Choosing an ERP for an AS9100 job shop

AS9100 doesn't certify software. No ERP makes you compliant; it can only make the evidence easier (or harder) to produce. What auditors and primes actually pull on:

• Material traceability – heat/lot from cert to PO to job to shipped serial. Ask the vendor to show a reverse trace live.
• Revision control – the traveler must point to the right drawing rev, and old revs can't be released.
• First Article (AS9102) – some systems generate forms; many shops still use a separate tool. Ask.
• Nonconformance & corrective action – NCR linked to the job, the operation, and the supplier.
• Calibration & training records – built-in or separate QMS?
• Flow-down of customer requirements – PO clauses visible at the operation that needs them.

Where the vendors sit

Job-shop-centric systems like ProShop, JobBOSS² and Fulcrum model quoted, routed jobs natively. ProShop explicitly markets AS9100 compliance (plus ITAR workflows and a CMMC Level 2 path). JobBOSS² lists calibration tracking, automated CAPA workflows and a uniPoint quality integration, but we found no AS9100-specific claim. (E2 Shop is now sold as JobBOSS², per ECI.) Mid-market suites like Epicor Kinetic include a Quality Assurance module. General MRP tools like MRPeasy have lot traceability but no explicit AS9100 module that we found. Verify every claim in a demo – the table entries say verify where we couldn't confirm.

A demo script

Bring one real job that had a nonconformance. Ask the vendor to enter it, trace it, disposition it, and show the audit trail. That 45 minutes tells you more than any feature grid.