Decision
Buy a product
Under 15–20 people, standard process, GST/invoicing needs, or live in weeks? Buy Zoho or use Tally well.
Custom ERP for Indian Manufacturers
We've built ERP for cold storage, transport fleets, courier operations and plastic tube manufacturing. We'll also tell you when to buy Zoho instead.
Decision
Configure first
20–100 people with mostly standard process? Odoo or ERPNext with a good partner may be right.
Decision
Build custom
20+ hand-offs, spreadsheet workarounds, compliance re-entry, second unit, or high customisation quotes.
The problem
Costing at the level decisions happen
Your P&L says the company made money last month. It can't tell you which jobs made it.
One job, many costs
In a 40-person operation, job cost is material issued vs consumed, labour by shift, machine time, rejection logged as wastage, absorbed rework and freight at dispatch.
Job-Level Visibility: Low
ERP Fit Check
FitCustomWorkflow
- Cost visibilityShift level
- Product ERPBatch only
- DetailHidden
?Margin leakage
Where Standard ERP Fails
Product ERPs cost at the order or batch level. If margin changes by shift, machine or operator, the real problem stays hidden.
- Shift hand-offCost leakage
- Manual re-entryData lag
- Quote varianceOld rates
- Spreadsheet fixAlways fragile
When Custom Makes Sense
Build only when working around software costs more than building the right thing once.
- 1Work passes through 20+ people, and each hand-off changes job cost.
- 2Spreadsheets run beside Tally, Zoho or product ERP because they cannot model your process.
Take the fit check
Built only when product ERP is not enough.
How we decide
How we decide what to build
We start from what breaks, not from a module list. Scoping maps the process, screens, integrations and data before there is a fixed quote.
Process Gaps
OthersStarts from a module list.
CovixyFinds breaks and duplicate entry.
Small First Release
OthersBig-bang go-live risk.
CovixyShips one workflow first.
Scoped Before Quote
OthersEarly guess becomes change requests.
CovixySpec, integrations and data audit first.
Security Built In
OthersAdded after audit pressure.
CovixyRLS, audit trail and validation.
Owned
Your code, your database, your hosting credentials, and documentation another developer can use.
Capabilities
What we build for manufacturers
A capability map for production, costing, quality, inventory, purchase, dispatch, finance and reporting.
Module 01
Production & Job Costing
Job cards, multi-level BOM, material issue vs consumption, and cost by job, shift, machine and operator.
- Multi-level BOM, alternate materials
- Material issued vs consumed
- Cost by job, shift, machine, operator
Module 02
Shop-floor Capture
Capture on a supervisor's tablet at shift handover: usable data now, no sensor or hardware cost.
- Works on fully manual machines
- Output logged at shift handover
- Faster than the paper log
Module 03
Sales & Dispatch
Enquiry, quotation priced from actual cost, order, production linkage, dispatch and invoice.
- Quotes priced from actual cost
- Orders linked to production
- Dispatch to invoice in one flow
Module 04
Inventory & Purchase
Batch and lot tracking with FIFO/FEFO, reorder levels, and indent to PO to GRN with IQC.
- Batch/lot tracking, FIFO/FEFO
- Indent, PO and GRN with IQC
- Vendor rating: quality, delivery
Module 05
Maintenance
Preventive schedules, breakdown logs, MTBF/MTTR, spares, and downtime tied to delayed jobs.
- Preventive schedules by machine
- Breakdowns with MTBF and MTTR
- Downtime linked to delayed jobs
Module 06
Quality & Rejection
IQC, in-process checks, final inspection, non-conformance and traceability to raw material.
- IQC: accept, reject or deviate
- In-process checks on job cards
- Finished lot traced to raw batch
Module 07
Compliance & Reporting
GST invoicing, e-invoice IRN, e-way bill and Tally sync, plus job profitability, OEE and yield reports.
- Your accounts team keeps working in Tally.
Visibility
The Dashboards
Role-based views that give your team exactly the data they need, when they need it. No more digging through spreadsheets or calling the floor manager.
Built for the shop floor
Shift output is captured at handover by the supervisor in [under 90 seconds] — faster than the paper log it replaces, or it would not be used.
Speed
Job cards are human-readable
Job IDs can be read off a card, called across the floor and typed without a scanner.
Works on the shop floor
Short screens on a supervisor's tablet. Detail entry happens later at a desk.
No new hardware
Works with manual machines and no sensors. Machine data plugs in later without a rebuild.
Entered once
Data typed once on the floor flows to costing, dispatch and Tally.
Access Roles
Strict Access Roles
A supervisor records output and cannot alter rates. Accounts sees costs and cannot change production entries.
System Audits
Audit trail on every record
Who changed what, when, and the previous value. Back-dated edits are logged and surfaced weekly.
Integrations
Connects to your tools
Keep the systems that already work. Covixy connects to them and becomes the operational source of truth.
