You Don't Need an ERP to Track Maintenance

The ERP trap

Here is a pattern that repeats in small manufacturing shops: the owner knows they need better maintenance tracking. They ask around, maybe talk to a vendor at a trade show, and get pitched an ERP system.

The ERP salesperson explains that their system handles everything — production planning, inventory, scheduling, HR, accounting, AND maintenance. All in one platform. It sounds efficient.

Then the price comes: $30,000-$100,000 for implementation, plus $500-$2,000/month in licensing. A 6-12 month rollout. A dedicated project manager. Training for every employee.

For a 30-person shop that just wants to stop missing oil changes, this is like buying a semi truck because you need to pick up groceries.

What you actually need for maintenance

Strip away the sales pitch and think about what a maintenance program actually requires:

1. A list of your equipment — What machines do you have, where are they, and how critical are they?
2. PM schedules — What needs to happen to each machine, and how often?
3. Work orders — A way to assign tasks, track completion, and keep history.
4. Parts tracking — What parts do you have in stock, and what needs to be reordered?
5. Basic reports — Are PMs getting done on time? Which machines have the most problems?

That is it. You do not need production scheduling, MRP, BOM management, accounting, or HR modules. You need a tool that does five things well.

Feature comparison: ERP vs. CMMS vs. Wrench

Notice the pattern: for the six capabilities that actually matter to maintenance, all three options have them. The ERP just bundles in eight other modules you do not need — and charges accordingly.

Price comparison for a 10-person team

For a 10-person maintenance team, an enterprise CMMS at $20/user/month costs $200/month — four times more than Wrench for the same core features. An ERP is 10-40x more.

“Start in an afternoon, not a fiscal quarter”

ERP implementations are measured in months. Enterprise CMMS rollouts take weeks. With Wrench, the typical small factory goes from signup to a working PM program in one afternoon:

• Import your equipment list (CSV upload or manual entry)
• Set up PM schedules with checklists (copy from your existing spreadsheet or OEM manuals)
• Invite your techs (they scan a QR code or get an email invite)
• Work orders start generating automatically based on your schedules

No consultants. No data migration project. No training workshops. If your tech can use a smartphone, they can use Wrench.

When you do need an ERP

To be fair, ERP systems exist for a reason. If your shop needs tight integration between production scheduling, material requirements planning, and maintenance — if knowing when a machine is down directly affects your production plan — an ERP might be worth it.

But most shops under 50 people are not at that stage. They need to stop missing PMs, track their parts, and have a history of what was done to each machine. That is a maintenance problem, not an ERP problem.