Purchase order software for manufacturing and purchasing software for manufacturers
Procurer is purchase order software for US manufacturers with 20 to 300 staff: machine shops, fabricators, food and packaging plants, electronics assemblers and contract manufacturers. Maintenance, production and the office raise purchase requests, approvals route by amount, plant and category, the PO goes to the supplier, the receiving dock records what actually arrived, and accounts payable pays only invoices that match the PO and the receipt. Your ERP or MRP keeps deciding what to build. Procurer controls how the money gets spent. Plans are priced per company, not per seat, from 149 USD a month.
On this page
- 01What is the best purchase order software for manufacturing?
- 02Where purchasing leaks in a manufacturing plant
- 03Manufacturing purchase requests routed by amount, plant and category
- 04Receiving at the dock with partial deliveries
- 05Three-way matching for supplier invoices
- 06Supplier catalogs, RFQs and the supplier portal
- 07A 140 person contract machine shop from request to payment
- 08Which plan fits a manufacturer
- 09Manufacturing purchasing options compared
- 10How to put plant purchasing on POs in a week
- 11FAQ
What is the best purchase order software for manufacturing?
The best purchase order software for manufacturing gets every buy that sits outside your MRP run, such as MRO parts, tooling, consumables, outside services and capital items, onto an approved PO before the supplier ships, records partial deliveries at the dock, and holds any invoice that does not match quantity and price. Procurer does that and exports approved bills to QuickBooks Online, Xero, a CSV, or NetSuite and Sage Intacct on Scale.
Where purchasing leaks in a manufacturing plant
Most manufacturers have the bill of materials under control. The MRP knows how much steel, resin or board stock the next run needs. The money leaks around it, in the purchases nobody planned: a replacement gearbox for line 2 bought on a card at 6 a.m., a box of carbide inserts ordered by phone, a rush heat treat sent out without a quote, a forklift repair that showed up as an invoice three weeks later.
- A maintenance tech buys a part on a company card to get a line running, and the cost lands in overhead with no record of which machine it was for.
- A supervisor calls a supplier directly, so there is no PO, and the invoice arrives with a price nobody agreed to.
- A supplier ships 400 of a 1 000 piece order, invoices for 1 000, and accounts payable pays it because nobody told them only 400 came in.
- An expedite fee or freight surcharge is added after the fact and paid without anyone approving it.
Purchase order software closes these gaps because nothing is ordered without an approval and nothing is paid until it matches what the PO said and what the dock received.
Manufacturing purchase requests routed by amount, plant and category
Anyone who needs something, a maintenance planner, a quality engineer, a shift lead, raises a request in under a minute from a laptop or a phone on the floor. They pick the supplier, the category (MRO, tooling, consumables, outside processing, capital equipment), the department or cost center, quantities and unit prices, and attach the quote or the drawing. On Team, requests route by amount and department with up to two approval steps. On Business, rules can also use the category, the vendor and the project, with as many steps as your policy needs, so tooling goes to the production manager, anything over 5 000 USD goes to the plant manager, and any capital purchase goes to the controller.
- Approvers see the quote, the attachment and what is left on the department budget before they decide.
- Approvals work from email and the browser on every plan, and on Business also from Slack or Microsoft Teams.
- Every decision is time stamped in the audit trail, which matters when an auditor or a customer asks who approved a supplier change.
More on purchase order approval software.
Receiving at the dock with partial deliveries
Manufacturing deliveries rarely arrive complete. Whoever is on the dock opens the PO on a phone or a shop floor terminal, records the quantity that arrived on each line, and attaches a photo of the packing slip. A 1 000 piece order received in three shipments shows 400, then 750, then 1 000, and the PO stays open until the last piece is in. Receiving is included on every plan, so the people who sign for freight do not need a paid seat on a per user tool.
Three-way matching for supplier invoices
From Business, every supplier invoice is checked against the PO and what the dock received before it can be approved for payment. You set tolerances for price and quantity, company wide or per category, so a 2 percent price variance on bar stock can pass while any quantity overbill on machined parts is held. Invoices can be forwarded to an invoice inbox, and each exception shows the reason: price above the PO, quantity above what was received, or no PO at all. See how three-way matching software works.
