01
Built for make-to-order work
Quotes, one-off jobs, scheduling and traceability at the core, so a job that differs from the last one is the normal case.
Tangle vs Katana
A Katana alternative built for job shops
Katana is inventory-led and aimed at product brands. A job shop runs on quotes, one-off jobs, machine load and traceability. Tangle is built for high-mix, make-to-order work, and your own team can change it.
02
Scheduling by machine and department
Schedule by machine and department, with labor capacity in view. Overloads and conflicts are flagged, and when a hot job lands you get a suggested next open slot.
03
Traceability through every job
Lot and location tracking through every job, with heat numbers or cert references added with Milo if your customers need them.
04
We build it with you, then you change it
We set up your first build with you, and the core setup is normally included in the price. After that your team changes it in plain English with Milo, without raising a ticket.
Where Katana sits
Katana is aimed at product brands, though its industry list includes industrial equipment. It is inventory-led, its scheduling page covers order-priority scheduling with drag-and-drop, and it offers custom fields plus an API and an MCP server for AI tools. Its expert-led onboarding builds custom tools around your processes.
For a business that makes and ships its own products from stock, that is a sensible shape.
Why job shops choose Tangle
A job shop is a different business. Most of what it makes is quoted, built to order and never repeated in exactly the same form, so an inventory-led tool tends to need workarounds from the start. Tangle is built for high-mix, make-to-order work: quotes with a part tree and cost tree that recalculates by quantity, multi-level work orders, shop-floor cards with start and stop time, and lot, serial and location tracking.
The schedule is built around load. Tangle shows the hours loaded on each machine and department against the hours available, flags overloads and conflicts, and lets you drag a job and watch the load update before you commit. The Schedule Assistant finds bottlenecks, flags late and at-risk work, and writes a foreman shift brief. More on that on our job shop scheduling page.
You will hear that you should not have to build your own system. You do not. We set up your first build with you, and the core setup is normally included in the price. From then on, when your process changes, the people who run the shop describe the change to Milo, Tangle's built-in AI engineer. Milo builds it in a sandbox, you preview it, and it is applied once someone on your team approves it, without raising a ticket.
"Tangle is able to bend every which way and that's been the best aspect of working with this software."
Tangle and Katana at a glance
| Katana | Tangle | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Inventory-led, aimed at product brands | High-mix, make-to-order work |
| Scheduling | Order-priority scheduling with drag-and-drop; we found no machine-load view on its scheduling page | Load by machine and department, conflicts flagged, Schedule Assistant |
| Changing the system | Custom fields, plus an API and MCP server for AI tools | Describe it to Milo, preview it in a sandbox, apply it once approved |
| Getting started | Expert-led onboarding that builds custom tools around your processes | We set up your first build with you; core setup normally included in the price |
| Traceability | Lot, serial and location tracking; heat numbers and cert references added with Milo |
What it costs, and what is included
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.
Katana alternative FAQs
Is Tangle better than Katana for a job shop?
For high-mix job and fab shops, Tangle is usually the better fit, because it is built for make-to-order work with scheduling by machine and department and lot, serial and location tracking. Katana is aimed at product brands and is inventory-led.
Does Katana do job shop scheduling?
Katana's scheduling page covers order-priority scheduling with drag-and-drop. We found no machine-load view on that page. Tangle shows load by machine and department against available hours, flags conflicts, and includes the Schedule Assistant.
Do I have to build the whole system myself with Tangle?
No. We set up your first build with you, and the core setup is normally included in the price. After that your team changes it in plain English with Milo, Tangle's built-in AI engineer, without raising a ticket.
Can Tangle track heat numbers and certs?
Tangle tracks material by lot, serial and location. Heat numbers and cert references are added with Milo, set up the way your customers ask for them.
Get started
See how Tangle compares for your shop
Bring a typical job, the one that never quite fits your current tool. In 30 minutes we will show you where Tangle and Katana differ for your situation.
Not ready for a demo? Start a guided trial instead. We set it up around your own workflows rather than handing you an empty system, and we will be in touch within 24 hours.
Related: Job shop ERP
Katana is a trademark of Katana Technologies OÜ. Tangle is not affiliated with Katana Technologies OÜ.