Decide whether you have an inventory problem or a production problem
If the pain is knowing what's in stock and where, that's inventory and order management, not full MRP. If the pain is knowing what a job actually costs, when it will finish, and whether the shop has capacity to take another one, that's production planning and scheduling. Several listings here (Katana, Fishbowl) lead with inventory and add manufacturing as a layer on top; others (Fulcrum, ProShop ERP, JobBOSS²) are built job-first with costing and scheduling at the center. Buying the wrong one means either paying for MRP depth you don't use or bolting spreadsheets onto an inventory tool that never wanted to be a scheduler.
Decide whether traceability is a checkbox or a regulatory requirement
Lot and serial tracking shows up as a pro on most listings here (MRPeasy, Fishbowl, Sage X3), but the depth differs. ProShop ERP documents AS9100, ITAR and FDA-oriented traceability specifically for aerospace, defense and medical shops. If you sell into a regulated industry, check the relevant category page (aerospace, chemical, food) rather than a general MRP tool, because audit-ready documentation is a different build than a lot number field.
Decide who administers the system day to day
A 20-person shop cannot dedicate an IT hire to ERP administration. That's the practical argument for tools priced and packaged for SMBs (MRPeasy at $49/user/mo, Katana from $299/mo, Business Central at $80/user/mo) over platforms aimed at mid-market operations with dedicated admins (Epicor Kinetic, Infor CloudSuite Industrial, Plex). Target size is listed for each vendor in this directory; check it before you request a demo, not after.
Decide what it has to talk to before you shortlist anything
QuickBooks or Xero integration is a hard requirement for some shops and irrelevant to others. Fishbowl documents two-way QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online and Xero integration; JobBOSS² documents QuickBooks integration for invoices, payroll and AR/AP. If your accounting system is something else entirely, that pro becomes irrelevant and you're back to checking API documentation, which only some listings mention explicitly (MRPeasy, Katana, Fulcrum, Sage X3).
TODO(editor): verify how many of the 15 listings publish a specific price versus quote-only before stating that ratio on this page.
Decide your budget band before you start reading feature lists
Three vendors here publish a specific starting figure: MRPeasy at $49/user/mo, Katana at $299/mo, Business Central at $80/user/mo. The rest are quote-only, including Fulcrum, ProShop ERP, Global Shop Solutions, Epicor Kinetic and others. If your plant needs a number for a budget request this quarter, start with the vendors that publish one and treat quote-only vendors as a later step requiring a sales call.
TODO(editor): verify the deployment split (cloud only vs. hybrid vs. on-premise available) across all 15 listings before stating a count in this section.
Decide what implementation costs beyond the license
JobBOSS² states a three-to-six month implementation window. Sage X3 describes a 50-project-day timeline for standard scenarios but not complex rollouts. Neither figure generalizes to the rest of the field; the other 13 listings don't state an implementation timeline at all, which is itself worth noting when you build a project schedule.
TODO(editor): verify which of these 15 vendors document a specific implementation timeline versus leaving it unstated, before citing a count.
Once you know your category, budget band and integration requirements, move to the relevant category page for a narrower comparison rather than working through all 15 vendors here.
