns and you can open yourself up to many new customers.

We have to follow the rules our customers force us to follow in order to have a business relationship with them.

I have QB desktop ( offline only ), Any CAD CAM I get has to be 100% offline (mastercam said they can sell me an offline package that never needs maintenance or upgrades), Any data I have to save gets put on external drives and stored off site.
 
It is a violation of almost every NDA we sign before we do business with our customers.

I had to explain to Quickbooks recently about them keeping my info in the cloud. I told them the info is not allowed to leave my possession ever. As soon as it leaves my building it is no longer in my possession and I am violating the NDA I just signed.

Even if the data is encrypted and you can guarantee me that no one can access it. That is not as good of a guarantee as me keeping the data on a thumb drive in my safe deposit box.

We cant let any data leave our possession ever. No one else can ever have any access to it. Get rid of those concerns and you can open yourself up to many new customers.

We have to follow the rules our customers force us to follow in order to have a business relationship with them.

I have QB desktop ( offline only ), Any CAD CAM I get has to be 100% offline (mastercam said they can sell me an offline package that never needs maintenance or upgrades), Any data I have to save gets put on external drives and stored off site.

A free ERP system is likely not targeting your demographic.
 
Why ?
Is not Dan a small business that could benefit from it ?

I don't know, is he?

To me, it seems that anyone developing a web-based database to host a company's entire portfolio, for free, would not anticipate a customer with those levels of NDA's to participate. But please don't let me speak for blackwolf, I don't know them, their motivations, or much of anything regarding cloud security.
 
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I just got my first machine running a few days ago, so I'm your perfect demographic. My clients are medical device developers, and I have signed NDA's with them. I cannot use any cloud services for CAD/CAM/ERP etc., plus I need my business to run if the internet is out. I've heard horror stories of 360 users businesses grinding to a halt when the internet is out because it's cloud based. That's an unacceptable risk even without the NDA's. All of my business software MUST run on my local computer, and keep all data on my local computer, no "phoning home" for authorization to run, no exceptions.

Also, being that it's "free", there's no doubt that you have a monetization strategy. Selling user data perhaps?
 
Thanks to everyone who replied with any concerns.

I would like to explain a little more about this ERP, as I probably should of in the original post. I started working on this ERP way before I opened my own shop, knowing that one day I will, the reason I chose online development of this software is because I'm most familiar with PHP and JavaScript languages together with MySQL database on which this software is based. Since I am the one who developed it, and there is not company behind this I am able to use this software offline as well, although in order for me to be able to let anyone else use it offline would mean that I have to give-up all of my coding, and about a half-year of developing this.

As well, I will say that none of the information that is in the database is encrypted except for passwords. There is always a chance some-one can steal the database, and even if it was encrypted there would still be a chance someone could hack into the hosting and steal the encryption keys that would lead to the same thing anyways.

I'm not targeting large companies that have NDA's or can't/are afraid of keeping their information on the web, for this reason I'm not allowing to keep any file attachments such as prints or anything else in the software until/and if this becomes a company with high security and better coders than me for encryption purposes, or even offline versions.

The only thing I'm targeting is to help other small shops, who want a ERP but it's too expensive.
 
If you don't mind my asking, what's the reason you are against online ERPs/Software?

I would also like to add, there have been far too many services and products out there that required online access to function, that have gone down for one reason or another preventing people from using it. I accept that my cell phone requires a network to function, but my fridge? My thermostat? My calculator? Management software is no different, you may have the best of intentions, and the best product, but if something random happens to take your server down, I'm screwed out of a product that I may have invested substantial time and resources into setting up and learning. I'm not willing to risk my livelyhood on a bet that you will be around a year or two or ten to keep supporting it.
 
This is actually very intriguing to me. What if someone were to offer a downloadable Network-Based ERP, where you would need to setup your own server (you likely already have one running if you have these levels of NDA's) and you would simply setup the ERP on your own server so it would n't have internet access but would allow people connected to the network to use it. This way you could check things on your phones, other computers, and link data between apps in different departments. What are your thoughts on that?
 
