Purchasing & Procurement Software for UK Manufacturing Businesses

It should control who can commit spend and whether you pay only for what arrived. That means requisitions against cost centres, approval limits by role, purchase orders to approved suppliers, goods received against each PO, three-way matching of invoices, and an audit trail of every change. For manufacturers it should also link purchasing to stock levels and production demand.

Stock levels and production demand should drive purchasing. Reorder points, safety stock and supplier lead times trigger purchase orders for raw materials and components before shortages hit production, and goods received against a PO update stock immediately. Keel connects the procurement system with inventory and production management, so buyers and planners work from the same live figures.

Unlike traditional ERPs that force manufacturers into rigid, pre-built workflows, Keel is built entirely around your specific procurement process. You get custom approval chains, supplier tracking, and PO workflows that match how your business actually operates—without the months-long implementation timelines or expensive consultants that legacy ERP deployments typically require.

With Keel's Build for Me service, most manufacturers go live within a matter of weeks. The timeline depends on the complexity of your procurement workflows, number of supplier integrations, and approval hierarchy. Keel models your system in real-time and hands full ownership to your team upon launch, ensuring a smooth transition without extended downtime.

Yes. The purchasing system connects to your inventory, production and financial systems through APIs, so purchase orders update stock, feed production plans and reconcile invoices. UK manufacturers often ask about Xero or Sage: approved POs and matched invoices can pass to your accounting system with VAT and cost-centre coding, and Keel builds that integration as part of your system.

Absolutely. Keel's procurement system natively supports multi-location inventory, multi-currency POs, and location-specific supplier terms. Whether you're sourcing raw materials from international suppliers or managing stock transfers between production sites, the system handles currency conversion, location-based routing, and consolidated reporting across your entire operation.

Keel supports fully configurable, multi-tier approval workflows. You define spending thresholds, approval chains and budget limits for each team or cost centre. Custom user roles ensure only authorised staff can raise requisitions, approve POs or amend orders. Alerts notify approvers straight away, and a complete audit trail logs every action for reporting and audit.

Yes—complete ownership is a core principle at Keel. Your data model, workflows, and codebase belong entirely to your business. You're never locked into a vendor license or dependent on Keel to make changes. Your team can iterate on the system independently, and Keel provides full handover documentation and onboarding support to ensure your operators are fully self-sufficient.

Capture VAT on each purchase order and invoice line, and raise orders in the supplier's currency while recording the GBP value for budgets. Keel's procurement system supports multi-currency and multi-location purchasing, and matched invoices pass to your financial system through API integrations, so your purchase ledger and VAT records reflect what was actually ordered, received and invoiced.

Costs depend on the model and your complexity: per-user SaaS tiers, ERP module add-ons or a system you own, with users, sites, integrations and approval rules as the main drivers. Keel is one fixed yearly subscription billed in GBP with VAT added. It costs a lot less than a traditional ERP and you won't need to double your budget for consultants. Contact Keel for a price.

No. Many UK manufacturers control purchasing well without a full ERP. Keel is the ERP alternative for operations: you get requisitions, approvals, purchase orders, goods-in and three-way matching connected to stock and production, while your existing accounting system stays in place. It bridges the gap between spreadsheets and legacy enterprise systems without a lengthy ERP implementation.

Yes. Keel supports multi-region data residency, and each environment has its own isolated infrastructure and database that can be hosted in a location you choose, including the UK. You own your data model and data, and access is protected by deny-by-default access control, row- and role-based permissions and a full audit log.

Yes. Keel is the trading name of Planko Ltd, a company registered in the United Kingdom at 3rd Floor, 1 Ashley Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 2DT, with a team in London. Keel is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under reference ZB524558, and payments are in GBP with VAT added.