

Jet Metal Components
A connected production system that eliminates duplication of data entry and gives full visibility of manufacturing progress.
Enhanced visibility across all jobs
Created a paperless system with automatic traceability
Improved adherence to aerospace industry standards
Services we provided:
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.

All staff now have full visibility from quoting through to shipping, with real-time updates on the shop floor. It saves us time, reduces errors and gives us the traceability we need for aerospace compliance.
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