Custom solutions
We build custom software solutions your operation is missing.
Slow quoting. Scattered files. Processes locked in people's heads. We fix that.
ForgeSpex replaces fragile spreadsheets and manual handoffs with software built around how you actually work, instead of a generic platform you have to bend to fit.
Quoting tools, job and production tracking, approval workflows, dashboards. One workflow at a time, scoped and priced before anybody writes code.
Put AI to work on the paperwork you retype.From spreadsheet workaround to working web-based solutions.
The goal is not to replace everything at once. It is to take one important workflow, make it easier to run, and remove the risk hiding in copy-paste work.
- ExcelDisconnected data and manual work
- WorkflowStandardized processes and collaboration
- SoftwareIntegrated systems built for operations
- VisibilityReal-time insights for better decisions
Sound familiar?
We are not here to sell you a transformation.
We look at what causes friction in the day-to-day: a spreadsheet that has become fragile, documents nobody can find, a process that only works when one person is in the room. Then we build something practical that fixes it.
“Only one person really knows how to run the quoting model.”
It started as a simple spreadsheet. Now it is 14 tabs, three macros, and one person who cannot go on holiday without leaving notes.
“Quotes take two days when they should take two hours.”
By the time the estimate is ready, the customer has called somebody else, or your best person has spent a whole afternoon on one job.
“Nobody can find the right version of anything.”
Is it on the shared drive? In the email from last Tuesday? The printed copy on somebody's desk? Nobody is sure.
“One person retiring could take a whole workflow with them.”
The knowledge lives in one head. It always has. The question is what happens when they leave.
What we do
Five ways we can help.
Start wherever makes sense. Most clients begin with a scoping call and go from there.
- 01Free to start
Operations assessment
Not sure where to start, or whether software is the answer at all? We talk to your team and give you an honest picture of what causes the friction and what it would cost to fix.
- A scoping call, at no charge
- A workflow review, on site or remote
- Written findings and a prioritized roadmap
- 02
Custom tool development
Quoting tools, job costing, scheduling boards, shop-floor trackers. Fixed scope and fixed price, so you know what you are getting before anybody writes code.
- Spreadsheets rebuilt as real software
- Quoting and estimating systems
- Production and job tracking
- 03
Document and system workflows
The work that lives between systems: approvals that run by email, documents nobody can find, data keyed into two places because the systems never met.
- Approval workflows
- Document control
- Integrations with what you already run
- 04
Ongoing support and advisory
Some teams take the handover and run it themselves. Others keep us on call. Either is fine, and neither is a condition of the build.
- Adoption and training
- Refinements as the work changes
- A number to call
- 05
AI in manufacturing
Put AI to work on the paperwork your team retypes: inspection sheets, customer POs, travelers and RFQs. The tool reads the paper, fills in your database, and flags anything unclear for a person to check.
See how it worksMeasurements7710-A, Op 30
- Ø 12.00
- 12.01
- Length 45.0
- 45.08
- Bore 8.00
- UnreadableCheck
- Flatness 0.05
- 0.03
The bore value is unreadable on the scan. R. Chen confirms it.
A handwritten inspection sheet and the measurement record drafted from it. The bore value is smudged, so the record flags it for the inspector.
How it works
We start with the process, then build the software.
No black box, and no six-month mystery project. We map the current state, design the next one, and build in focused stages with your team in the room.
- 01
Map
Document the users, the handoffs, the exceptions, the data sources, and the parts everybody has learned to work around.
- 02
Design
Define the improved workflow: the screens, the roles, the data model, the approvals, and what success looks like.
- 03
Build
Develop in focused releases, and review each one with your team before an assumption becomes expensive.
- 04
Support
Help with adoption, refinements, documentation, and the inevitable requests that arrive once people can see it.
Who we work with
Operations where execution matters more than trends.
Complex work, people and equipment to coordinate, and processes refined over years. That is usually why the off-the-shelf option does not fit.
- Manufacturing and job shops
- Construction and trades
- Forestry and lumber
- Agriculture and food processing
- Terminals and logistics
- Industrial services and maintenance
Pricing
Clear scope. Flat-rate projects.
Before anybody builds, we define the workflow, the users, the features and the delivery plan. Then we price the project as one flat-rate engagement, so you know what you are committing to.
Transparent estimates
We say what is included, what is not, and where a scope decision moves the cost.
Flat-rate delivery
Most projects are scoped and priced up front, rather than left open for everybody to discover later.
Change control that makes sense
If the scope changes, we talk about it before the budget changes.
Questions
Custom work, answered.
What people ask on the first call.
- What does this actually cost?
- Every project is fixed price, scoped before the work starts. You get a clear number first, and if the scope or the cost does not work for you, there is no obligation.
- How long does a build take?
- Most run 6 to 12 weeks from signed scope to handover. A focused spreadsheet-to-application project usually lands at 6 to 8 weeks. A document workflow with integrations runs 10 to 14. The timeline is agreed before the work starts.
- We already have an ERP. Do we have to replace it?
- No. We build alongside what you have, not instead of it. The goal is to fill the gaps your systems do not cover, not to pull out what already works.
- What if our process is not fully worked out yet?
- That is the usual situation. Discovery is part of every engagement for exactly this reason, and clients often say that step was worth it on its own, whatever got built afterwards.
- We have had bad experiences with software vendors.
- We hear that in most first conversations: scope that grew without warning, a team that never understood the business, software handed over that did not do what was described. The fixed scope and the free first call are our answer to those.
- Do you build AI tools?
- Yes, for the paperwork a team retypes by hand: inspection sheets, customer POs, travelers, drawings and the like. The tool reads the paper, fills in your database, and flags anything unclear for a person to check. It is custom work, not a feature of the ForgeSpex product, and the AI in manufacturing page shows four examples.
- How does this relate to the ForgeSpex product?
- The product covers competency, document control and quality, and it is the right place to start if that is what you need. Custom work is for the processes that are yours alone, and the two can sit side by side.
Tell us where the spreadsheet hurts.
A scoping call costs nothing, and you leave it with an honest read on whether software is the answer.