Supplier catalogs, RFQs and the supplier portal
On Business, catalogs hold your agreed items per supplier with SKU, unit and price, so a requester picks "nitrile gloves, case of 1 000" from your MRO distributor at the contracted price instead of typing it in. On Scale, RFQs send one request for quote to several suppliers through a personal link, suppliers answer line by line, and the chosen quote becomes the PO. The supplier portal lets suppliers confirm orders, propose a new ship date and upload invoices, and supplier onboarding collects the W-9 and certificate of insurance before a new vendor is used. Read more on vendor management software.
A 140 person contract machine shop from request to payment
A contract machine shop with 140 staff runs two shifts on CNC mills and lathes. Raw material for customer jobs is planned in its ERP. Everything else, about 600 purchases a month of tooling, MRO, coolant, gauges, outside heat treat and plating, used to go through cards and phone calls. Policy says the production manager approves tooling, the maintenance manager approves MRO, anything above 5 000 USD needs the plant manager, and new suppliers need the controller.
1. A setup machinist requests 24 carbide end mills from the tooling supplier's catalog at 38 USD each, 912 USD in total, coded to the tooling budget. The request shows 3 100 USD left this month on that budget.
2. The amount is under 5 000 USD and the supplier is already approved, so the request goes only to the production manager, who approves from Teams before the shift meeting.
3. Procurer sends the PO to the supplier.
4. The supplier ships 16 end mills now and 8 on backorder. The dock receives 16 against the PO on a phone.
5. The invoice arrives for all 24. Three-way matching holds it at 16, accounts payable asks for a corrected invoice, and the approved bill goes into the next QuickBooks Online export.
At month end, the controller sees tooling spend by category and supplier in spend analytics, and the shop paid for exactly what it received.
Which plan fits a manufacturer
Plans are per company, so adding a third shift, a new maintenance tech or a seasonal receiver does not add a seat fee.
| Plant | Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small shop, up to 25 people who request, approve or receive | Team | 149 USD a month, or 888 USD a year billed yearly | Requests, POs, approvals by amount and department, receiving with partial deliveries, department budgets, QuickBooks Online or Xero export, up to 250 POs a month |
| Growing plant, up to 100 users | Business | 299 USD a month, or 1 788 USD a year billed yearly | Approval rules by category and vendor, three-way matching with tolerances, invoice inbox, supplier catalogs with SKU, budgets by project and GL, spend analytics, up to 1 500 POs |
| Multi-plant manufacturer, up to 300 users | Scale | 699 USD a month, or 4 188 USD a year billed yearly | Up to 5 legal entities, RFQs, supplier portal with W-9 and insurance onboarding, contracts, SSO, API, NetSuite or Sage Intacct export, unlimited POs |
- Small shop, up to 25 people who request, approve or receive
- PlanTeamPrice149 USD a month, or 888 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getRequests, POs, approvals by amount and department, receiving with partial deliveries, department budgets, QuickBooks Online or Xero export, up to 250 POs a month
- Growing plant, up to 100 users
- PlanBusinessPrice299 USD a month, or 1 788 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getApproval rules by category and vendor, three-way matching with tolerances, invoice inbox, supplier catalogs with SKU, budgets by project and GL, spend analytics, up to 1 500 POs
- Multi-plant manufacturer, up to 300 users
- PlanScalePrice699 USD a month, or 4 188 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getUp to 5 legal entities, RFQs, supplier portal with W-9 and insurance onboarding, contracts, SSO, API, NetSuite or Sage Intacct export, unlimited POs
Most manufacturers choose Business, because three-way matching at the dock and catalog pricing are where the savings come from. See full procurement software pricing.
