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Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

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Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#81

Post by kennywinker »

sixdimensional wrote: post #34
barbinbrad wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

like a cmd+k type deal or something different? we do have cmd+k navigation to everywhere currently + global search, but i worry that less sophisticated users might not use it.

No, I mean, like a copilot style AI assistant, the user can chat with to ask what they want to do, and either the assistant can operate and navigate the UI to the right place, or perhaps even shortcut the steps for the user by asking for questions to satisfy inputs for the thing they are trying to accomplish. An example: - user intent is to update an attribute for a component part number A21445 - user can click a cha…

This is a power-user’s nightmare.

Instead of arranging things in a logical hierarchy, and enabling quick navigation thru keystrokes - just toss out making the ui make sense because the chatbot can solve all.

Your job is to make a good product. AI-as-interface is just slapping a layer of randomized language parsing in between the user and bad ui.

I’m not actually saying no chatbots. What I am saying is using a chatbot to solve a usability problem is a massive middle finger to anyone who might have to use your product for 8 hours a day. Make it good, then make it idiot-proof. Don’t make it for idiots only.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#82

Post by uzerfcwn »

barbinbrad wrote: post #55
calvinmorrison wrote: post #42

I'll bite. I am a ERP consultant in the SMB manufacturing and distribution space. Primarily we operate on Acumatica, Sage and Netsuite. The most important thing about ERP systems is - customization. IE: Scripting (netsuite), or even core programming (Sage100 for example). Not just user defined fields but workflows and being able to override and hook into core parts of the system. Say you want to override your cost ba…

these are all excellent questions! i think, interestingly, the answer to all of them is basically -- there's an off the shelf version that's opinionated and good. and if you want to take it a step further, you'd want to just modify the source code. i think open-source gives consultatnts and integrators super powers that they may not be used to -- everything currently has to be done through abstractions on abstraction…

The problem with forking is that updating becomes a nightmare. Most ERPs provide a stable-ish API and heavily recommend customers to stick with it, because then automatic updates just work.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#83

Post by Etheryte »

barbinbrad wrote: post #55
calvinmorrison wrote: post #42

I'll bite. I am a ERP consultant in the SMB manufacturing and distribution space. Primarily we operate on Acumatica, Sage and Netsuite. The most important thing about ERP systems is - customization. IE: Scripting (netsuite), or even core programming (Sage100 for example). Not just user defined fields but workflows and being able to override and hook into core parts of the system. Say you want to override your cost ba…

these are all excellent questions! i think, interestingly, the answer to all of them is basically -- there's an off the shelf version that's opinionated and good. and if you want to take it a step further, you'd want to just modify the source code. i think open-source gives consultatnts and integrators super powers that they may not be used to -- everything currently has to be done through abstractions on abstraction…

I think that's going to be a very hard sell in nearly every scenario. In addition to vendor lock-in you'll then also have people on payroll only to keep your vendor lock-in functional.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#84

Post by Intermernet »

danpalmer wrote: post #4

First off, congrats, this is no small feat, well done. A question: in my (limited) experience, ERPs are made on the basis of integrations. I'd have thought the best priority order would be data-model first, integration second, everything else third. How do you think about this? What's the goal here? And secondly, some feedback: It looks like Carbon falls into the same trap as many self-hostable SaaS-like products (in…

I was involved in all things ERP years ago. One thing I noticed was that the National Retail Association of the USA (the other NRA) have specification documents which would be perfect for basing both data models and transforms off. It seems all the big players tend to have almost, but not quite compatible models. It's very frustrating. We're talking SAP, Infor, MS, everyone. The amount of glue code I had to write to get various point of sale, accounting, BI, label printing etc software to work is astounding.

I guess that's how they make the money. Sell the platform and profit off the custom code.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#86

Post by helltone »

Intermernet wrote: post #84
danpalmer wrote: post #4

First off, congrats, this is no small feat, well done. A question: in my (limited) experience, ERPs are made on the basis of integrations. I'd have thought the best priority order would be data-model first, integration second, everything else third. How do you think about this? What's the goal here? And secondly, some feedback: It looks like Carbon falls into the same trap as many self-hostable SaaS-like products (in…

I was involved in all things ERP years ago. One thing I noticed was that the National Retail Association of the USA (the other NRA) have specification documents which would be perfect for basing both data models and transforms off. It seems all the big players tend to have almost, but not quite compatible models. It's very frustrating. We're talking SAP, Infor, MS, everyone. The amount of glue code I had to write to…

This resonates with me a lot. Can I contact you? My email is in my profile.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#87

Post by wiradikusuma »

While we're on the topic of ERP:

I have noticed that, in 2025, many small businesses still use Excel. Is there an underserved market? Or simply a "tarpit idea" (deceptively attractive but actually unscalable, time-consuming)

I asked 5 friends who are business owners and 5 who are working for SMEs. None of them use "apps". The best they use is accounting app.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#88

Post by PeterStuer »

mattmanser wrote: post #77
PeterStuer wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The major ERP vendors do not price based on product or services delivered, but they will just make a price based on your revenue. The reasoning is that a company in a certain vertical with a certain size will spend x% of revenue on IT, and they want all of that. ERP platforms are ridiculously hard to customise, and maintainance of customisations across version upgrades is even worse. So they will rightfully advise bu…

I worked on an ERP system for construction/architect firms in the 00s. The company was about 15 people when I joined, 40 when I left. We consistently delivered migrations, but we hand crafted SQL extraction scripts, with data cleaning, etc. You could fully customize it, branding it with your own logos/colours/custom css, etc. There was just a clause that the "powered by" link had to stay visible. I can't remember a s…

Small scale is definitely another world entirely. My experience was not in the Billion dollar range as the parent, but in 20M+ (probably 50M in today's dollars) project territory.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#89

Post by fakedang »

xupybd wrote: post #60
fakedang wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason for such an arrangement? Why would Tesla not use SAP as their backbone ERP too?

Customising SAP is like setting money on fire but the core of it is rock solid.

Yeah, but we're talking Tesla here, not some run-of-the-mill carmaker. In fact, given SAP's rep in German manufacturing, they might have even been a net positive for Tesla.

Re: Show HN: I've been building an ERP for manufacturing for the last 3 years

#90

Post by ssss11 »

helltone wrote: post #86
Intermernet wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was involved in all things ERP years ago. One thing I noticed was that the National Retail Association of the USA (the other NRA) have specification documents which would be perfect for basing both data models and transforms off. It seems all the big players tend to have almost, but not quite compatible models. It's very frustrating. We're talking SAP, Infor, MS, everyone. The amount of glue code I had to write to…

This resonates with me a lot. Can I contact you? My email is in my profile.

That’s exactly how they make the money
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