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Realtrac Shop Management Software

Realtrac Shop Management Software at a glance
VendorRealtrac (marketed as Realtrac Performance ERP)
HeadquartersLivonia, Michigan, USA
OwnershipPrivately held, independent US company
DeploymentOn-premises installation plus a mobile web app for remote access
Target marketSmall US machine shops, job shops, and make-to-order manufacturers
IndustriesPrecision machining, tool and die, contract manufacturing, defense suppliers
PricingNot published; quote-based, with purchase and subscription options on request
Websiterealtrac.com

The short version

Realtrac runs the shop floor, not the general ledger. The product is shop management software for small machine shops, job shops, and make-to-order manufacturers, developed and sold from Livonia, Michigan. Its vendor markets it as Realtrac Performance ERP, yet the functional core is job tracking, estimating, scheduling, and shop-floor data collection rather than a full-suite enterprise system with embedded financials. Accounting runs through interfaces to third-party packages, which is the distinction that matters when the shortlist also contains complete ERP systems.

Where Realtrac comes from

The software started in 1981 inside a working machine shop in Livonia, in the Detroit metro area, and it never drifted far from that origin. Ownership stayed private. Robert Sakuta acquired the business in the early 2010s and repositioned the marketing under the Performance ERP label. Rightboard, a visual scheduling and machine-loading board, arrived later and became the product's signature feature. No ERP consolidator has swallowed the company, so development and support still sit with the same small Michigan vendor. That cuts both ways.

What it covers

Quoting and estimating, job orders with routings, job costing, shipping with invoicing: that is the spine. Shop-floor data collection captures piece counts and labor time and feeds real-time job status. Rightboard handles scheduling and machine loading as an electronic whiteboard. Purchasing and inventory add RFQs, bills of material, barcode support, and MRP-style replenishment. Further modules address time and attendance, employee management, quality, and CMMC-related compliance topics that matter to machine shops in the defense supply chain. General ledger, payables, and receivables are absent; Realtrac hands that data to an external accounting package.

Who buys it

Typical customers are US machining and job-shop businesses well under 100 employees that quote custom work and need job costing they can trust. The Michigan roots show. The product has a visible following among Midwest metalworking shops, where it frequently turns up as an alternative to JobBOSS2 and other job-shop packages. Process manufacturers, distributors, and multi-site enterprises are not the audience.

How it is sold

Installation is on-premises on Windows, with a mobile web app for remote visibility. This is not a cloud-native SaaS product. Prices are not published. The vendor offers purchase and subscription options on request and argues its case on low total cost of use and fast implementation, so buyers should model licensing, support, and server hardware as one number; the ERP TCO calculator gives that comparison a structure.

Our take

Call it what it is: shop management software with accounting interfaces, sitting right at the border of what belongs in an ERP directory. The narrow focus is also the argument for it. A machining-native feature set, data collection that stays simple, and the Rightboard scheduler cover what a small job shop actually runs on day to day. For a shop that wants one system for everything, this is the wrong buy: anyone who needs general ledger, payroll, or multi-entity financials inside the same product should either look elsewhere or accept the integration approach with open eyes. Everyone else should press hard on roadmap, cloud plans, and support depth before signing, because a small privately held vendor with an on-premises product carries that risk by construction.

What the Realtrac Shop Management Software website looks like

Current view of the vendor homepage, captured by our editorial team.

Screenshot of the Realtrac Shop Management Software vendor homepage

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Frequently asked questions

What size shop is Realtrac built for?

Small US machining and job-shop businesses, usually well under 100 employees, that quote custom work and need job costing they can rely on. The product has a particularly visible following among Midwest metalworking shops, where it competes with JobBOSS2 and similar job-shop packages. Process manufacturers, distributors, and multi-site enterprises sit outside its scope.

Is Realtrac a full ERP system or shop management software?

Realtrac markets itself as Performance ERP, but functionally it is shop management software focused on quoting, job tracking, scheduling, and shop-floor data collection. Financial accounting is not built in. The system transfers data to third-party accounting packages instead, so general ledger, payables, and receivables live outside the product. Buyers who expect those functions inside one integrated system should treat this as a structural difference from full ERP suites, not a minor gap that a configuration setting can close.

What is Rightboard in Realtrac?

Rightboard is Realtrac's visual scheduling and machine-loading tool, presented as an electronic whiteboard for the shop floor. It shows job status and machine load in one view, so schedulers can rebalance work and protect delivery dates without keeping spreadsheets on the side. For small machine shops it is one of the main selling points, because it mirrors how many shops already plan on physical whiteboards.

Does Realtrac run in the cloud?

Not in the way cloud-native buyers mean. Realtrac is primarily an on-premises Windows installation, complemented by a mobile web app that provides remote access to shop data, rather than a multi-tenant SaaS product like some newer job-shop platforms. Shops that require a browser-only, vendor-hosted system should clarify hosting options directly with Realtrac or put cloud-first alternatives on the list.

How much does Realtrac cost?

Realtrac does not publish price lists, so any concrete figure requires a direct quote from the vendor. The company promotes both purchase and subscription options and positions itself on low total cost of use. When comparing quotes, US buyers should include implementation, training, annual support, and any server hardware for the on-premises installation to arrive at a realistic multi-year picture.

Who owns Realtrac, and is the product still actively developed?

Realtrac is a privately held, independent company based in Livonia, Michigan, and it has not been absorbed by any of the large ERP consolidators. The software has been on the market since 1981 and is still actively marketed, with the Rightboard scheduling tool as a more recent addition. Independence keeps the product close to its machining audience. It also concentrates the risk, so prospective buyers should ask about release cadence, support staffing, and the long-term roadmap during evaluation.