Multi-Modal Industry Brief
Engineer-to-Order (ETO) manufacturers design products using external manufacturing engineering applications like computer-aided drafting and design (CAD) or product lifecycle management (PLM). Other companies manage bills of material and operation revisions inside their ERP system with engineering change control and approval workflows.
Streamline the Engineering to Manufacturing
Hand-Off with a Modern Engineer-to-Order System
Engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturers build custom products based on customer specifications or a supplied CAD design. Other ETO manufacturers design stock products using project accounting to track engineering activities for research and development with connections to engineering systems for part design and lifecycle management.
While some ETO manufacturers may stock raw materials, many order raw materials and outside services for each job. However, the bill of materials is not defined, and production does not begin until the design is approved. New materials may be sourced using purchase requisition systems. For many manufacturers, production begins when the design and the order are approved.
ETO manufacturers using entry-level accounting systems or limited legacy ERP systems struggle to manage complex bills of materials with disjointed engineering change processes that do not synchronize data with CAD or PLM design applications. Further, simpler business systems and older applications provide limited features to automate the engineering process. Conversely, modern ERP platforms like Acumatica seamlessly connect to CAD and PLM with embedded engineering change control, flexible approval workflows, and role-based insights to streamline processes.
Download ETO Mfg Multi-Modal Industry Brief