A kitchen maker, a shopfitter or an office-furniture manufacturer rarely sells a catalogue product. They sell a project: a configured quote, drawings approved by the customer, one-off or small-batch production, then installation on the customer’s premises, sometimes on a site where other trades are still working. That chain mixes the factory floor and the building site, and it is exactly what standard ERP systems model badly.
This sector guide is for owners, operations directors and IT leads at furniture manufacturers, fit-out contractors, kitchen makers and industrial joinery shops. It sets out what an ERP must cover from quote to final invoice, and offers a selection grid by company profile.
Half factory, half building site: why the standard model falls short
A classic manufacturing ERP assumes an item, a fixed bill of materials and a production order. A trading ERP assumes an item that is bought and resold. Made-to-measure furniture breaks both assumptions.
- The item does not exist before the sale. It is created by configuration: dimensions, wood species, finishes, hardware, integrated lighting. Every order can generate a unique bill of materials.
- The sale is a project. The quote goes through successive versions, change orders and snags. Revenue is recognised in stages.
- Production depends on installation. Delivering kitchen units before the partitions are up or the electrician has finished is pointless. The workshop schedule has to follow the site schedule.
- Profitability is decided by precision. A badly nested panel, a remade part or a duplicated installer trip eats the margin of an entire project.
The usual symptom: quoting or configuration software on one side, CAM or nesting software in the workshop, a spreadsheet for installation planning and a separate accounting package. Every re-keying step is a potential error, and nobody knows the real margin of a project until it closes.
From quote to configurator: variants, options, dynamic BOMs
The configurator as the entry point of the whole chain
The product configurator is the heart of the setup. It must turn commercial choices (width, height, species, finish, handles) into three consistent outputs: a price, a manufacturing BOM and a production routing. If any one of the three is recalculated by hand, the gap between quote and actual cost only shows up at delivery.
What to demand:
- compatibility rules (a 1,200 mm door needs three hinges, not two) so impossible configurations are caught before they reach the workshop;
- dynamic BOMs: the BOM is generated from rules, not copied from a similar model;
- formula-based pricing (per linear metre, per m², per option) plus sales coefficients by channel, without creating thousands of item codes;
- freezing a quote version once accepted, with traceability of change orders.
For the architecture and return on investment of a configuration module, our analysis of CPQ and ERP integration covers the trade-offs between native and third-party CPQ.
CAD-to-ERP integration
Many fit-out contractors draw in a specialist tool (kitchen design, interior fit-out or joinery software, generic 3D CAD). The real gain comes when the drawing feeds the ERP: part lists, dimensions, machining operations and hardware quantities flow automatically into the BOM and the costing.
Three levels of integration exist:
- File export (CSV, XML) to be imported: simple, but manual and fragile.
- Vendor connector between the drawing tool and the ERP: the most common in SMEs, to be validated on your exact version.
- API integration with shared project identifiers: more robust, essential if the drawing is modified after the order.
The question to ask every vendor: what happens when the customer changes a drawing after production has started? The ERP must detect the difference, reprice the job and flag the parts already cut.
Made-to-measure production: panel nesting, routings, subcontracting
Cutting and nesting optimisation
For a panel-based furniture maker, cutting is the first material cost. Nesting software calculates the cutting plan that minimises offcuts; the ERP must feed it with requirements from production orders and take back the actual panel consumption, including reusable offcuts.
That feedback loop drives inventory valuation: a panel offcut kept for a future project is an asset, not a loss. An ERP that cannot manage offcut stock with dimensions (stock per piece rather than per quantity) misses a real source of margin.
Routings, workshops and capacity
The routings of a made-to-measure piece change from one order to the next: cutting, edging, CNC machining, assembly, finishing, packing. The ERP must support:
- a routing generated by the configuration, not typed in for each project;
- finite-capacity scheduling on bottleneck stations (machining centre, edge bander, finishing booth);
- actual time tracking per station, to compare estimated to actual and sharpen future quotes.
Subcontracting: lacquering, metalwork, glass
Lacquering, metalwork, stone and glass are often outsourced. Each subcontracted operation must appear as a routing step with its own subcontract order, lead time, cost, receipt and quality check. Without that, parts that have “left” the workshop vanish from the radar and the installation schedule slips without warning.
Supply chain: timber, panels, hardware, legal traceability
Supplier lead times and hardware
A piece of furniture can be held up by a single handle. The ERP must manage lead times by supplier, minimum order quantities and project-based replenishment for special items (stone worktops, toughened glass, made-to-order appliances). Requirements are calculated from the BOMs of signed projects, not from historical consumption alone.
For panels and common small supplies (screws, hinges, edging), classic reorder-point replenishment remains relevant. The split between project purchasing and stock purchasing is a selection criterion in its own right.
Timber traceability and the EUDR
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115) covers wood and wood-derived products, furniture included. According to the European Commission’s official page, application is set for 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators and 30 June 2027 for micro and small enterprises. Check your status and your role (operator or trader) before planning the compliance workstream.
