AI automation & custom software for Grantham businesses
By the time you've typed the job sheets up and the ERP finally agrees with the floor, the run that slipped is long gone and you're explaining it after the fact. That's where a custom software company Grantham firms can actually hire locally earns its place — Propel starts with the work that's costing you time and visibility, not the technology.
We sit alongside the ERP and the kit you already run, capture data from any age of plant with no retrofit, and never stop the line for a rollout — and we'll tell you honestly if automation won't pay back.
Your systems don't talk to each other, and your team is the integration
A run slips, a machine goes down, or a pallet leaves at the wrong temperature, and you find out hours later from paper someone hasn't typed up yet. Output and stock get re-keyed between the floor and the ERP because the formats don't match, the numbers drift apart, and your best operators spend half their shift filling gaps the systems should have closed. It quietly costs you margin you can't see in time to protect, overtime you didn't plan for, and a scramble every time a customer or auditor asks for records. Grantham sits on the A1 and the East Coast Main Line with a real engineering base and serious cold-chain investment landing nearby, including Magnavale's planned cold store at Easton, yet most firms here still buy custom software from Nottingham or Lincoln, or settle for a templated page that's never set foot on a shop floor. Propel is the ai automation agency Grantham can hire for the floor, not the brochure.
Who we build for around Grantham
- Manufacturing & engineering
- Steel, metals & heavy industry
- Cold storage & food processing
- Logistics & distribution
- Agriculture & agri-food
- Construction & trades
- Wholesale & professional services
The job that lost money is out the door before the numbers land
When the floor and the ERP never quite agree, you're reconciling after the fact instead of acting in time — here's where the hours and margin actually leak, and what Propel closes first.
The floor and the ERP never quite agree
Production output, job sheets and stock get typed in twice because the formats don't match, so the numbers drift apart. Operators improvise off paper that's already wrong, nobody fully trusts either system, and you're the one reconciling it when a figure doesn't add up.
By the time you see it, it's already shipped
Downtime, maintenance and quality data go onto paper, label printers or a legacy MES, then someone types it up later. The job that lost money is out the door before the month-end figures land, and you heard it from a spreadsheet, not the floor.
You can't see where the delay started
When a run slips or a line goes down, you can't tell which machine, which shift or which job caused it. You're managing on gut feel and end-of-month reports, hiring another pair of hands that just adds overhead instead of fixing what's actually leaking time.
Every audit is a manual scramble
Quality, traceability and movement records get stitched together by hand under deadline. When a customer or regulator asks for better reporting, it eats a day you didn't have and leaves you hoping nothing was missed in the typing-up.
How Propel takes the admin off the floor
Practical systems that sit alongside the ERP and the kit you already run, so production, quality and cold-chain data move themselves — and you act while you still can.
See what's happening while you can still act on it
Live views of output, downtime, scheduling and asset movement, so bottlenecks and delays show up in time to do something about them instead of at month-end. The visibility comes from data captured as work happens, not typed up after it.
Capture floor data on any age of plant, no retrofit
Reliable production, downtime, maintenance and quality data without bolting sensors onto machines that weren't built for them. Operator-led capture on tablets, scanners or terminals your team will actually use, built around how your floor runs and never stopping the line.
Stop re-keying between the floor and the ERP
Production and financial data that stay in sync instead of being typed in twice and disagreeing. We align your shop-floor systems with the ERP and accounts you already keep through MES integration, connecting to what you run rather than ripping it out.
Walk into audits clean by default
Quality, traceability and movement reports generated automatically from captured data, so a customer or regulator request stops being a day-long scramble. Governed and audit-ready, with a clear trail of who captured what.
Get the hours back that re-keying eats
We map a job that bleeds time, such as goods-in, job costing or order-to-dispatch, and automate the handoffs so data moves itself across your apps. Practical workflow automation Grantham operators feel in the working day, not in a slide deck.
Keep the cold chain provable end to end
Custom software for temperature logging, stock movement, pallet and consignment tracking and traceability, built for cold storage and distribution along the A1 corridor. Governed and audit-ready, so the proof is there when the spec demands it.
You've not heard of us — so here's a system we built and run every day
Fair question on a shop floor: who are you, and have you actually built anything that runs? Most local firms claim integration and show you a slide deck. Our founder built Atlas, a complete operating system that runs a 26-person agency in production every day — clients, contracts, tasks, hours, delivery, sales, finance, reporting, portals, permissions, audit trails and governed AI in one platform. We didn't pitch it, we built it and we run our own business on it, with a full trail of who did what. That's the standard we bring to capturing your floor data and keeping it in sync with your ERP: built to be lived in daily, governed by design, and honest about what it does.
