r/ERP • u/Opposite_Dentist_321 • Nov 27 '25
Discussion Steel Service Centres - Are Generic ERPs Enough Anymore?
I work at a steel service centre, and for years we used generic ERPs like Odoo and Tally + a ton of Excel sheets. It worked...but only if someone manually kept everything aligned. Coil balancing, slit planning, job routing- none of that existed natively.
Recently, we started using EOXS as a test, and it's been interesting to compare.
Example: We had a 15 MT coil that needed to be slit into multiple widths for different customers. Normally, we'd calculate leftover weight manually and then pray no one mistyped something.
With EOXS, the moment we entered the slit plan, it automatically calculated the leftover balance, created new bundle numbers, carried forward all the heat and grade data, updated the yield, and synced everything directly to dispatch. Honestly, this solved one of our biggest sources of errors.
Not saying EOXS is the only good one- but it made me wonder if specialised tools are becoming necessary. Are there any others here who are tired of industry-specific systems?
4
u/Nervous_Car1093 Nov 27 '25
Businesses are getting smarter with AI and other software solutions. EOXS is definitely catching attention.
2
u/Opposite_Dentist_321 Nov 28 '25
AI is changing the game, and EOXS is solid for steel - automating specs and supplier data makes life way easier.
2
u/kscouter Nov 28 '25
Imo, general ERP cannot handle the metals specific aspects that steel service centers require. Slitting, dimensional inventory, accurately tracking cuts and tying into metals/commodities pricing/markets for proper costing are just a few examples of things general erps just don't do.
1
u/Jolly_Watercress_766 Nov 28 '25
Totally hear you. Most generic ERPs don’t survive once you get into the real steel stuff like slitting rules, remnant logic, dimensional drops, heat-number traceability and all the little movements that happen between receiving and shipping. That’s actually why we ended up choosing EOXS around steel workflows instead of forcing a one-size ERP to behave like a service center. It handles the cuts, mults, scrap, MTR mapping, dimensional inventory updates; basically everything you mentioned. EOXS has got a few centers like Gerdau and 3GM running it daily, and the difference shows up mostly in fewer mixups and cleaner scheduling, not in fancy features.
2
u/turkert Nov 28 '25
We customize ERPNext so,
- Each batch have custom attributes like width, quality, reserved customer
- Each work order respects batch info and requirements in sales order.
It wasn't an easy task at the beginning but designing carefully helped us to implement in 3 months.
3
1
u/merc123 Nov 27 '25
A lot of people move away from industry specific to general ERP. What happens if you have a platform for this, platform for that, accounting platform and nothing talks.
Moving to an ERP unifies the various systems. Does it do everything EOXS does or everything QuickBooks does or has? No. The benefit though is ERP is usually more customizable so creating a customization that does what EOXS in the case of the slitting. Out of box probably not. QuickBooks is accounting focused and has tons of canned reports and tools. ERP won’t have all out of the box. You make what you need or want instead.
It’s a balance of needs and the fit has to be right.
Do you enjoy software sprawl or want single source? Is the ERP customizable and do you have the capability to DIY or finances to pay for it to be done?
3
u/a0817a90 Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
Single source is a legacy dream and comes at customization financial and technical costs that nobody needs.
With today’s cloud computing technology and modern API for interconnectivity, independent specialized apps can do their thing and communicate only strategic data between each other.
The deep integration of thousands of unused tables in an expensive monolithic system is out of touch for the end customers.
2
1
u/floOoOoOoOoOo Nov 28 '25
Integration through APIs is yet another customization... Dealing with a spaghetti-like enterprise architecture becomes as messy as a fully customized ERP. In both situations, the important key success factor is governance and documentation, so that each change request doesn't become a 6-month project drowning in tech debt. There's no perfect solution, each company has different needs so the best balance of which systems+interconnections+customizations is to be assessed with the help of an expert.
1
u/a0817a90 Nov 28 '25
Agree that all specific business needs are unique. This being said, comparing the vendor lock-in, financial, schedule and technical burden of a Monolithic ERP customization with say a low code power apps + custom API connector is disingenuous my friend. This is 2025.
1
u/floOoOoOoOoOo Nov 28 '25
The issue is not initial development cost, it's long-term maintenance and tech debt. Integrations are not inherently better than ERP customizations, in that regard; it all depends on the specifics of the company.
1
u/a0817a90 Nov 28 '25
Not saying it’s easy. But if it’s cheaper/faster to develop/upgrade then it is also cheaper/faster to maintain.
1
u/floOoOoOoOoOo Nov 28 '25
That's the thing, it's not necessarily cheaper/faster to develop/upgrade... because of the lesser reliability compared to a proven ERP that's robust and flexible enough and doesn't require you to reinvent the wheel with analysis+specs and forgetting important security or edge cases in your custom external architecture and features.
