In this guide 6 sections
Choose software that handles kits, moulded parts, project quotes and distributor orders in one system. A drip or sprinkler maker sells a lateral line as a bundle of many small parts. Generic ERP often treats each part alone, so test it with one real project.
Why generic ERP struggles here
A drip irrigation order is not a single product. It is a field layout of laterals, emitters, filters, a venturi, manifolds, fittings and a pump connection. Pipes sell by the metre. Emitters sell by the thousand.
General-purpose ERP expects a fixed item with a fixed price. It struggles when one customer needs a custom bundle and the bundle must be costed from forty parts, each bought or moulded at a different rate.
Owners then run the real logic in spreadsheets and re-enter the totals into the ERP, and that double entry is the clearest sign the fit is wrong.
Kit-based bills of materials
Ask the vendor to build a kit live. A one-acre drip kit should explode into pipe lengths, emitter counts, grommets, end caps and a screen filter. Change the plot size and every quantity should recalculate.
Check that the same part can sit in many kits. A change to a tee fitting should show everywhere it is used.
Look for substitution rules too. If a 16 mm lateral is out of stock, can an approved alternate be used without rebuilding the kit?
- Kits that explode into components
- Quantities that rescale with plot size
- One part shared across many kits
- Approved substitutes for short items
Moulded parts and the factory side
Emitters, fittings and valves are injection moulded, and pipe is extruded. The software should know the mould, the polymer grade, the shot weight and the press that runs the job.
Regrind and scrap move your cost, so a good system records resin issued against fittings produced. Ask how it tracks resin lots, because a bad lot of polymer can crack a batch of fittings weeks after they were sold.
Pipe extrusion adds metre-based output and coil labels. Check that coil length and batch number print on the label without anyone typing them.
Project quotes and distributor orders
Two sales channels run side by side. Project quotes go to farms and estates with a design, a bill of quantities and a staged delivery. Distributor orders are repeat orders of standard items.
Test both. For a project, create a quote from a layout and revise it twice. Each revision should keep its history and show what changed. For a distributor, place a repeat order and check that scheme discounts and the credit limit apply correctly.
Pumps and filters from other makers often go on the same quote, so confirm that bought-out lines sit beside your own kits and still carry the right margin.
- Quote built from a layout, with revisions
- Staged delivery against one project
- Distributor price list and credit limit
- Bought-out pumps and filters on the same quote
Run a one-project trial before you commit
Give each shortlisted vendor the same real project from your files. Ask them to quote it, plan the moulding, issue materials and invoice a staged delivery. Score each step.
A vendor who can only show a slide deck has not earned a place on the shortlist. Pick the one that handled your kit without workarounds, then agree what has to change in your own routine before go-live.
Vendor trial scorecard
A one-page scoring grid with a line for each test step. The steps: build a drip kit, rescale it for a new plot, substitute a short part, trace a polymer lot, revise a quote, place a distributor order. Columns give the vendor, a pass or fail mark, the workaround needed and the judge.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Should an irrigation maker buy ERP or custom software?
Try ERP first and test it with a real kit. Custom software makes sense when your quoting or kit logic is what sets you apart and ERP forces workarounds.
What data do we need before a trial?
Gather your part list, two or three real bills of materials, a recent project quote and a distributor price list. Good test data makes vendor demos honest.
How long does a switch from spreadsheets take?
It depends on how clean the part list is. Most of the effort goes into tidying part numbers and kit definitions, not into the software.