1 platform
replacing a stack of disconnected tools
26-person
agency runs on it in production, daily
15+
business functions unified in one system
Built from scratch
not a template or a wrapper
Why hire Propel instead of a Nottingham agency or a templated page
You've not heard of us, and offshore web shops and London consultancies don't know a shop floor, while the local firms that claim integration rarely show proof. Ours isn't a slide deck. Our founder built Atlas, a complete operating system running a 26-person agency in production every day, covering clients, contracts, tasks, hours, delivery, finance, capacity, reporting, portals, permissions and governed AI in one place, with full audit trails. We didn't pitch it, we built it and we run it. On your build there's no big-bang rollout: we start with the one process bleeding time, connect to the tools you already run, only replace what you've genuinely outgrown, and agree fixed scope and fixed price before any work begins, so the line keeps running and there's no lock-in surprise. We cover Grantham and the towns around it, including Sleaford, Bourne, Stamford, Bingham and Newark, as a real local builder who ships custom software Grantham businesses can finally hire down the road.
Where we cover
We work with manufacturers, cold stores and logistics operators across Grantham and the nearby towns along the A1 corridor.
- Sleaford
- Bourne
- Stamford
- Bingham
- Newark
- Atlas is real: a full operating system running a 26-person agency in production daily, governed and audited — not an integration we promised, one we run.
- No big-bang and no line stoppage: we start with the one process bleeding time, connect to your ERP and kit, and only replace what you've genuinely outgrown.
- Fixed scope and fixed price agreed before any work begins, with no lock-in — so your finance lead sees the cost up front and the floor keeps running.
Start with one process that's bleeding time, prove it on a live operation
No rip-out, no big-bang, no creeping bill. We scope and price the work before anyone touches a tool, then build alongside the kit and ERP you already run.
AI Opportunity Audit
A free 30-minute call where we look at your floor, not a template — where capture is manual, where the ERP and floor disagree, and which process is quietly costing you the most. You leave with an honest read on whether automation pays back.
Scope and design
We map the one job to fix first, such as goods-in, downtime capture or order-to-dispatch, design how it sits alongside your ERP and plant, and agree a fixed scope and fixed price before any work begins.
Build and integrate
We build operator-led capture and the integrations on a live operation, connecting to the tools you already run with no retrofit and no stopping the line. Governed and audit-ready from the start.
Launch and support
We roll it out with your operators, prove the production and financial data stay in sync, and stay on hand. We only extend to the next process once the first one is earning its place.
The questions you'd put to anyone before they touch your floor
Our kit is old — can you capture data without retrofitting every machine?+
Yes. We design operator-led capture that works on any age of plant, using tablets, scanners or terminals on the floor, so you get reliable production and downtime data without bolting sensors onto machines that weren't built for them. No retrofit, and no stopping the line for a rollout.
Will this integrate with the ERP and accounts we already keep?+
That's the point. We sit alongside your ERP and accounting and align them with the floor so production and financial data stay in sync, instead of being re-keyed because the formats don't match. We only replace something when you've genuinely outgrown it — there's no big-bang rebuild.
We can't stop production for a long ERP project — how does this work?+
We don't run big-bang rollouts. We start with the one process bleeding time or visibility, connect to the tools you already run, and prove it on a live operation. Fixed scope and fixed price are agreed before any work begins, so the line keeps running and you know the cost up front.
Offshore shops and London consultancies don't get a shop floor — do you, and why are you different from the local firms claiming integration?+
We lead with the floor because that's where the cost is, and we show proof rather than claims. Our founder built and runs Atlas, a full operating system for a 26-person agency in production daily, governed and audited. That's the standard we bring to your build, and the free audit is where we get specific about your floor and your numbers — not a town name swapped into a template.
What does it cost?+
We don't sell fixed packages. After the free audit we scope the specific work and give you a fixed price before anything is built, so there's no creeping bill. If automation won't pay back for you, we'll tell you that too.
How is our production and customer data kept secure?+
Everything is governed and visible by design: clear permissions, audit trails and UK data-protection standards, with humans kept in the loop. No black box — you can always see what the system did, who captured what and who had access, which matters when a customer or regulator audit lands.
Manufacturing and cold-chain builds across Grantham and Lincolnshire
See where the floor is leaking time before you hire to cover it
Book a free, no-obligation 30-minute AI Opportunity Audit. We map where business automation Grantham operators feel first pays back fastest — production capture, downtime visibility or ERP alignment — with an honest build-or-don't recommendation either way.
No retrofit, no line stoppage, no obligation — and if automation won't pay back on your floor, we'll tell you straight.