Insight vs. Flowlens Comparison Chart

Flowlens Service Management links the equipment you ship to its serial number, original BOM and build history, so when a customer calls you can identify the right spare part and see what has already been done. Track service jobs, job cards and tickets, and labour costs against each product. It is built for manufacturers who make and service their own equipment, rather than a generic helpdesk bolted on afterwards. Service Management is an add-on module on top of the Flowlens platform.

Flowlens records batch and lot numbers as stock is received, and serial numbers on finished products and key components. Input batches and serials are assigned to each job, so you can trace a finished unit back to the parts and suppliers that went into it, or forward from a supplier batch to every unit it affected. Unit-of-measure conversions handle buying in boxes and using single units. Goods inwards inspections and non-conformances are captured inside the workflow rather than on a separate paper trail, keeping the learning close to the work.

Flowlens handles nested, multi-level BOMs. Each sub-assembly has its own part number and workflow and rolls up into the parent job card, and customers run BOMs of 1,500+ lines. Import from spreadsheets or CAD exports, hold multiple suppliers per part, track revisions, and add or substitute parts on a live job when a build changes. Repeat products reuse templates: Cap Coder went from 48,000 BOMs to 24,000 by standardising this way. BOMs link straight to job cards, purchasing and stock, and batch and serial tracking runs through to service.

Flowlens tracks stock by location with FIFO, LIFO or average costing, unlimited parts and SKUs, and batch and serial number traceability built in. A live shortage report builds purchase requests from unfulfilled job cards and sales orders, respects supplier MOQs and pack-size conversions, and pre-fills purchase orders so you know what to buy and what is already covered. Goods inwards inspections record quality checks as parts arrive, and stock is picked against the job that needs it. Made for manufacturers of devices, equipment and machinery, so stock stays tied to the builds that use it. Purchase and stock ledgers sync with Xero, QuickBooks or Sage 50.

Flowlens is cloud manufacturing software for SME device, equipment and machinery makers who build complex products to order. Multi-level BOMs and sub-assemblies, job costing, purchasing, stock, shopfloor control, quality data capture, sales and service run in one system instead of spreadsheets, shared folders and separate tools. Parts can be added or substituted on a live job card, and repeat builds can start from a template. Integrates with Xero, QuickBooks and Sage 50. A dedicated UK implementation team handles setup, data import and training. Base platform from £479+VAT a month, including 4 office and 2 shopfloor users.

Flowlens is not a general ERP, and that is deliberate. It covers the manufacturing and after-sales side of the business in depth: BOMs, purchasing, stock, production, quality, sales orders and service. Finance stays in the accounts package you already use, with native Xero and QuickBooks integration (Sage 50 optional), so customers, suppliers, invoices and ledgers sync without re-keying. Cap Coder, a capping and filling machinery manufacturer, cut spare-parts and sales order processing time by 18 to 20% after moving from two disconnected systems to one. Suited to growing manufacturers up to around 100 people.

Flowlens breaks every job into workflow steps, each with its own people, machines, work instructions and bill of materials. Operators see what is assigned to them in the shopfloor tablet app, log time, capture quality data and complete steps. Managers see what is on track, in progress or overdue on a live production schedule. Batch and serial numbers are recorded as parts are consumed and units are built, giving traceability from goods in to finished product. Step-level control sits in the same system as your BOMs, stock and sales orders, so there is no separate MES to integrate.

Flowlens plans materials from confirmed demand in real time. Job cards, sales orders and warehouse orders feed a rolling shortage report, so shortages stop being a surprise. Multi-level BOMs explode automatically, and each sub-assembly carries its own workflow into the parent job. Purchase orders are pre-filled with shortages and respect supplier minimum order quantities. Actual labour and material costs are tracked against every job, with FIFO or average costing. Designed for SME manufacturers who build complex products to order, rather than adapted down from enterprise software. Base platform from £479+VAT a month.