Manufacturing
Let customers and dealers see orders and stock without calling you.
We build secure portals on Microsoft Power Pages that sit on top of your ERP, so customers, dealers and suppliers can check stock, place orders, track status and download documents themselves.
The short answer
How do I give customers live order status without replacing my ERP?
Put a secure portal in front of the ERP data you already have. The portal reads stock, orders and documents from your ERP, either live through its API or from a synchronised copy in Dataverse, shows each customer only their own records, and sends new orders back into the ERP for processing.
Where it breaks
Where this usually goes wrong.
Status calls and emails
Customer service spends the day answering where-is-my-order and do-you-have-stock questions.
Orders arrive in every format
Dealers send orders by email, PDF and phone, and each one is retyped.
Documents sent by hand
Certificates, drawings, manuals and invoices are emailed out one request at a time.
Suppliers chase you too
Suppliers ask for PO status and drawings that already exist in your systems.
How it works
How it works on the Microsoft Power Platform.
01
Decide who sees what
Customers, dealers and suppliers each get a role, and each account sees only its own orders, pricing and documents.
02
Connect the ERP
Stock, orders, pricing and documents are read from the ERP, live through its API or synchronised into Dataverse.
03
Self-service views
Users check stock, order status, delivery dates and history without calling your team.
04
Orders and requests in
Orders and requests submitted in the portal are validated, then created in the ERP or routed for approval.
05
Documents on demand
Certificates, drawings, manuals and invoices are available to download, stored in SharePoint.
06
Access you control
Users sign in securely, and your team adds, removes and manages access without a developer.
Where we start
What a first release looks like.
One audience, usually customers or dealers, with read-only stock and order status for a pilot group. Order submission follows once the data is trusted.
- One audience and a pilot group of accounts
- Read-only stock and order status
- Secure sign-in with per-account data
- Order submission in the next increment
From our delivery work
Where we have done this.
Client names are withheld for live engagements unless a case study has been published.
SBA Earthmoving Attachments
We built a self-service customer portal on Power Pages for inventory and orders, alongside purchase order automation connected to ECi M1.
Agricultural equipment manufacturer
We are scoping a dealer portal that turns dealer requests into work orders in Epicor.
Questions we get asked
Frequently asked questions.
What is Microsoft Power Pages?
Power Pages is Microsoft's platform for building secure external websites and portals on the Power Platform. It uses Dataverse for data and supports external sign-in, so customers and suppliers can use it without a Microsoft 365 licence.
Do customers need a login?
Yes, for anything specific to them. Public pages such as a product catalogue can be open, while orders, pricing and documents sit behind sign-in.
Is the portal data live?
It can be. Some ERPs are read live through their API; others are synchronised into Dataverse on a schedule. We choose based on what your ERP supports and how fresh the data needs to be.
How is a Power Pages portal licensed?
Microsoft licenses Power Pages by the number of signed-in users and anonymous visitors per month. We size it with you during scoping, based on how many customers, dealers or suppliers will use it.
Can suppliers use the same portal?
Yes, with a separate role. Suppliers can see their purchase orders, confirm delivery dates and upload documents such as certificates.
Related
Where this usually connects.
RFQ and supplier quote automation
We automate the request-for-quote process: building RFQ packs from your BOM, sending them to the right suppliers, collecting responses and turning the chosen quote into a purchase order.
Production, inventory and job-cost reporting
We bring ERP, scheduling, CRM and spreadsheet data together in Power BI and Microsoft Fabric, so leaders see true job cost, margin, WIP and stock without waiting for month-end.
Shop-floor and document capture
We replace paper job cards, delivery dockets, inspection sheets and supplier paperwork with scanning, barcodes and simple Power Apps, so the office sees what the floor did without retyping it.
Tell us what customers call you about most.
In a 30-minute discovery call we'll work out which of those questions a portal could answer, and what your ERP would need to share.