A paver plant sells in square feet but makes in pieces, buys cement in bags and aggregate by the load, cures for days, and delivers by the lorry. Four different units of measure meet in a single day's work, which is why most plants keep a production register, a despatch register, a dealer ledger and a Tally file that never quite agree with one another.
Thirvusoft built a pavers and hollow bricks manufacturing ERP on ERPNext because the same questions kept coming from block makers around Coimbatore: how much cement did we really use this month, what did a square foot of 60 mm pavers cost, which dealer owes us, and did the lorry carry what the invoice says.
Items that carry shape, thickness, colour and square feet per piece
A paver catalogue is a matrix: shape (I-shape, zigzag, cobble, dumble, hexagon), thickness (60 or 80 mm), colour (grey, red, yellow, black) and finish. Hollow blocks add size, typically 4, 6 or 8 inch. ERPNext item variants build this matrix from a few templates, and each variant carries its own unit-of-measure conversion: how many pieces make a square foot, and how many square feet a pallet holds.
Stock is kept in pieces, because that is what the plant counts; quotations and invoices are written in square feet, because that is what the dealer and the contractor understand. The conversion lives on the item, so nobody multiplies on a calculator at the billing counter.
Mould-wise production, demoulding rejection and the curing gap
Production is recorded per machine, per mould set and per shift, with the operator's name and the count of pieces demoulded. Rejections at demoulding go on the same record. The pieces then move into a curing warehouse in ERPNext, standing for the curing yard or chamber, and are transferred to finished goods only after the curing period, so the stock report never offers a dealer blocks cast yesterday.
Because the production record ties operator, mould and shift together, the plant manager sees output per mould, rejection per operator and idle time per machine from standard reports rather than from the supervisor's notebook.
Cement, aggregate, colour oxide and admixture consumption
Each product variant has a bill of materials: cement, M-sand or stone dust, aggregate of the right size, colour oxide, admixture and water for a batch of a stated number of pieces. When production is booked, ERPNext consumes these from the raw material store in proportion to the pieces made. At month end, cement consumed on paper is compared with the bags physically remaining, and the gap is the number an owner most wants to see.
Aggregate and sand arrive by the load. Purchase receipts record the vehicle and weight, and where a weighbridge is available Thirvusoft links it. Cement bought in bags converts to kilograms on the item, so the BOM can be stated in whichever unit the mix design uses.
Cost per square foot, product by product
With materials consumed from the BOM, labour and power booked to the plant's cost centre, and machine depreciation coming from the asset module, ERPNext values finished stock at what it actually cost to make. Divided by the square feet produced, that gives cost per square foot by product, colour and month. Owners use it to set dealer price lists, decide whether coloured pavers earn their premium, and check a contractor's target price before agreeing to it.
Quality checks, weight at despatch and vehicle-wise delivery
Quality inspection templates in ERPNext record dimension checks and compressive strength samples per lot, with pass or fail before stock is released for sale. At despatch, the delivery note captures vehicle number, driver, and gross and tare weight, so the invoice quantity can be cross-checked against what was actually loaded. Where the consignment value requires it, the e-way bill is generated through the India Compliance app on the same delivery note.
The delivery trip document groups several deliveries on one vehicle and records the site addresses, which matters when one dealer is supplying three construction sites in a day. Breakage on site is settled as a credit note against the invoice.
Dealer pricing, credit limits and collections
Dealers buy on credit and negotiate price by volume. ERPNext gives each dealer a price list and a credit limit; a sales order or delivery beyond the limit is held until someone with authority releases it. The receivables ageing report shows who is over terms, and payment entries apply receipts against specific invoices. Contractors buying direct sit on a separate price list, and cash sales at the plant gate run through the point-of-sale screen against the same stock.
Where standard ERPNext ends and the pavers ERP begins
The product on our products page is standard ERPNext version 15 with these configurations and screens already built, so a pavers implementation starts from a working model rather than a blank system, and every other module, including accounts with GST and HR with payroll, stays available.
| Plant need | Standard ERPNext | How Thirvusoft sets it up for pavers |
|---|---|---|
| Sell in sq ft, count in pieces | Item UoM conversion | Conversion preset per shape and thickness; sq ft on print formats |
| Production per mould and shift | Work order and stock entry | Shift entry with mould, operator and rejection |
| Curing period | Warehouse transfer | Curing warehouse, transfer after curing days |
| Weight at despatch | Custom fields | Gross and tare on the delivery note, weighbridge link where available |
| Dealer credit and ageing | Credit limit, receivables ageing | Dealer statement and reminder print formats |
Case studies and how implementation runs
Thirvusoft has published case studies on SMT Pavers & Blocks and Sri Ganapathy Pavers & Bricks, and also runs ERPNext for Nirmal Bricks and Blocks and Sri Velavaa Pavers. Implementation starts with a plant visit to note moulds, mix designs, dealers and documents, followed by configuration, migration from Tally or Excel, and training in Tamil for the production supervisor, despatch clerk and accountant.
A manufacturing implementation typically takes 8 to 14 weeks, and ERPNext carries no licence fee. An SME implementation typically starts within a few lakh rupees; we quote a fixed price after discovery, and support continues through hyper-care and an annual maintenance contract.