Make-to-order manufacturing: metal shop control

Short answer: Make-to-order manufacturing of metal products (doors, railings, gates, canopies, stairs) is one chain from measurement to installation: site measurement, design, quote, deposit, production, installation and final settlement. In an ERP such as Odoo every order gets its own record and analytic account, so metal, labor and installation costs are collected together and the margin of each order is visible.

Metal fabrication shops in Uzbekistan are growing alongside construction. According to the Statistics Agency, construction work worth UZS 167.1 trillion was completed in January–September 2024, 9.1% more than in the same period a year earlier (stat.uz, 2024). Every new house or building means doors, railings, gates and canopies. But as orders grow, so does the chaos on the shop floor. This article shows how to control make-to-order manufacturing from measurement to installation.

What is make-to-order manufacturing?

Make-to-order manufacturing is a model in which a product is built for a specific customer, to their dimensions and requirements, only after the order is confirmed, rather than for stock.

Metal products show this clearly: every door or railing is fitted to the site, and the design is often drawn individually. You manage an order book, not warehouse stock. So the control points differ too: what matters is not finished goods on the shelf but which stage each order is at and how much profit it will leave.

We cover ERP for manufacturing in general in a separate article: Odoo ERP for manufacturers. Here we focus on metal shops that work to order.

Where does a metal fabrication shop lose money?

Patterns we often see in projects:

Measurement errors. The measurer writes on paper and someone else reads it in the shop. A door made 5 cm off is reworked or scrapped.
Rough quotes. Steel tube, sheet, hardware and paint prices have changed, but the price comes from an old table.
Uncontrolled deposits. Some orders start without prepayment; then the client delays or cancels.
Unknown metal usage. Nobody records where the offcut from a 6-meter tube went or how much metal went into which order.
Extra work on site. "While you're here, add one more railing" happens on site and never reaches the books.
Lead times. Shop load is invisible, so the manager promises "one week" while the real lead time is three.

You are not alone. PMI's (Project Management Institute) 2018 study found that 43% of projects go over budget and 52% experience scope creep (PMI, 2018). McKinsey notes that large construction projects typically take 20% longer than scheduled and can run up to 80% over budget (McKinsey, 2016). A metal order is smaller, but the logic is the same: if plan and actual are never compared, money leaks unnoticed.

How do you build the process from measurement to installation?

To systematize make-to-order work, every stage needs an owner and clear inputs and outputs. In Odoo the chain looks like this:

Enquiry. Requests from phone, Telegram, Instagram or the website land in the CRM. Calls from an ordinary phone can be tracked with our dooCall product.
Measurement visit. The measurer gets a calendar task and enters dimensions and photos straight into the order from a phone.
Design and quote. When product type (door, railing, gate) and dimensions are entered, the configurator calculates the bill of materials (BoM) and price.
Contract and deposit. The client approves the quote online and an invoice is issued. No work order reaches the shop until the deposit arrives.
Production. Cutting, welding, grinding, painting and assembly are scheduled by work center. The foreman closes each stage on a tablet.
Installation. Crew calendar, address, photo report and the client's signature.
Final settlement. Balance payment, e-invoice and an order profitability report.

How do you calculate order cost and margin?

Cost is built from materials, labor and installation, plus a share of overheads.

Materials. Steel tube, sheet metal, hardware, electrodes, paint. The BoM is parametric: enter the door's width and height and tube length and sheet area are calculated by formula.
Labor. Each work center (laser or saw cutting, welding bay, paint booth) has an hourly rate and standard time.
Installation. Crew hours, transport, generator or tool hire if needed.
Offcuts. Leftovers from cutting are tracked separately and returned to stock for later orders.

For example, with assumed figures: materials for a steel door cost UZS 3.2 million, shop work takes 10 hours at UZS 70,000 = UZS 700,000, installation costs UZS 400,000 and overheads add 12%. Cost is about UZS 4.8 million. If the door sells for UZS 5.5 million, the margin is around UZS 0.7 million. If a measurement error means the door is re-welded with 4 more hours of work, the margin shrinks noticeably. The figures are illustrative, but the lesson is general: order margins are very sensitive to small errors.

How such reports look for the owner: what is management accounting.

What changes after automation: in numbers

Budget overruns: 43% of projects exceed budget; when plan and actual are compared per order, deviations show up while work is in progress (PMI, 2018).
Scope creep: it affects 52% of projects; when on-site extras become a new quote line, they are no longer done for free (same source).
Time and budget: large construction projects typically run 20% late and can exceed budget by up to 80%; planning shop load lets you give clients a realistic date (McKinsey, 2016).
Automation potential: 59% of manufacturing activities could technically be automated (McKinsey, 2016).
ERP payback: an average of $7.23 returned for every dollar spent (Nucleus Research, 2014).

Which Odoo apps does a metal shop need?

This set is usually enough:

CRM and Sales: enquiries, measurement visits, quotes, online signature.
Manufacturing: parametric BoMs, work centers, manufacturing orders, tablet-based stage closing.
Inventory: metal stock, offcuts, hardware.
Purchase: automatic purchase requests for missing material.
Field Service or Project: measurement and installation crews.
Accounting: deposits, final payments, analytic accounting, e-invoices via Didox.

More on the production app: Odoo Manufacturing. If your clients are builders, it helps to understand their side too: ERP for construction companies.

How does Deep Vision approach this?

Deep Vision is an official Odoo Gold Partner. Our Odoo partner page lists 7 certified experts, 24 client references and 89% customer retention; most of our clients are trading and manufacturing companies. Our public cases include RockBeton, with more examples on the portfolio page.

In the experience of Deep Vision founder Amon Olimov's team, make-to-order shops should start with measurement: once measurement data is digital, every later stage (quote, BoM, cutting list) is built from it automatically. A typical plan:

Diagnostics: product types, current quoting method, shop and installation flow.
Parametric BoMs: formulas and standards for the main product types.
Phased go-live: CRM, sales and inventory first (usually 6–8 weeks), then production and installation; full rollout takes 2–6 months.
Uzbek interface: our team did Odoo's Uzbek translation, which matters for foremen and managers.

Service: Odoo implementation. To discuss your shop, leave a brief.

Frequently asked questions

How does an ERP work if every door is unique?

You don't create a product per order. A parametric template per product type calculates the BoM and price when dimensions and options (lock, glass, paint color) are chosen.

Can the measurer work without paper?

Yes. The measurement task opens in a mobile app, and dimensions and photos go straight into the order, visible to the shop immediately.

Can metal offcuts be tracked?

Yes. Offcuts return to stock as a separate product or lot and are used in later orders, so real metal consumption is visible.

How many users does a small shop need?

Usually a sales manager, measurer, shop supervisor and accountant; foremen can share a tablet login. Pricing: Odoo ERP cost.

How long does implementation take?

Sales and inventory are usually live in 6–8 weeks; a full system with production and installation takes 2–6 months.

Sources

Want to control your metal shop from measurement to installation? Leave a brief or call +998 77 093 00 07.

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