Open Mercato for Manufacturers - One System Instead of Five
Production orders, schedules, raw material stock, shift reports, plus CRM for the B2B sales team. All in one platform — no Excel, no 'tribal knowledge', no vendor lock-in.
European SME manufacturers have two typical problems: (1) production data lives in Excel sheets, shift manager notes and foremen's heads, (2) the sales team has no visibility into production — they promise dates production doesn't confirm. Result: delayed orders, board frustration, customers churning to competitors.
Open Mercato for manufacturing combines work order management, scheduling, raw material warehouse, shift reporting, and CRM for sales reps in one platform. A rep preparing an offer sees production capacity. A shift manager updates order status from a phone. The board has a live dashboard with OEE, on-time delivery, and production costs — no waiting for the Friday report.
Typical bottlenecks in this industry
Bottlenecks observed at our clients + how Open Mercato solves them.
Problem
Excel-driven production planning
How Open Mercato solves it
Work orders with BOM, machine schedules, blocker alerts. Data in one place, accessible to everyone.
Problem
Sales reps promise dates without consulting production
How Open Mercato solves it
CRM pipeline integrated with production capacity. Reps see 'next free slot' before promising.
Problem
Raw material stock counted monthly by stocktake
How Open Mercato solves it
Real-time raw material warehouse, low-stock alerts, automated reorder suggestions. No more 'idle because we ran out'.
Problem
No data on real production cost
How Open Mercato solves it
Every work order has accounted raw materials, machine time, labour time. You know what you actually earn on, and what you produce at a loss.
Open Mercato modules for manufacturing
Seven modules we deploy at manufacturing companies. Pick what you need — extras can be added in phase 2.
- 1
Work order management
Create orders from BOM, track status, report progress, integrate with the production plan.
- 2
Machine scheduling
Visual resource schedule, automated planning accounting for changeover times and priorities.
- 3
Raw and finished goods warehouse
Real-time stock, min/max alerts, locations, automated supplier orders.
- 4
CRM for B2B sales
Sales pipeline integrated with production availability. Reps see when they can promise delivery.
- 5
Shift reporting and OEE
Shift managers report progress from phone. Board dashboard with OEE, on-time delivery, capacity utilisation.
- 6
Accounting integration
Automatic invoicing after dispatch, sync of customers and payments with accounting system.
- 7
AI assistant for production
Natural language queries: 'what orders are due today?', 'how much stainless steel is left?', 'will we deliver customer X on time?'.
Implementation results at manufacturers
Average results from our clients 6 months after go-live (scope: 20-150 person manufacturers).
+15-25%
OEE (machine utilisation)
Better scheduling + fewer idle periods due to missing raw material
-40%
Order handling time
Less data re-entry between systems, less 'where did that go'
+95%
On-time delivery
Sales promises dates only after production confirms — more customer trust
-30%
Raw material stock levels
Automated orders, less 'safety stock just in case'
Why Open Mercato over SAP/Microsoft/Comarch
- Open source — no growing licence fees as you scale to 100+ people
- Modular architecture — start with one module (e.g. work orders), add more as the organisation matures
- Full code customisation for unusual industries (chemicals, food, pharma)
- EU hosting, GDPR and ISO 27001 ready, security audit on demand
- Built-in AI assistant — no 'Einstein' upsells like in Salesforce
- 6-14 week implementation vs SAP's 6-18 months
FAQ - manufacturing
Does Open Mercato handle discrete and process manufacturing?
Yes. For discrete manufacturing (assembly, machining, furniture) we use standard BOMs and orders. For process manufacturing (chemical, food) we add recipes, batch tracking and quality control. Code customisation in open source — no limits.
Does it integrate with MES/SCADA?
Yes, via REST API and MQTT. We have integrated with Wonderware, Siemens TIA, Ignition and custom PLCs. Shop floor data loads into Open Mercato reports without manual entry.
How long does implementation take at a manufacturer?
For 20-50 person companies: 8-12 weeks. For 50-200 person companies with multiple halls and complex BOMs: 14-20 weeks. Weekly demos with shift managers on a live system.
Can shop floor staff use tablets?
Yes. Open Mercato has a responsive interface — shift managers update order status from tablets. Machine operators scan QR codes to log progress. Full functionality in the browser.
Which certifications does the system support?
ISO 9001 (quality control, audit log), HACCP (food industry - batch tracking, temperature control), GMP (pharma - electronic signature, audit trail), EU e-invoicing for European requirements.
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Considering a manufacturing system implementation?
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