Running a manufacturing operation in South Africa takes more than good machines. You need clear visibility over your data, and you need your office team and shop floor talking the same language. That’s where SigmaMRP comes in.
SigmaMRP is a set of integrated modules that handle the full lifecycle of a product. It starts with the first customer conversation and follows through to the final invoice. No duplicate data entry. No lost paperwork. Just one connected system.
Here’s how each of the six core modules works, and why they matter.
Contacts: The Central Nervous System
The Contacts module stores every company you work with, whether they’re a customer or a supplier. It’s where your business relationships live inside SigmaMRP.
What makes it useful is the visual status system. In the List View, coloured “bubbles” give you a quick health check on each relationship. A green bubble means you’re actively communicating. A red one means that contact is due for a follow-up.
Inside the Details tab, you can set credit limits, tax rates, and discount percentages for each contact. These settings then apply automatically to any jobs linked to that contact. You can also export your full contact database straight to Microsoft Excel, which is handy for managing mailing lists or pulling external reports.
Item Masters: Precision Inventory Management
If Contacts track the “who,” Item Masters track the “what.” This module covers every product, service, or stock item you handle. That includes raw materials like steel sheets, finished assemblies, and even packaging services.
SigmaMRP tracks inventory at a detailed level. It tells apart Full Stock Available from Full Stock in Process, and it tracks the quantities of parts or products you keep on hand.
To avoid production delays, you can set minimum stock levels. The Smart Purchase Order function then checks these thresholds and automatically generates orders for anything that’s running low. Your material management stays proactive instead of reactive.
If supplier prices change, you don’t need to update each item by hand. The Recost Wizard lets you import an external spreadsheet and update costs across your entire database in one go.
Assemblies: Bringing Components Together
The Assemblies module is where individual parts and labour come together to form a finished product.
Assemblies are organised in a folder tree, making it easy to group and find them. Each assembly supports revision numbers, so your shop floor always works from the correct version of the specs.
The module also rolls up costs automatically. It adds up every sub-component and labour input, giving you a clear total. For products with variable sizes, the Price Matrix Wizard lets you override those calculated costs with a fixed pricing grid.
Jobs: The Execution Hub
The Jobs module pulls your contacts, items, and assemblies into one workspace. This is where you create quotes and work orders.
It’s a guided process. SigmaMRP walks you through every required field, including costing, markups, and terms and conditions. Nothing gets missed.
If you’ve already quoted something similar before, you don’t have to start from scratch. You can copy a full quote as-is, or use the “Documents and Copy” function to pull specific parts or assemblies (with their exact costs) into a new job.
The module also has a built-in Data Analysis feature. You can filter jobs by due date to see your upcoming workload at a glance, which helps with capacity planning.
Production & Purchasing: The Shop Floor Sync
Once a customer approves an order, the Production and Purchasing modules take over. They make sure the work gets done and the materials are on hand.
The Production list shows how far each job has progressed. You can see which operations are included and track their status in real time. Jobs move through stages (Scheduled, On Hold, Finished) so everyone on the team stays updated.
On the purchasing side, SigmaMRP acts as a central hub for creating, tracking, and managing purchase orders. The Smart Purchase Order function auto-generates POs for required items. While a PO is still in “Draft” status, you can revise it. Once it’s marked as “Sent Out,” it locks to prevent changes.
When goods arrive, the New GRN (Goods Received Note) function lets you log and book in items. You can specify exactly where they’ll be stored in your inventory. There’s also a dedicated space to view, edit, and match supplier invoices to purchase transactions.
Accounts Link: Closing the Loop
The last step is making sure your financial records match your production data. The Accounts Link module bridges SigmaMRP and your accounting software.
Using the “Refresh Invoices” and “Refresh POs” functions, you can pull the latest production data into the accounting interface. This removes manual double-entry. You can mark invoices as “Posted” and export customer or supplier data through CSV or direct integration with your accounting system.
Getting Started with SigmaMRP
SigmaMRP’s strength is in how these six modules connect. Contacts feed into Jobs. Jobs pull from Item Masters and Assemblies. Production and Purchasing keep things moving. And Accounts Link closes the financial loop.
For South African manufacturers looking for better visibility and fewer manual processes, it’s a system worth exploring. Get in touch with MECAD Manufacturing to book a demo and see how SigmaMRP fits your workflow.
