Guide: ERP without custom work

ERP without custom work: moving fit-to-standard

Custom work is the biggest source of surprises in an ERP project and later of upgrade cost. Here you read what a migration without custom work involves, which costs remain and what you need to arrange yourself.

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Fit-to-standard means you set up the standard package with configuration and adapt your way of working where needed, instead of having code built around the package. That makes cost more predictable: configuration, data migration, integrations, training and your own hours remain, and new versions arrive without an upgrade project. With Digital WorkMate you configure with custom fields, templates, task boards, roles and document templates, load master data with the repeatable Excel import and connect systems through the REST API, OData and MCP. The price is a one-off launch plus a subscription for the whole company, without a licence per user. What the standard does not cover is recorded per process and in writing in the fit/gap of the ERP Migration Scan. We state no fixed amounts or lead time here, because they depend on your processes, data and integrations.

Checklist

How to keep a migration without custom work predictable

Record per process in writing whether it fits as standard, with configuration, with an integration or not (fit/gap)
Clean up master data before the import and load it repeatably until it is right
Limit integrations to what is needed and agree who maintains them
Count the hours of your own key users: checking data, testing and training
Ask whether new versions arrive without a project, otherwise a recurring upgrade programme remains
Check whether shop floor users cost extra licences

Configuration instead of code

Digital WorkMate is one multi-tenant platform. You adapt your environment with custom fields on almost every entity, templates for task boards and portfolios, roles and rights and document templates. You design documents and printouts yourself with the built-in DWM Report Designer, or let your own AI assistant adapt them through MCP, with a preview before you save. You read in bills of materials from STEP files, CAD BOM exports (including SolidWorks and Alibre) or Excel. The Onboarding Scan delivers a trial environment set up for your type of company, with example data.

What configuration is not

There is no no-code rule engine and no self-service dashboard builder: new dashboards and charts are set up by Digital WorkMate. You do adapt documents and printouts yourself, with the DWM Report Designer or with your own AI through MCP. If something else is on your requirements list, it ends up in the fit/gap and you decide with that knowledge.

Connecting instead of building

For systems that stay, such as accounting, you connect through a REST API with OAuth 2.0, OData V4 or MCP, or with the integrations for financial systems and e-invoicing. Digital WorkMate can also run alongside your existing ERP if you only want to renew the shop floor.

Your own hours are part of it

In a migration without custom work the effort lies with your own team: checking data, learning the standard way of working, testing and trial runs. We give no rule of thumb because it differs per company; the ERP Migration Scan makes it visible for your situation.

We make no general savings promise and state no fixed amounts: the outcome depends on your own figures and processes.

Custom fields and templatesAvailable
Custom attributes on almost every entity (24 types) and ready-made templates for task boards and portfolios.
Documents: quotes, order confirmations, invoices, packing slipsAvailable
Own document templates per tenant with numbering, e-mail delivery, payment status and e-invoicing, with a file history to restore an earlier version of the template. You adapt templates yourself with the built-in DWM Report Designer, or let your own AI assistant adapt them through MCP, with a preview before you save.
Multi-level bills of materialsAvailable
Multi-level BOMs with phantom assemblies, dimensions (length, width, height) and material-loss rules for saw and cutting loss. You read in a bill of materials from a STEP file, a CAD BOM export (including SolidWorks and Alibre) or an Excel list.
Onboarding Scan and pre-configured trial environmentAvailable
A questionnaire about company, products, planning, shop floor and machines produces a trial environment set up for your type of company: the modules you need, work centres with standard operations, product groups, stock locations, task boards, roles and example data. Setup tasks point out the next steps, such as checking templates and supplying your own customers and suppliers as Excel.
Excel import with rule-driven mappingAvailable
Visual workflow editor to transform Excel columns and map them to DWM fields; repeatable through key fields, suitable for data migration.
REST API with OAuth 2.0 and API keysAvailable
Typed API with a generated client, OAuth 2.0 (authorization code and client credentials) and API keys per feature.
OData V4Available
OData V4 layer with filter, select, order, count and expand, including your own custom fields, for over 100 entities: including production orders and operations, products and revisions, cost estimates, stock, lots and inventory movements, accounts, machines, user groups and roles. Always limited to the data of your own company and protected per module; sales, purchasing, financial and project data are not available through OData yet.
MCP server for AI agentsAvailable
Model Context Protocol endpoint with tools and resources, secured with API keys, filtered by rights and features, write actions logged in the timeline.
Integrations with financial systems and other ERP systemsAvailable
Integrations with your financial systems, e-invoicing and other ERP systems. Also when only the shop floor is wanted: Digital WorkMate then runs alongside your existing ERP.
Continuous deliveryAvailable
Automated build and test pipeline and quarterly release notes; new features without an upgrade project.
Cloud SaaS, browser and mobileAvailable
Fully web based: desktop, mobile app, terminal and Outlook from one platform; nothing to install except the optional Monitor.
Reports, dashboards and Report DesignerPartial
Dashboards, charts and lists with filters and inline editing. Documents and printouts (quotes, invoices, packing slips, labels) you design and change yourself with the built-in DWM Report Designer, or with your own AI assistant through MCP. New dashboards and charts are set up by DWM; there is no self-service dashboard builder.
Workflow automationPartial
Approval steps (stage gates), allowed status transitions on task boards and background jobs; no no-code rule engine.

What does fit-to-standard mean?

You set up the standard package with configuration and adapt your way of working where needed, without code written specially for you. The fit/gap shows per process where the standard fits and where it does not.

Does Digital WorkMate need custom work?

Your environment is set up with configuration: custom fields, templates, roles, document templates and the Excel import. If something is missing from the standard, it is recorded in the fit/gap of the ERP Migration Scan and you decide with that knowledge whether it fits.

Which costs remain in a migration from an old ERP?

Configuration, data migration, integrations, training, the subscription and the hours of your own team. With Digital WorkMate the price consists of a one-off launch and a subscription for the whole company, tiered on employees and revenue. With the calculator you first see what your current ERP costs.

Can we adapt documents and printouts ourselves?

Yes. With the built-in DWM Report Designer you adapt quotes, invoices, packing slips and other templates yourself. You can let your own AI assistant adapt the template through MCP; you see a preview before you save and you restore an earlier version through the file history.

Can we import CAD data and bills of materials from Excel?

Yes. You read in a bill of materials from a STEP file, a CAD BOM export (including SolidWorks and Alibre) or an Excel list. Other master data you load with the repeatable Excel import.

Can our accounting stay in place?

Yes. In the migration strategy we decide which systems stay and which are replaced. Digital WorkMate also has its own general ledger, but you can keep your current financial system.

See Digital WorkMate in action

In a no-obligation demo we show how Digital WorkMate supports your processes from sales to invoicing, with honest advice on what does and does not fit.