A JobBOSS² alternative built around the way your shop actually works

Most shops do not leave JobBOSS on a whim. They leave because the system has stopped bending to how the shop has changed. Reports need a spreadsheet to finish. Workarounds live in one person's head. A new process, a new customer requirement or a new step on the traveler needs a customization, and the shop waits for it.

• A change to the system means a request, a quote and a wait, so the shop molds itself to the software instead.
• The data is there, but getting a clear answer out of it usually means exporting to Excel.
• Training a new scheduler or estimator takes months, because the knowledge lives in people rather than in the system.

It is also worth knowing where the older products stand. ECI formed JobBOSS² from E2 Shop System and JobBOSS, and describes the legacy E2 and JobBOSS products as maintenance-only, "for existing customers". ECI has not announced an end-of-life date, so nobody is being forced off. If you are on one of the older products, though, you are already weighing a move, whether to JobBOSS² or somewhere else.

Tangle is an AI-native ERP for job shops and custom manufacturers. It carries the ERP backbone a job shop runs on, from quotes and work orders to scheduling, inventory, purchasing and lot, serial and location tracking, and it syncs invoices and purchase orders to QuickBooks Online rather than replacing your accounting system.

The difference you feel day to day is Milo, Tangle's built-in AI engineer. When you need a new field, a different report or a step added to a workflow, you describe it in plain English. Milo builds it inside your Tangle, in a sandbox, so you can preview it before anything goes live; it is applied once someone on your team approves it, and every request is tracked on a board. There is no ticket and no customization quote for everyday changes.

ECI's approach is different. New functionality in JobBOSS² comes through ECI's custom development team, and its AI tools are task-specific: an assistant that explains how the software works, invoice matching and BOM import. Those are useful. Milo does something else, because it changes the system itself.

A full system change on day one is the thing most shops are right to worry about, and our guide to the 5 pitfalls to avoid when switching ERP explains why. Tangle gives you three options, so you can match the pace to your risk. They are separate choices, and you do not have to go through one to reach another.

• Keep your current system. Where it is a fit, add Tangle Xray, a limited release for shops selected on fit. It works on the legacy ERP screen your team already uses, recognizes the customer, part and order on it, and shows mapped customer history and stock levels beside them. We check first whether your system is a fit. Join the Xray waiting list.
• Move in stages with Off Ramp. Off Ramp maps your existing data and live-syncs it into Tangle, so your old system keeps running in parallel while you go live a piece at a time.
• Switch fully. Cut over to Tangle once the team has confidence in the new setup.

We set up your first build with you, and the core setup is normally included in the price.

An illustrative example, not a project plan or a feature list.

Meridian Welding is a fabrication shop running an older ERP called Forge. They decide to move with Off Ramp. Quoting and job tracking go across first, then inventory and purchasing, on a timeline the shop sets, while Forge keeps running in parallel and its data keeps syncing into Tangle. Forge stays available until nobody needs it. A shop that wanted to keep Forge for longer could ask instead whether Tangle Xray is a fit, and see customer history and stock levels beside Forge's order screen.

Our prices are on our website, by user type, so you can work out what Tangle would cost your shop before you talk to anyone. The core migration and setup work needed to get live is normally included in that price, with no separate services bill for the basics, and we support running your old system in parallel until you are ready to switch. ECI does not publish JobBOSS² pricing; it is quote-only.