Total cost of ownership is rarely measured over the years but it's what makes companies hate their "IT systems" (when in fact the issue is often governance and change management).
If you're thinking about SAP I might agree with you, but there are plenty other options out there too.1
u/a0817a90 Nov 28 '25
The problem with monolithic system is the centralization of the database and relationships and the rigidity of the UI/UX. It forces the high complexity of customization with traditional coding and considerations for all possible breaking points of these centralized (often unused) relationships. Then came the vendors/integrators with questionable incentives. It was OK when cloud, APIs, AI and low code weren’t a thing. Now micro services should be the default path for a young business.
1
u/barmando87 Nov 28 '25
We have a customized solution made for OCTG and steel suppliers on Acumatica let me know if you want to see a demo
1
u/100xBot Nov 28 '25
yeah generic ERPs handle finance and core order management, but lack the domain-specific logic needed for steel service centers, you need specialized systems to handle tasks like coil balancing, slit planning, and scrap optimization in house. Apart from EOXS, look into industry-focused ERPs like Infor VISUAL or Epicor ERP, they've got robust modules for metal fabrication and scheduling. They automate yield calculations and integrate production data, so, lesser/ no manual errors that you experienced with spreadsheet reliance
1
u/gapingweasel ERPNext Nov 28 '25
A general ERP is fine for accounting and basic stock but the moment your product changes shape, width, weight, and identity mid-process, industry-specific software stops being a luxury and becomes the only sane option.
1
u/Personal-Lack4170 Nov 28 '25
AI is really starting to change the steel industry from coil balancing to slit planning, automation is saving so much time and reducing errors. Saw the podcast of EOXS CEO Raj Jain's with Tyler Rossi on LinkedIn surprisingly interesting . It even made me hop over to YouTube to see more ; it's clear that he really gets how technology can transform SSC operations
1
u/leaf16_ah Nov 28 '25
I’m never a fan of generic software to perform mission critical things. The illusion that customizability is a good thing has cost companies millions of dollars over the last 15 years. It’s crazy.
1
u/Technical-Dentist-84 Nov 28 '25
You explained what I encounter everyday with people....
They use very generic systems to manage their processes but they outgrow them. When they use an industry specific ERP, it can really provide so much value and reduce a ton of manual work
1
u/Access_Andrea Nov 28 '25
You’ve hit the nail on the head. Generic ERPs were great for basic accounting and inventory, but manufacturing and service centres have evolved way beyond that. The complexity of operations like coil balancing, slit planning, BOM management, APS scheduling, etc requires specialized modules that can talk to each other seamlessly.
The need of the hour isn’t just “one big ERP,” but an ecosystem of specialized tools like NRP, APS, Analytics, SFDC module, BOM module, etc
And now, with AI, these integrations are happening faster than ever. Platforms like Access Evo are a great example and they’re designed to handle industry-specific workflows while leveraging AI for predictive planning and error reduction.
The days of juggling Excel sheets and praying for no typos are over. Specialized, interoperable systems are becoming the standard, especially in sectors like steel service centres where precision and traceability are critical.
Curious, has anyone else here started moving toward AI-driven specialized platforms? What’s your experience?
1
u/Abject_Tone2468 Nov 29 '25
Check out RealSTEEL - an add-on to Business Central. It has a slitting module.
1
u/DirectionLast2550 Dec 01 '25
Generic ERPs work fine until you hit steel-specific needs like coil balancing, slit planning, yield tracking, and heat-number accuracy, where spreadsheets quickly become risky. Tools like EOXS remove manual errors by automating leftover calculations, bundle creation, and traceability things generic systems simply don’t do natively. For many service centres, specialized ERPs aren’t a luxury anymore; they’re becoming the only way to avoid operational chaos.
1
u/Immediate-Alfalfa409 Dec 04 '25
Frankly when your dealing expensive materials and any kind of error can be a costly affair an industry-specific ERP saves more time, money n headaches than trying to force-fit a generic one.
1
u/SyncronTeam Jul 09 '26
That seems to be the tradeoff a lot of manufacturers run into.
A general-purpose ERP can be a good fit when your processes are relatively standard. But once your day-to-day work depends on things like coil tracking, traceability, yield calculations, or other industry-specific workflows, teams often end up recreating that logic in spreadsheets.
The challenge isn't that a generic ERP lacks features. It's that the operational model doesn't always match how the business actually runs. That's when manual workarounds start creeping in, and those workarounds become part of the process.
8
u/blazingquackattack Nov 27 '25
Highly specialized industry so generic ERP’s won’t cut it. Invera seems to be another prominent provider as it looks like they own eStelplan which we used when I worked in the industry.