A multi-unit foundry and casting group in Kolhapur — managing SG iron and grey iron production across two manufacturing sites — replaced five disconnected systems and manual registers with a single FoundryX ERP platform. The result: live management dashboards, accurate per-casting cost, real-time stock at every production stage, and zero end-of-month reconciliation firefighting.
At ₹100 Crore scale, running two foundry units and a machining operation on disconnected systems wasn't just inconvenient — it was creating measurable cost leakage, delayed decisions, and management visibility gaps that were impossible to close without a unified platform.
Two SG iron and grey iron casting units in Kolhapur's industrial clusters, one in-house machining facility, and a trading unit — all operating on a mix of Tally, standalone production software, Excel registers, and paper records. Monthly management review meetings were driven by data compiled over 5–7 days by the accounts team, which was already outdated by the time it was presented.
Monthly P&L, production summary, and customer-wise performance reports were compiled manually from Tally, the production register, and dispatch records. The process took 5–7 working days every month — and the output was still questioned for accuracy because data sources didn't reconcile. Critical decisions on pricing, procurement, and capacity were being made on stale information or gut feel.
Standard cost per casting was set once at the beginning of the year and rarely updated. Actual metal yield, rejection-adjusted scrap cost, real power per tonne, and machining subcontracting charges were never captured against individual production orders. The result: the group was quoting new RFQs and renewing contracts without knowing the actual margin — and discovering losses only at year-end audit.
Each unit operated its own set of records — Unit 1 on Tally + Excel, Unit 2 on a standalone foundry module, the machining unit on a separate job-work register, and the trading company on yet another Tally instance. Inter-unit material transfers, job work challans between units, and consolidated group reporting required manual data collection from all four systems — a reconciliation nightmare every quarter.
Inventory was tracked only at two points: raw material when received and finished goods when dispatched. Everything in between — WIP in moulding, castings in shot blasting, semi-finished items with the machining subcontractor, and fettled castings waiting for inspection — existed only in paper registers or operator memory. Physical stock-takes revealed 8–12% discrepancies between book stock and actual stock every quarter, with no audit trail to explain the gap.
The shop floor ran entirely on paper job cards and daily production registers. Data from production — heats completed, rejections recorded, mould consumption, and casting weights — was physically carried to the accounts department at month-end for entry into Tally. This 30-day lag meant that stock, WIP, and cost of production figures were always one month behind reality. Quality issues identified on the shop floor never reached the customer data in the commercial system — rejection analysis was impossible because the data lived in different places.
Quantbit Technologies implemented FoundryX ERP — built on open-source ERPNext — across all group entities in a single instance, with separate books of accounts per company and a consolidated group dashboard for management. Implementation was phased to ensure operations continued uninterrupted.
All group entities — two casting units, machining unit, trading company — configured in a single ERPNext instance with shared master data and separate ledgers. Inter-company transactions automated.
Digital heat record for every melt: charge composition, furnace type, pour temperature, alloy grade, heat number, and castings produced. Heat number linked forward to all downstream records.
Full pattern register across both casting units — location, condition, cavity count, last used, repair history. RFID-ready. Production halts due to missing patterns eliminated.
WIP tracked at every stage: moulding → pouring → knockout → shot blasting → fettling → inspection → dispatch. Stock balance at each stage updated in real time by shop-floor operators on tablets.
Every rejection logged against heat number, cavity, defect code, operator, and shift. Automated daily Pareto chart showing top 3 rejection causes. Corrective action workflow with owner assignment.
Castings sent to in-house machining unit and external vendors tracked via outward challan. Vendor-wise pending quantity dashboard. Partial returns and vendor-side rejection captured automatically.
Actual cost per casting calculated from live data: metal charge weight, furnace power, labour time, overhead absorption, and machining cost. Standard vs actual variance report generated automatically at period-end for every item.
In-process and final inspection records linked to heat number. Customer-specific quality plans, dimensional inspection records, hardness test results, and PPAP documentation generated from live production data.
Heat-wise dispatch linking every shipment to its source heat. Certificate of Conformance, packing list, and e-way bill generated in one click. Customer portal access for inspection records on request.
Production entries auto-post to general ledger. GST invoices, e-way bills, and TDS calculated from live dispatch data. Month-end closing driven by system — not manual data collection.
Biometric attendance for all casting and machining operators, automated payroll with PF/ESI compliance, gang-wise attendance for contract workers. All four entities on a single HRMS instance.
Live dashboard for MD and CFO: group-level revenue, production vs plan across both units, combined rejection rate, raw material valuation, and working capital — updated in real time without any manual compilation.
Results measured after the first full quarter post-implementation.
For Quantbit team: Contact the client's MD, GM Operations, or CFO at the Kolhapur group to collect the six numbers above. Even 3–4 confirmed figures with real data will transform this into the most powerful lead-conversion asset on the FoundryX page. Suggested question framing: "On a scale of 1–10, how has X improved since go-live? Can you share the actual numbers?"
Questions foundry MDs and GMs ask before committing to FoundryX ERP.
Talk to our Kolhapur-based FoundryX team — we'll walk you through a demo configured for your metal type, production volume, and group structure.