Manufacturing
Global Shop Solutions data: export options and licensing readiness
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
Global Shop Solutions data can usually leave the system through standard reports, custom report queries, direct database access where your version and hosting allow it, or a vendor-assisted extract. For licensing, the route matters less than whether quotes, jobs, labor, quality and shipments still link by job number across the years you have kept.
Key takeaways
- The job number is the thread that ties quotes, routers, labor, nonconformances and shipments together in a make-to-order ERP.
- Screen and report exports answer daily questions but rarely carry the history and keys a licensing package needs.
- Confirm database access rights in your license and hosting arrangement before anyone connects a query tool.
- Quote notes, job comments and nonconformance descriptions carry the decision context buyers value, along with personal details that need removal.
- Score readiness on linkage, history, rights, sensitivity and export effort before committing IT time; a weak rights score is a stop until counsel reviews.
What history does a Global Shop Solutions system hold?#
A Global Shop Solutions system typically holds the full make-to-order record of a job shop or custom manufacturer: quotes, sales orders, bills of material, routers, work orders, labor collection, purchasing, inventory movements, quality records, shipments and invoices. Which of these you actually have depends on the modules you licensed and how consistently people used them.
For AI developers, no single table is the prize. The prize is the path a job took: what was quoted, what changed on the order, how the router ran on the floor, where labor ran over the estimate, what failed inspection and what shipped late. A shop that collected labor against operations and logged quality issues against jobs holds a much deeper record than one that used the ERP mainly for invoicing.
Which export routes are available?#
Global Shop Solutions data generally leaves the system through four routes, and each suits a different purpose. Exact options depend on your version, your hosting arrangement and the modules you run, so confirm them with your Global Shop Solutions account team or documentation before planning a large pull.
Whatever the route, keep internal keys such as job, order, part and customer identifiers in every extract. Keys can be swapped for pseudonymous codes later, during preparation; once dropped, the links between quote, job and shipment are very hard to rebuild.
| Route | Good for | Limits | Who usually does it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard reports and screen exports | Spot checks, rough record counts, field lists | Summarized views, often one module at a time | Power users in each department |
| Custom reports or saved queries | Repeatable extracts joining a few tables | Needs someone who knows the data model | In-house report writer or consultant |
| Direct database queries through ODBC or a similar connection | Full history across modules with keys intact | Access rights, load on the production server, schema knowledge | IT director or database specialist |
| Vendor-assisted or migration extract | Bulk history when changing hosting or leaving the system | Format set by the project; fields not migrated may be dropped | Vendor services or a migration partner |
Which records matter most, and how do you export each one?#
The records that matter most link a plan to an outcome. An estimate next to the actual labor, a promised date next to the ship date, or a nonconformance next to its disposition gives a model something to learn from; a list of part numbers does not. The export map below pairs each record family with the keys to keep and the route that usually reaches it.
Look outside the ERP as well. Estimators often keep pricing logic in spreadsheets, quality managers keep investigation photos and notes on shared drives, and schedulers keep the real sequence on a whiteboard or in email. Those sources can be added later if they carry a job or order number that ties them back to the ERP record.
| Record family | Functional area | Fields and keys to keep | Usual route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quotes and estimates | Quoting and estimating | Quote number, revision, estimated hours and material, won or lost status, notes | Custom report or database query |
| Sales orders and changes | Order entry | Order number, quote reference, promised and revised dates, any change history kept | Database query; confirm whether changes were stored |
| Bills of material and routers | Engineering | Part and router keys, operation sequence, setup and run standards | Database query, leaving attached customer drawings behind |
| Work orders and labor | Shop floor and labor collection | Job number, operation, employee code, actual setup and run time, scrap | Database query |
| Nonconformances and corrective actions | Quality | Record number, job and part keys, cause code, disposition, notes | Custom report or database query |
| Purchasing and receiving | Purchasing and inventory | PO number, promised and received dates, rejections | Standard report or database query |
| Shipments and invoices | Shipping and accounting | Shipment and invoice numbers tied to order and job | Standard report or database query |
| Maintenance history | Maintenance, where used | Equipment ID, work order, downtime, parts used | Standard report or database query |
How ready is your history? A licensing scorecard#
A licensing readiness scorecard turns a vague question into five checks that an owner and IT director can answer in one meeting. Rate each check as strong, partial or weak, and treat a weak score on rights as a stop until counsel has looked at it.
