Protessera vs. JobBOSS²: which one fits your precision job shop?

JobBOSS² from ECI Software Solutions is one of the best-known job shop ERPs. It's strong on quoting, scheduling, and job costing, and it connects to QuickBooks. Protessera is a newer manufacturing ERP for small precision and aerospace-defense shops. It's built around the traveler and the quality loop: PIN step sign-off, controlled work instructions, NCR/MRB with quarantine, and lot-to-serial genealogy.

This page covers who each one fits, how the traveler and quality workflow compares, setup and pricing, and when JobBOSS² is the better choice. Everything about JobBOSS² comes from ECI's own public pages, linked so you can check.

Who each tool fits

JobBOSS² fits make-to-order job shops whose biggest problems are quoting, scheduling, and knowing what each job really cost. ECI describes it as "a purpose-built job-shop ERP that centralizes quoting, job costing, shop-floor scheduling and inventory control," for small and mid-sized manufacturers (JobBOSS² (opens in a new tab)). Quotes run from preset burden rates, labor rates, quantity breaks, setup and run times, and outside services, and they convert to jobs (quoting (opens in a new tab)). Scheduling has two tools: a drag-and-drop Planning Board and a Whiteboard Scheduler, with finite or infinite capacity (scheduling (opens in a new tab)).

Protessera fits small precision and aerospace-defense shops whose biggest problem is the traveler-to-quality paper trail. It's one connected system: sales, engineering/BOM, purchasing and receiving, production, quality, and accounting. The quality records follow how AS9100 shops already work (NCR, MRB, CAPA, calibration, audits), and they sit in the same system as the work order and the PO. Protessera is an early public product. You can open a sandbox demo plant or start a self-serve trial before you talk to anyone.

Side-by-side comparison

The traveler and quality workflow

JobBOSS² is built around quoting and scheduling. Protessera is built around the traveler and what happens when a part doesn't pass. Here's that workflow in Protessera:

1. Controlled data in. A production work order accepts only a certified BOM revision. Draft and prototype revisions are blocked and pointed to a prototype work order. Getting a BOM certified for production takes a completed prototype build and a released work instruction. A new work order picks up the latest released work-instruction revision for the part.

2. Each person signs their own steps. Traveler steps that need sign-off take the signer's own PIN. An account with no PIN can't sign. Test steps record the measured value and need an explicit Pass or Fail.

3. Failures open records automatically. A failed test step opens an NCR against the work order. A receipt that fails inspection at the receiving dock opens an NCR and an MRB case and moves the stock to quarantine, where it no longer counts as available.

4. MRB dispositions drive the next step. Rework and repair dispositions create rework work orders.

5. Genealogy without extra typing. Each work order shows every kitted lot back to the PO and receipt it came in on. Serialized assemblies get a per-unit as-built record.

See it in the demo. The demo plant comes with sample data. Open WO-00001 and sign the remaining traveler steps. Then fail a waiting receipt at the receiving dock and find it in MRB with the stock quarantined.

How JobBOSS² handles this: ECI describes JobBOSS² quality as "a fully integrated quality system" tied to orders, covering non-conformances, CAPA, document control, and maintenance, with optional auto-generated ISO documentation and a quality dashboard. It also lists calibration tracking, a uniPoint integration, serial control, and a shop-floor Data Collection Module (features (opens in a new tab), JobBOSS² (opens in a new tab), JobBOSS (opens in a new tab)). For many job shops that's plenty. The difference is in what's built into the traveler itself: the release and certification gates, per-person PIN sign-off, and dock fail straight to MRB and quarantine.

Setup and pricing

Protessera

• Pricing is published, with lower first-year launch pricing. The Shop plan (1–10 users) costs $10 a month for the first user plus $2 a month for each additional user for the first 12 months, so $28 a month at 10 users. After that it's $30 per user per month. Larger teams pay a flat annual price: Starter (up to 30 users) is $250 for the first year, then $3,600/yr. Growth (up to 100) is $500, then $8,400/yr. Business (up to 250) is $1,000, then $18,000/yr. Enterprise (251+ users, including self-hosting) is quoted. Every paid plan includes the full product; tiers differ by seat count, not by locked modules.
• Trial: a 60-day free trial with no card to start, in an empty company of your own. You're asked to pay on day 60, and until then nothing is billed.
• Demo: a sandbox demo plant with sample data. No card, and it's deleted when you leave.
• Setup: onboarding is self-serve. There's a setup wizard, paste-from-Excel import for parts, customers, suppliers, and people, and email invites for your team. How long a live cutover takes depends on your data and your shop, so we won't promise you a go-live date.

JobBOSS²

• Pricing is not published. ECI says pricing "is tailored to the specific scale of your manufacturing operations and the depth of functionality required." Request a quote at ecisolutions.com (opens in a new tab).
• Implementation: ECI says implementation "takes around 3-6 months to complete," led by its team of job shop experts. It also offers a Business Process Assessment. (FAQ (opens in a new tab), JobBOSS (opens in a new tab))
• Support: ECI says its customer support is based in the United States (FAQ (opens in a new tab)).

When JobBOSS² is the better choice

We'd point you to JobBOSS² if:

• Quoting, scheduling, and job costing are your main problems. Preset-rate estimating, quantity breaks, two scheduling tools, what-if lead times, and estimated-vs-actual job costing are JobBOSS²'s home turf, and they've been refined over a long time.
• You want to keep QuickBooks. JobBOSS² syncs with QuickBooks Desktop and Online. Protessera has its own built-in accounting and doesn't offer a QuickBooks sync.
• You want a long-established vendor. ECI has offered JobBOSS for decades. Protessera is early.
• You handle CUI or ITAR technical data and need a hosted answer now. Protessera's standard hosted service isn't the place for that data (see the FAQ). ECI says JobBOSS² "complies with ITAR standards" and offers private hosted cloud and on-premises options (FAQ (opens in a new tab)). Check those claims against your own requirements.
• You need on-premises or a private hosted cloud today. ECI offers both, plus multi-tenant SaaS (FAQ (opens in a new tab)). Protessera's standard service is hosted. Self-hosting is scoped case by case through Enterprise.
• You need SSO, barcode/RFID scanning on the floor, or Part 11-style e-signatures today. Those are on Protessera's roadmap, not shipping. If you need them on day one, pick a system that has them now, and confirm with ECI which of these JobBOSS² covers.

Protessera is the better fit if your pain is the traveler-to-NCR-to-MRB trail, you want work instructions and BOMs gated by release and certification, and you want published per-seat pricing with a trial you can run yourself.

FAQ