About the client

Jet Metal is a precision engineering company based in Oldham, specialising in aluminium and stainless-steel manufacturing for the aerospace industry. With around 30 employees, the business operates six to seven days a week to deliver components that meet the highest levels of inspection and certification, including AS9100 and ISO 9001 standards.

The challenge

Jet Metal managed its workflow — from quotes to production and shipping — across a mixture of spreadsheets, manual processes and paper-based job cards. While this approach met compliance requirements, it created significant challenges:

• Duplication of data across quotes, orders and production, increasing risk of error.
• Manual scanning of paperwork for archiving, consuming staff time.
• Lack of real-time visibility of job progress across the shop floor.
• Difficulty ensuring consistency when handling part revisions and rapid response jobs.
• Limited integration of drawings, certifications and inspection records into the workflow.

They needed a comprehensive production management system that tied together quoting, planning, job tracking and reporting — while remaining easy to use for shop floor staff.

The solution

Hero designed and developed a bespoke ERP-style production system for Jet Metal that supports the entire manufacturing process. Key features include:

• Quote Management: Structured creation of quotes with part breakdowns, mirrored part recognition, price banding and automated PDF generation.
• Order & Planning Tools: Seamless conversion of quotes into orders with pre-planning and planning workflows, contract reviews and integration of customer-specific requirements.
• Digital Job Cards: Tablet-based job cards replacing paper, with real-time logging of processes (laser cutting, deburring, bending, assembly, inspections, etc.), timestamps and operator tracking.
• Production Board: A live view of job progress across processes, highlighting stuck or urgent jobs, optimised for display on factory screens.
• Traceability & Compliance: Every manufactured part is linked to its material batch, processes, operators and certificates to meet AS9100 and ISO 9001 standards.
• System Integration: Access to Jet Metal’s network drives for drawings and Sage integration for purchase orders, materials and hardware.
• Role-Based Security: PIN login and permissions tailored for office staff, planners, production managers and shop floor operators.
• Reporting: Shipping vs due date reports, daily statistics and logs for drawings and work progress.

The impact

• The system-wide need for duplication and manual re-entry of data has been eliminated.
• Real-time visibility of production status has been provided for managers and operators.
• Paperwork has been significantly reduced by replacing paper job cards with secure digital versions.
• Accuracy and efficiency in handling manufactured part revisions and high priority jobs have been improved.
• Compliance with aerospace standards has been strengthened through full traceability and automated audit records.
• A scalable digital platform has been delivered, capable of supporting future enhancements such as invoicing, hardware ordering and skills matrix tracking.