Manufacturing purchasing options compared
An honest view of what manufacturers usually weigh before they buy.
| Option | Good for | Limits for purchasing control |
|---|---|---|
| Purchasing module in your ERP or MRP | Direct materials planned from the bill of materials | Requesters outside planning rarely get a login, approval routing is often basic, extra users cost per seat |
| Company cards and expense reports | Small emergency buys | Money is spent before anyone approves, no receiving, coding happens after the fact |
| CMMS or maintenance software | Work orders, asset history and spare parts stock | Usually stops at the request, invoice matching and supplier management live elsewhere |
| Enterprise procurement suites | Large manufacturers with central sourcing teams | Quoted annual contracts, long implementations, priced per seat |
| Procurer | Plants and companies with 20 to 300 staff that need approved POs, receiving and matching | No MRP, inventory counts or production planning, it exports bills to your accounting instead of replacing your ERP |
- Purchasing module in your ERP or MRP
- Good forDirect materials planned from the bill of materialsLimits for purchasing controlRequesters outside planning rarely get a login, approval routing is often basic, extra users cost per seat
- Company cards and expense reports
- Good forSmall emergency buysLimits for purchasing controlMoney is spent before anyone approves, no receiving, coding happens after the fact
- CMMS or maintenance software
- Good forWork orders, asset history and spare parts stockLimits for purchasing controlUsually stops at the request, invoice matching and supplier management live elsewhere
- Enterprise procurement suites
- Good forLarge manufacturers with central sourcing teamsLimits for purchasing controlQuoted annual contracts, long implementations, priced per seat
- Procurer
- Good forPlants and companies with 20 to 300 staff that need approved POs, receiving and matchingLimits for purchasing controlNo MRP, inventory counts or production planning, it exports bills to your accounting instead of replacing your ERP
If your plants also run construction projects, see purchase order software for construction.
How to put plant purchasing on POs in a week
1. Import suppliers, GL accounts and cost centers from a CSV.
2. Set department budgets for maintenance, tooling and consumables.
3. Copy your purchasing policy into approval rules, with the plant manager above your threshold.
4. Load catalogs for your top MRO and tooling suppliers on Business.
5. Invite maintenance, production leads and receivers first, then everyone else. Most plants are live within a week.
What is the best purchase order software for manufacturing?
The best purchase order software for manufacturing puts unplanned buys like MRO, tooling, outside processing and capital items on approved POs, routes them by amount and category, records partial deliveries at the dock and matches every invoice to the PO and the receipt before payment. Procurer does this from 149 USD a month per company, without per seat fees.
Do manufacturers need purchase order software if they have an ERP?
Often yes. The ERP or MRP handles planned material for production, but MRO, tooling, services and capital purchases are raised by people who usually have no ERP seat. Purchase order software gives them a simple request and approval path, then sends approved bills back to accounting, so both systems do the job they are good at.
Does Procurer replace an MRP or manufacturing ERP?
No. Procurer handles purchase requests, approvals, POs, receiving and invoice matching. It does not plan production, run a bill of materials or count inventory. Approved bills export to QuickBooks Online or Xero on every plan, as a CSV, and to NetSuite or Sage Intacct on Scale, so your ERP stays the ledger.
Can purchase order software handle partial deliveries?
Yes. In Procurer the dock records the quantity received on each PO line, so a 1 000 piece order can arrive in several shipments. The PO stays open until everything is in, and on Business three-way matching only approves invoice quantities that were actually received.
How much does purchase order software cost for a manufacturer?
Procurer costs 149 USD a month on Team, 299 USD on Business and 699 USD on Scale, or half that per month billed yearly. Plans include 25, 100 or 300 user accounts and are priced per company, so adding receivers and maintenance staff does not raise the bill.
How do manufacturers control MRO purchasing?
They route every MRO request through a short approval path by amount and department, buy from catalogs at agreed prices, receive against the PO and match invoices before payment. Procurer combines those steps, so emergency parts still move fast while every purchase is recorded against a budget and a supplier.
Every plant purchase approved, received and matched
Create your account and put the next round of tooling, MRO parts and outside services on POs your supervisors, receivers and accountants all see.