It All Starts With One Spreadsheet…
If you work in a small or medium manufacturing company, you know this story well.
It starts with one spreadsheet. Maybe two. A quick and easy way to track inventory, job costs, or customer orders. Fast forward a few months — or years — and suddenly you’re juggling dozens of Excel files, each with its own format, quirks, and “do not touch this cell” warnings.
You’ve probably asked yourself at some point: Is this really the best way to run our operations?
We’ve been there. Many of us on the team came from manufacturing shops just like yours. We’ve used those same spreadsheets. We’ve copied formulas that stopped working halfway through. We’ve wondered who updated the part numbers last week — and why the totals are suddenly off.
And that’s exactly what this article is about: why spreadsheets stop working as your shop grows, and what you can do about it.
When Excel Starts Breaking Down
For small teams, spreadsheets feel like the obvious choice. They’re flexible, affordable, and familiar.
But as your business grows — more people, more jobs, more complexity — those same spreadsheets become fragile. Here’s how we’ve seen it unfold in fabrication shops:
1. Multiple Versions, Multiple Headaches
Each department (or even each person) creates their own file. One for inventory. Another for job costing. A third for scheduling. Before long, you’re syncing half a dozen files — and they all contain overlapping information. One typo or formula break in a single file? It ripples across the rest.
2. Inconsistent Formats and Lack of Standards
One spreadsheet uses green cells for inputs. Another uses yellow. One tracks time in hours; the next, in minutes. Without defined standards, it’s difficult to train new employees or even understand what you’re looking at. And everyone has seen file names like inventory_v3_FINAL.xlsx — followed by inventory_v3_FINAL_EDITED.xlsx.
3. Who Changed What, and When?
Mistakes happen, but with Excel, it’s hard to track them. If something looks off, your only real option is to dig through file versions or ask around. There’s no clear record of who changed what, when, or why.
4. Reporting Is a Chore
Need to know who your top customers are? Or which products bring the best margins? Good luck. You’ll likely spend days manually pulling and cleaning data from different files before getting a usable report — and by then, the info is already a little out of date.
A Better Way to Keep Your Shop Running
Many shops try to patch these issues with more rules: file naming conventions, color codes for cells, locked tabs, and access controls. These can help, to a point. But before long, managing the spreadsheet system becomes a job in itself.
That’s when a more robust system starts to make sense.
An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system can take all those disconnected files and bring them into a single, structured space. Everything from inventory, orders, job costing, traceability, and reporting — all in one place.
Think of it like this: instead of each department building its own tool, you’re all using the same tool, just tailored to your role.
What Changes With the Right System?
Here’s what a modern, well-suited ERP system can bring to a growing fabrication shop:
- Standardization: Every user sees the same interface, forms, and data structures — making it easier to train new people and reduce errors.
- Centralized Data: No more digging through folders to find the “correct” file. Everyone is looking at the same, up-to-date information.
- Traceability Built-In: See who did what, when, without extra admin work.
- Reporting Made Easy: Generate reports in minutes, not days, and use that time to make strategic decisions — not just gather numbers.
- Scales With You: Whether you have 5 people or 50, the system supports your team without needing to build more spreadsheets.
And perhaps most importantly — you’ll stop worrying about broken formulas, mismatched versions, and lost files.
How to Start Moving Beyond Excel
We’re not saying throw away your spreadsheets overnight. In fact, some may still be useful in the short term. But if your team is dealing with any of the following, it might be time to consider a transition:
- You’re spending more time maintaining spreadsheets than using them.
- You’ve lost data or made decisions based on outdated info.
- You’re onboarding new employees with spreadsheets that need their own manual to explain.
- You’ve said, “There has to be a better way,” more than once.
Here’s a simple first step: review your current system. What’s working? What’s causing friction? What are you doing just because “that’s how we’ve always done it”?
Take the First Step With Us
ERPs don’t need to be complex or overwhelming. At Nengatu, we’ve built a system specifically for small and medium manufacturers — because we’ve worked in those shops, and we understand what matters.
We offer a 45-day free trial so you can explore the system at your own pace.
Book a quick call with our team — no pressure — and we’ll help assess your current setup and outline a simple plan for upgrading your operations.
Let’s make your tools work for you again.