Most business cases for manufacturing software never make it past the boardroom. Not because the factory doesn’t need an MRP system or better production planning software, but because the case focuses on theoretical ROI whilst the board worries about disruption, payback periods and whether the current team can actually make it work. If you are preparing a business case for manufacturing planning software, you need to speak to the risks and realities your board cares about, not just the benefits you have read in a vendor brochure.
Why do most manufacturing software business cases fail?
In our experience working with SME manufacturers, three issues kill most business cases before they reach approval:
The case is built on vendor promises, not factory evidence. Boards have seen IT projects go over budget and under-deliver. When your business case relies on productivity gains from a sales deck rather than data from your own shop floor, it sounds like optimism, not planning.
It ignores the real cost of change. The price of the manufacturing software is never the full cost. Boards know this. They want to understand the time your team will spend on implementation, the temporary dip in output during changeover, and the training required to make it stick. If your business case skips over these, they will assume you have not thought it through.
It doesn’t address the board’s actual concerns. Your operations team sees late deliveries, firefighting and wasted time on spreadsheets. The board sees cash flow, margin pressure and operational risk. If you cannot connect the two, the case will feel like a nice-to-have rather than a business priority.
What does the board actually care about?
Boards are not against spending money on production planning software or an MRP system. They are against uncertainty and unnecessary risk. When reviewing a business case for manufacturing software, they are asking three questions, whether they say it out loud or not:
What is the cost of doing nothing? This is your starting point. If the current system works well enough, the board will not approve change just for the sake of modernisation. You need to quantify what poor planning, late jobs and firefighting are costing the business right now. How many hours does your team spend chasing orders? How often do you pay for expedited shipping because a job was delayed? How much margin are you losing on jobs that run over time because priorities were unclear?
How quickly will we see a return? Boards think in quarters, not years. A three-year payback is a hard sell. A nine-month payback gets attention. To build a credible payback calculation, you need to focus on the costs and inefficiencies you can measure today: overtime, late delivery penalties, excess WIP holding costs, time spent on manual planning and rework caused by information gaps.
What could go wrong, and how will we manage it? This is where most business cases fall apart. Boards have seen implementations drag on, disrupt production and fail to deliver. Your case needs to acknowledge the risks head-on and show how you will mitigate them. This means a realistic implementation timeline, a phased rollout plan, and evidence that the vendor understands factories like yours.
How to frame the operational problem in board terms
The board does not need to hear about late jobs and firefighting in operational detail. They need to see the financial and strategic impact of those issues. Here is how to translate shop floor problems into board language:
Instead of: “We spend too much time chasing orders and re-planning.”
Say: “Our planning team spends approximately 15 hours per week expediting and replanning, which is costing us £X per year in lost productivity. This also delays quoting and customer communication.”
Instead of: “We have no visibility of what is on the shop floor.”
Say: “Without real-time visibility of work in progress, we are holding an estimated £X in excess WIP. Reducing this by 20% would release working capital and improve cash flow.”
Instead of: “Jobs are always late.”
Say: “We are hitting approximately 65% on-time delivery, which is affecting repeat business and forcing us to offer retrospective discounts to retain customers. Improving this to 85% would protect margin and reduce customer churn.”
This is not about exaggerating the problem. It is about showing the board what poor planning and lack of shop floor data capture actually costs in terms they measure the business by.
What numbers actually matter in a manufacturing software business case?
Boards are sceptical of generic ROI claims. They have seen consultants promise 30% efficiency gains that never materialise. What they trust are specific, measurable costs that exist in your business today and realistic estimates of how an MRP system or production scheduling software will reduce them.
Focus on three categories of cost that are easy to track and hard to dispute:
Wasted time on manual processes. How many hours per week does your planning team spend updating spreadsheets, chasing job status, and replanning because information is out of date? How much time do operators spend waiting for job cards, searching for drawings, or asking what to run next? Multiply this by hourly cost and you have a clear, recurring cost that manufacturing planning software eliminates.
Costs caused by poor visibility. Late deliveries often result in expedited shipping, overtime to catch up, or discounts to keep the customer happy. Excess WIP ties up cash and takes up space. Material shortages cause downtime because no one knew stock was low. These are all direct costs you can measure.
Margin lost to inefficiency. When jobs run longer than quoted because of unclear priorities, unplanned changeovers or operators waiting on information, you lose margin. If you can show the board that better production scheduling software would reduce average job overrun by even 10%, and you can quantify what that means in annual margin, you have a business case they will take seriously.
Do not pad the numbers. Use conservative estimates. If you say a new MRP/MES system will save 20 hours per week and the board thinks it is more like 10, they will still approve it if the payback is credible.
Addressing the “we can’t afford the disruption” objection
This is the real blocker for most SME manufacturers. The board agrees the current system is a problem, but they are worried that implementing new manufacturing software will make things worse before they get better. You need to show them a realistic path that minimises disruption.
Propose a phased rollout. Start with production planning and scheduling. Get that working, stabilise it, then add shop floor data capture and other modules. This reduces implementation risk and spreads the cost and effort over time. Boards appreciate an approach that delivers value quickly and allows the business to learn as it goes.
Provide evidence the vendor understands your industry. If the software company has worked with CNC job shops, fabricators or similar SME manufacturers, say so. Show examples of comparable implementations. This reduces perceived risk significantly.
Build in time for testing and training. Do not promise a four-week implementation if the realistic timeline is three months. Boards trust honesty more than optimism. If you show a realistic plan with time for parallel running and training, they are more likely to back it.
Show what happens if you wait. The cost of delay is also a cost. If your on-time delivery is declining, your WIP is growing, and your competitors are quoting faster because they have better systems, waiting is not cost-free. Make this explicit in the business case.
How to structure the manufacturing software business case document
Keep it short. Boards do not read 30-page documents. A two or three-page business case with an appendix for detailed costings is far more effective. Structure it like this:
Page one: The problem and the cost of doing nothing. In plain English, describe what is not working today: late deliveries, firefighting, manual replanning, poor visibility of WIP. Quantify the cost in time, margin and cash. This is your burning platform.
Page two: The proposed solution and realistic benefits. Describe the manufacturing software you are proposing (whether it is an MRP system, production scheduling software or a combined MES/ERP solution). Explain what it will do in practical terms: real-time visibility of jobs, automated scheduling, shop floor data capture, accurate stock control. Show the measurable benefits: fewer late jobs, less time on manual planning, reduced WIP, better margin control. Include a realistic payback calculation.
Page three: Implementation plan, risks and mitigation. Outline the phased rollout, timeline, resource requirements and training plan. Acknowledge the risks (implementation takes longer, team struggles with adoption, temporary disruption to output) and explain how you will mitigate them. This shows the board you have thought it through properly.
Appendix: Detailed costings and vendor information. Include the full cost breakdown: software licences, implementation support, training, any hardware required. Include vendor references or case studies from similar manufacturers.
The goal is to give the board everything they need to make a decision in a format they can actually read and digest in one sitting.
How does DynamxMFG support a credible business case?
DynamxMFG is designed for SME manufacturers who need to build a business case that speaks to real factory problems, not theoretical digital transformation. The system gives you real-time visibility of production, clear scheduling priorities and shop floor data capture that shows exactly where time and margin are being lost.
Because DynamxMFG is built for CNC machining, fabrication and similar job shop environments, the implementation is faster, and the benefits are easier to quantify. Planners see fewer late jobs and less time spent firefighting. Operators get clear priorities without constant interruptions. The board sees measurable improvements in delivery performance, WIP control and margin protection.
Begin your business case by calculating how much your manufacturing environment could save with DynamxMFG. Try our Savings Calculator
