ERP consultant for manufacturers in the UAE

I advise manufacturers in the UAE and GCC on ERP from the customer's side of the table. I run one ERP for a plastics group across six sites in five countries, and I have done the move from spreadsheets and paper to a single system that every site closes its month on. Selection, implementation oversight, manufacturing-specific modules and upgrades are the usual work.

The manufacturing problems an ERP has to solve

Work orders on named machines with real capacity and shifts, and a hard block on booking two orders on the same machine at the same time. Batch issue and validation, barcodes and labels on the floor. The path from enquiry to manufacturing order to delivery. Purchasing and vendor bills with an approval trail. And the finance close, from the same records the plant uses, without a spreadsheet in between.

Extend or replace

The decision that matters most is whether to extend the ERP you have or buy a second system for manufacturing and maintain an interface forever. I extended one platform for six sites, built the manufacturing modules the standard package did not reach to my specification, and kept them upgradable. I can tell you when that is right and when it is not.

What I have run

Six sites, five countries, around 150 users, a team of six plus outsourced developers, reporting directly to the owner. One Odoo instance for production, sales, inventory, procurement, accounting, HR and maintenance. The full IT setup, from nothing, each time the group opened a new factory. PostgreSQL 9.5 to 16 underneath it all with no unplanned downtime at any site.

How an engagement runs

A process map of how the plant actually runs, from the people who run it. A written scope: what to standardise, what to customise, what to leave alone. Vendor and partner selection with the questions to ask. Oversight through go-live and the first month-end. On-site in the UAE or remote across the GCC. Fees are quoted in writing before anything is paid.

Read the evidence

Questions people ask

Which ERP do you recommend for a UAE manufacturer?

It depends on size, product mix and budget. I run Odoo and know it deeply, and I have seen where it fits and where it does not. For many 50 to 600 person manufacturers it is the right answer; for some it is not, and I will say so.

We run the factory on spreadsheets. Where do we start?

With a process map and one clean master data set: products, machines, customers, suppliers. Then one site and one function at a time, not a single switch-over. The roadmap service on this site is built for exactly this situation.

Can you handle the finance side as well as the plant?

The ERP has to do both from the same records or it fails the month-end test. I work with your finance lead on the close, the approval trail and the audit requirements, and with the plant on scheduling and stock.

Do you do the implementation yourself?

I direct it. I write the specification, choose and manage the partner or developers, and check what they deliver. That is how the six-site rollout was done.

Talk to me

Email with a few lines about your situation, or message me on LinkedIn. I reply within one working day, Dubai time. Fees are quoted in writing before anything is paid.