DotOne teamHow to choose an ERP in 7 steps
- Write down the problems. Late deliveries, wrong stock, slow billing, no costing: list what has to change, with examples.
- Map your must-haves. For an Indian manufacturer that usually means GST invoicing and e-way bills, BOMs and production, batch or serial tracking, multi-warehouse stock, and Tally or accounting.
- Shortlist three or four. Pick options built for your size and industry, not the biggest names.
- Script the demo. Send each vendor two or three of your real scenarios and ask them to run those, not their standard tour.
- Check fit and gaps. Note what works out of the box, what needs configuration and what needs custom development.
- Work out total cost. Subscription or licence, implementation, training, customisation and support over three years.
- Talk to a reference customer in your industry, and ask how long go-live really took.
Requirements checklist for Indian manufacturers
| Area | What to check |
|---|---|
| Sales and billing | Quotations, proforma invoices, GST invoices, e-invoicing and e-way bills, credit limits |
| Inventory | Multi-warehouse, batch and serial, reorder levels, units of measure, stock takes |
| Purchase | Purchase requests, RFQs, approvals, goods receipt with quality check |
| Production | Multi-level BOMs, job cards, material issue, scrap, output by shift |
| Quality | Incoming, in-process and final inspection, holds and rejections |
| Accounts | Ledgers, receivables and payables, bank reconciliation, or sync with Tally |
| HR and payroll | Attendance, leave, PF, ESI, PT and TDS |
| Access | Cloud, mobile app, role-based access, audit trail |
How much does ERP cost?
ERP pricing follows one of three models:
- Cloud subscription: a monthly or yearly fee, often by plan, users or modules. No server to buy.
- Perpetual licence: a one-time licence plus a yearly maintenance fee (AMC), with your own server.
- Open source: free software, but you pay for implementation, hosting and customisation.
Whatever the model, compare the total cost over three years:
| Cost item | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Subscription or licence | Per user, per module or per plan? What happens when you add users? |
| Implementation | Fixed price or by the day? What is included? |
| Customisation | Rate per change, and does it survive upgrades? |
| Hosting and IT | Included for cloud; servers, backups and IT staff for on-premise |
| Support and upgrades | Included, or a yearly AMC? |
| Training | Included for all users, and for new joiners later? |
For reference, DotOne has a free Starter plan and paid plans from ₹15,000 a month, with manufacturing included from the Business plan. See pricing.
Score the options side by side
Give each requirement a weight, score each ERP from 1 to 5, and multiply:
| Criterion | Weight | ERP A | ERP B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fits our production and stock process | 30% | 4 | 3 |
| GST, e-invoice and Tally or accounting | 20% | 5 | 4 |
| Ease of use on the shop floor and mobile | 20% | 4 | 2 |
| Three-year total cost | 20% | 3 | 4 |
| Implementation time and support | 10% | 4 | 3 |
| Weighted score (out of 5) | 4.0 | 3.2 |
Questions to ask every ERP vendor
- Can you show our scenario, with our item and BOM, live in the demo?
- What is standard, what is configuration and what is custom development?
- How long did your last three customers in our industry take to go live?
- How do GST, e-invoicing and e-way bills work, and who updates them when rules change?
- Can we export all our data if we leave?
- What does support look like after go-live, and in which language and hours?