Shop-floor Capture
Machine, labour and output captured directly into job costing
Tally
Sales invoices, receipts, ledger sync
E-invoicing (IRP)
IRN and QR at billing, where turnover requires it
Machine / sensor data
Optional machine data if sensors exist; tablet capture works without them.
WhatsApp & SMS
Dispatch updates, approval reminders, and exception alerts.
Barcode & QR
Automated job card labels and batch scanning
Cost
What it costs.
Same numbers as the pricing page: one source of truth.
Start small
Single Module
One workflow done properly — job costing, or dispatch-to-invoice. [N] weeks.
[₹X–₹Y]
AMC & Hosting
AMC [X]% of build per year. Hosting [₹X–₹Y]/month, paid by you, not marked up.
[X]%/yr
Core Operations
[3–5] connected modules, single site, one integration. [N] months.
[₹X–₹Y]
Full ERP
Operations, finance, compliance and reporting, single site.N months.
[₹X–₹Y]
Multi-site
Full ERP across [2+] units with consolidated reporting. [N] months.
[₹X–₹Y]
3-year view
Compare over three years, including licence renewals, per-user costs and customisation quotes.
3 yrs
Target audience
Who it's for.
Most companies that ask about custom ERP shouldn't buy one. If the second list fits, buy a product.
The Ideal Profile
Perfect Fit
- Work passes through 20+ people; hand-offs change job cost
- Spreadsheets running beside Tally, Zoho or a product ERP
- A process advantage a template would flatten
- Compliance that needs manual re-entry today
- A second unit that needs the same system
Not Recommended
Misaligned
- Under 15–20 people with a standard process
- Main need is invoicing, stock and GST filing
- Need to be live in weeks
Implementation Flow
Getting it running.
| Stage | What happens | Duration | What we need from you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operations review | We walk your process, material inward to invoice | 20 minutes free | Whoever knows the operation best |
| Scoping | Screen-by-screen specification, integration list, data audit, fixed scope and price | [N] weeks [₹X / free] | [X] hours across your team, access to current records |
| Build | [Milestone structure], working screens at each milestone | [N] months [Payment structure] | Review and sign-off at each milestone |
| Data migration | Items, vendors, BOMs, rates, opening balances | [N] weeks Included | Your existing data, however messy |
| Parallel run | Old and new side by side | [N] weeks Included | Patience. This is the hard part. |
| Go-live and training | On-site, on your floor, in your language | [N] days Included | [X] hours per user |
| Support | [AMC scope and response commitments] | Ongoing [X]%/year | — |
Alternatives
Compared with the rest
When not to build custom: if one standard product already fits your workflow, use it and spend the difference on operations.
Covixy ERP
Custom-built for job, shift and machine-level manufacturing workflows.
Zoho
Product ERP: fast and affordable for standard process at modest scale.
Odoo + Partner
Good when you can accept Odoo's model and have a strong partner.
Tally + Excel
Works for as long as one disciplined person can hold it together.
| Feature | Covixy | Zoho | Odoo | Tally + Excel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process fit | Exact | Standard only | Odoo's model | DIY |
| Costing granularity | Any level | Order | Job / batch | Manual |
| Time to live | [N] months | Weeks | [N] months | Running |
| Indian compliance | Native | Native | Partner module | Native |
| Code ownership | You | No | Partner-dependent | N/A |
| Change requests | Quoted & built | Roadmap | Partner-dependent | Never happen |
| Year-1 cost | [₹X] | [₹X] | [₹X] | ~₹0 |
FAQ
Objections, answered.
The questions manufacturers ask before committing to a custom build.
What if you disappear?
You own the code and it runs in your hosting, so another developer can take it over. We build and document so that's genuinely true. [Years operating, escrow, documentation standard.]
Our last software project failed.
Most ERP projects miss their objectives — 55–75% depending on the study. Tell us what went wrong and we'll say honestly whether you'd hit the same wall with us.
Custom sounds expensive.
Sometimes it is, and then you should buy a product. Compare three years of licences, per-user costs and customisation quotes. If custom still loses, buy the product.
How long will it really take?
[N] months for [scope]. When it slips, it slips on master data and your team's availability, not development speed. We flag both during scoping.
Frequently asked
Straight answers on cost, time, ownership and fit.
Next step
Twenty minutes, and an honest answer
We'll walk your process and tell you whether to build, configure, or buy something off the shelf. If it's the third one, we'll name the product.
Submit an Enquiry
Share how your operation runs today and where it hurts. We'll review it and reply with a clear recommendation.
- Takes about 3 minutes
- Written reply within 1 business day
Book a Discovery Meeting
Walk us through your process on a call. Twenty minutes, no slides, and a straight answer at the end.
- 20-minute video or on-site call
- Pick a slot that suits your team
No sales pitch. If an off-the-shelf product fits better, we'll name it.