For a manufacturer, this translates into concrete ERP requirements:
- link every timber or panel lot to its supplier, country and plot of origin;
- keep the chain from material lot to production order to delivered piece;
- generate the due diligence statement from that data, without manual reconstruction.
Our operational EUDR plan for importers and the timber sector (in French) details the data to collect and how it flows.
Logistics and installation: planning, site, handover, after-sales
Installation is the least well covered area in software. Yet it concentrates the cost overruns: travel, waiting for other trades, missing parts, rework.
Useful functions:
- Installer team scheduling linked to production completion dates and site constraints, with skills and vehicles.
- Loading preparation per site: a missing package is spotted at the depot, not at the customer’s.
- Mobile site tracking: photos, measurements, site reports, time spent and customer signature.
- Handover certificate with snag list, which triggers schedulable snagging visits.
- After-sales service tied to the original project: parts, drawings, intervention history, warranties.
The logic is close to that of construction companies. For site-tracking issues, see our construction ERP sector guide, part of whose vocabulary (interim applications, snags, snagging) applies to fit-out installation.
Billing: deposits, stage payments, VAT, retention
Deposits and stage billing
A fit-out project is rarely invoiced in one go. The ERP must handle billing schedules: deposit at order, invoice on drawing approval, on delivery, on completion of installation, balance at handover. Each instalment must be tied to a project milestone, so the invoice goes out when the stage has genuinely been reached. Without that link between milestone and invoice, project cash flow deteriorates silently.
VAT depends on the job
The VAT rate often depends on the nature of the work and the premises, and the rules differ from country to country. Taking France as an example, the tax administration’s guidance says the 10% rate applies to improvement, conversion, fitting-out and maintenance work in dwellings, with exclusions for certain furnishings, and the customer must certify on the quote or invoice that the conditions for the reduced rate are met. Work in business premises generally falls under the standard rate. Other markets (UK, Germany, Benelux) have their own reduced-rate or reverse-charge regimes for installation work.
The consequence for the ERP: the rate must be determined line by line (furniture supplied alone, supply and fit, equipment), according to the type of premises, with the attestation wording printed on the quote and invoice where required. Any doubt about how a line is classified should be settled with your accountant before configuration, not after an audit.
Retention
In private works contracts, retention (a percentage withheld until completion) is common, and in some countries it is regulated. In France, for instance, the law of 16 July 1971 caps the guarantee retention at 5% of the contract value. Whether your installation service counts as a works contract determines if retention applies. The ERP must then track it: amount withheld, release date, any bank guarantee, reminders. Our article on progress billing, retention and direct payment explains the mechanism.
Finally, do not forget e-invoicing: across Europe, your invoices and supplier flows will increasingly have to go through approved platforms or standardised formats, which requires an ERP able to issue and receive them. Check the timetable that applies to your company size and country on the official government pages.
Choosing the ERP: table by profile
| Profile | Dominant needs | Recommended direction |
|---|---|---|
| Industrialised craft business (under 20 people) | Fast quoting, installation planning, instalment billing | Cloud vertical solution for joinery or fit-out, or a light ERP with a site module. Avoid over-sizing. |
| SME with 20 to 100 people | Configurator, variant BOMs, cutting, workshop scheduling, installation tracking | Manufacturing ERP adapted to made-to-measure production, with CAD connectors and nesting optimisation. A generalist ERP requires significant custom development. |
| Multi-site mid-market group | Multiple plants, subcontracting, consolidation, EUDR traceability, CPQ integration | Mid-market manufacturing ERP combined with a CPQ, with a dedicated project team and an integration roadmap. |
Whatever the profile, four criteria separate the offers:
- Native variant management: configuration and dynamic BOM, without multiplying items.
- Workshop and site in one tool, or proven connectors at customers in the same trade.
- References in your sub-sector (kitchens, office, retail fit-out, industrial joinery), which you should go and visit.
- Total cost over five years: licences, CAD integration, configurator setup, training.
Implementation mistakes and countermeasures
| Mistake | Consequence | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up the configurator in one go for the whole range | Endless project, untested rules | Start with the best-selling product family, extend in waves |
| Neglecting CAD integration | Re-keying, gaps between quote and production | Scope the connector at tender stage, with a test on a real project |
| Ignoring offcuts and panel stock | Invisible material margin | Manage offcuts with dimensions from day one |
| Separating installation from workshop planning | Deliveries without crews, crews without parts | A single schedule, linked to production completion dates |
| Invoicing out of habit rather than by milestone | Weaker cash flow, disputes | Billing schedule tied to milestones, approved by finance |
| Postponing the EUDR and e-invoicing | Urgent, costly remediation | Put both in the initial project scope |
The last trap is organisational: handing the project to the IT department alone. Workshop supervisors, estimators, installers and project managers must validate the configurator rules, the routings and the mobile tracking. An ERP that installers do not use on site produces no reliable data.
Going further
To compare candidate vendors on an objective basis, download our ERP evaluation grid: 30 criteria scored out of 100, to benchmark three solutions side by side. For an adjacent activity, see also our guide to ERP for building materials distributors.