A shop with strong linkage and history but partial rights is still a candidate. The rights review simply defines which customers and record types are carved out before anything is prepared.
| Check | Strong | Partial | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linkage | Quotes, jobs, labor, quality and shipments share job and order numbers | Some modules linked, others kept in spreadsheets | ERP used mostly for billing |
| History | Several years accessible in the live database or an archive | Older years only in printed reports or backups | Early history purged or lost in a conversion |
| Rights | Internal records with no customer claims on production data | Some customers with confidentiality or ownership terms | Mostly build-to-print work under strict customer terms |
| Sensitivity | Free text mostly about parts and processes | Notes name people and customers | Records full of customer drawings and contacts |
| Export effort | Known data model and query access | Reports only, or access through a consultant | No access without vendor services |
What must be removed before any file leaves the building?#
Preparation of a Global Shop Solutions extract focuses on customer identity, people and attached documents, and it happens on a copy of the extract, never in the live system. The rules below cover what most job shops need to treat before any file leaves the building.
Free-text fields need review, not just find and replace. A job comment can mention a customer engineer by first name or quote a tolerance from a print, and the open-source Presidio project states in its own documentation that automated detection gives no guarantee of finding all sensitive information. Plan for human spot checks after any automated pass.
- Customer names, contacts and ship-to addresses: replaced with stable pseudonymous codes, so a buyer can see that a customer reordered without learning who it is.
- Employee names on labor tickets, quality records and notes: replaced with role labels or employee codes.
- Attached drawings, customer specifications, certifications and pricing agreements: excluded rather than redacted, because they often belong to the customer or reveal commercial terms.
- Quote, job and nonconformance comments: an automated detection pass, then a human read of a sample by someone who knows the customers.
- Records tied to export-controlled work: left out of the extract entirely.
Illustrative: a custom fabricator prepares for a hosting change#
Illustrative: a fictional custom metal fabricator has run Global Shop Solutions for most of its history and is planning a hosting change. The IT director runs the scorecard with the owner. Linkage scores strong because labor has always been collected against job operations; history scores partial because the earliest years survive only in printed reports.
Rights score partial: a handful of large customers send build-to-print work under terms that treat drawings and production information as their confidential information. The owner scopes a first package around the remaining customers' quotes, jobs, labor and nonconformance history, with drawings and certifications excluded, and has IT take a full database extract before the hosting change rather than after it.
How SourceX approaches Global Shop Solutions history#
SourceX starts with a metadata-only fit check: which modules you run, how many years are accessible, which record families link by job number and what restrictions you already know about. No exports or samples are requested at that stage.
If the fit is good, the SourceX five-step transaction runs through Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery, and nothing moves without your sign-off. The SourceX Enterprise Data Value Framework weighs drivers such as domain expertise, human-generated signal, data cleanliness, rights and AI utility, which is why linked job histories with real notes usually rate above isolated tables. The SourceX Evidence Packet documents provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization for whatever is finally licensed. The records are licensed, not sold, so the shop keeps ownership.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need the vendor's permission to export our own data for licensing?
Exporting your own records for internal use is part of running the system, but your license agreement and hosting terms govern database access, bulk extraction and sharing outputs with third parties. Read those terms or ask your account team before a licensing extract, and record what you find in a vendor terms checklist.
Should we license before or after migrating off Global Shop Solutions?
Take a complete extract before any migration or hosting change, whatever you decide about licensing. Migrations often carry forward only open orders and recent history, and older years can become hard to reach once the old environment is retired. The licensing decision can follow once the history is safe.
Can we include records from customers we still serve?
Possibly, if your terms with them allow it and their identity is removed. The rights review checks each significant customer's purchase terms, quality agreements and NDAs. Where terms claim production information as confidential, that customer's records are usually excluded or need consent.
How much IT effort does a licensing extract take?
It depends on the access route. A shop with direct query access and someone who knows the data model can produce a scoped extract with modest effort; a shop relying on screen reports will need outside help. The export effort row of the scorecard is the quickest way to size the work before committing time.
What file format do buyers expect?
Most buyers accept common structured formats such as CSV files or database dumps, delivered with a data dictionary that explains tables, fields and keys. The dictionary matters as much as the files, because ERP field names rarely explain themselves to someone outside the shop.
Sources
- Presidio's own documentation warns that because it uses automated detection mechanisms, there is no guarantee that Presidio will find all sensitive information, so additional systems and protections should be employed. Source
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