CNC Job Shop Software: Quote, Track, and Ship Without the ERP Tax
A CNC job shop runs make-to-order: every PO is a different part, a different customer, a different material buy. Software built for product manufacturers assumes stocked inventory and repeat production, and owners describe it the same way over and over: it works great in a perfect world, and a job shop is far from that.
Traveler is built around the job shop loop instead: RFQ to quote to PO to traveler to floor to shipment to invoice, with the part record as the spine that remembers everything. It's $109 a month flat with unlimited users, so the machinists on the floor never cost you a seat.
“Where's my job? Nobody knows without walking the floor or asking the foreman.”
Each traveler op carries a QR code. When a machinist scans on and off, the job's status updates itself, and a what's-late and what's-next view replaces the whiteboard the lead spends time redrawing every day.
“I find out whether a job made money after the invoice is paid, if ever.”
Traveler is designed to show a one-screen job P&L while the job runs: quoted hours against actual hours from floor scans, material from POs, outside processing landed cost, and margin now. A variance flag warns you when a job trends over quote while there's still time to act.
“The software assumes I stock inventory. I buy material per job.”
Purchasing is per job by default. Material demand from released jobs groups into one PO per supplier, and receiving ties the heat lot and mill cert back to the job.
“Our internet drops and the clocking system goes down with it.”
Floor events queue locally on the tablet or phone and sync when the connection comes back, with a visible count of queued events. Travelers print without an internet connection.
Quoting the way a CNC shop actually prices
A routed quote is ops with setup and run times at work-center rates, material math (parts per bar, bars needed, the drop), outside processing like anodize or heat treat with lot minimums, and margins on each quantity break with setup spread across them. Traveler builds that skeleton for you and shows your last three purchase prices for the material and size.
Quotes go out as a PDF and a link. The buyer can pick a quantity, attach a PO, and accept from a phone without creating an account. Acceptance creates the job automatically.
Travelers that print clean and get used
The traveler is generated from the quote routing, so nobody retypes ops. It prints in black and white with the material heat lot, outside processing steps, inspection steps, and a QR code per op. On a repeat part it clones from the last run, setup photos and program names included.
Attaching a setup photo is designed to take three taps from a phone camera. Attachment friction is the reason setup knowledge never gets captured in most systems, so it's treated as a hard requirement.
Want this handled without the spreadsheet?
Traveler Cloud is quote-to-invoice for small machine shops at $109/month flat, unlimited users. It's in early access — leave your email and we'll bring you in by wave. No sales calls.
Free, no signup: Quote Calculator (Quantity Breaks) →
Straight answers
▸Does Traveler do finite-capacity scheduling?
No, on purpose. It offers a priority board with drag-and-drop resequencing, a TV mode for the shop wall, and an expedite flow that shows which promise dates break when a hot job jumps the line. Finite-capacity optimizers are the module job shop owners most often give up on.
▸Does it work for a mixed mill and lathe shop?
Yes. You list your machines and work centers during setup, set rates per work center, and routings use whatever mix of mills, lathes, saws, and outside processes the part needs.
▸Can I bring my data from E2 or JobBOSS?
Customer and part CSV importers come first, with E2 and JobBOSS² importers and free white-glove migration planned for shops moving off ECI products.