The most expensive part of an ERP is the set-up, configuration, and training of employees. Taking on all that expense to implement a program that was written by someone as a hobby is false economy. Done right, the ERP should be the source of truth of the status of all the work in the business that is running it.

If that source were to vaporize overnight, so much of the vital information of the business. What work is in the queue? What has shipped? Who has unpaid invoices? What is the contact information for all my customers?

Some of that data may be able to be reconstructed, but if you're doing enough work that the investment in implementing an ERP will payoff, the amount of data is likely too much that anyone remembers all of it.

One source of risk is that you get bored and just shut down the server.

Outside of having some contract in place that puts you on a sizable liability hook, with contractual requirements as to the duration and reliability of the service, I can't see anyone in their right mind trying to run their business on a "free" ERP system. They would be better off to do it all on paper in-house.
 
I'm not targeting large companies that have NDA's or can't/are afraid of keeping their information on the web
Sorry but even one-man shops get prints which are NOT supposed to leave the premises, be shared with anyone else, or in any way be distributed around the neighborhood. I'm sorry but after forty years of dealing with various types of software and software companies, there's no way in hell I'd trust any of them. It's bad enough having to depend on your own local computers.

The only thing I'm targeting is to help other small shops, who want a ERP but it's too expensive.
It's not expensive, LedgerSMB for one is free and open sores. There are several others.

Not trying to rain on your parade but these are the facts.
 
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Thanks again for all the replies. I understand the concerns that everyone has around here.

So I would ask for an advice, whats shall i do with this software? I’ll certainly continue to slowing keep developing this for myself, to have everything my way, and not have to learn anything/buy and have the ability to change whatever i need and whenever.

Shall I just open source this? Maybe just post it here somewhere on the forum with instructions on how to set it up and use on your own local network? And maybe make a website and post new update’s whenever I develop them?
 
where you would need to setup your own server (you likely already have one running if you have these levels of NDA's)

NDA's come before the first little job. The need for a server comes much later. I have one main computer and a backup, no server. I don't foresee a need for a server until I have several machines and a few employees, years down the road, but I could use a decent local ERP system right now. I've been making do with spreadsheets.

There are people who don't do NDA work, and who could benefit from this software, but not in medical device, aerospace, military, or several other sectors.
 
Thanks again for all the replies. I understand the concerns that everyone has around here.

So I would ask for an advice, whats shall i do with this software? I’ll certainly continue to slowing keep developing this for myself, to have everything my way, and not have to learn anything/buy and have the ability to change whatever i need and whenever.

Shall I just open source this? Maybe just post it here somewhere on the forum with instructions on how to set it up and use on your own local network? And maybe make a website and post new update’s whenever I develop them?

I started to learn and use Access to build a database for my company. I eventually just bought Quickbooks Desktop. It does everything I need it to do and I keep finding out other ways to use it to my advantage. Its cheap enough and comes with customer service that doesnt appear to be going anywhere overnight.

Most any software like this will get customized as the user adds more data to it. Over time it will become more and more custom tailored to the one company.

Right now the main problem I am having is with Job Scheduling. I feel like the best way for me right now is to put a tv that I no longer use on the wall, and connecting a computer to it to show the Gantt chart I use.

The downside to this is that I have to manually add the data every single day to make it work accurately. That screws up my production process if I adhere to it everyday. I update it once a week, sometimes twice.

I almost feel like I should have a large whiteboard with at least 31 spots for each day of the month to color in with markers as I go along. It would simplify things and be easier on the eyes.

Keep at it by all means. We are not putting you down, just letting you know about the realities we face in this industry.
I have to sign NDA's before most companies can show me a print for a washer with +/- .010" all over.

Ask us more questions, some will give good answers and some wont. Gonna have to sift through that yourself.
 








 
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