For industrial SMEs

Project management software for SMEs

Most SMEs plan their projects in Excel lists or MS Project today. Linetrack picks them up where they are: project management plans at a high level with a forecast, and each department plans its own part in detail in the same system. That way no further island grows next to the lists that already exist.

Live after 10 working days (median)
High-level and detailed planning in one system
You pay for what you use

Linetrack project management software for industrial SMEs

Quick answer

Linetrack is project management software for SMEs and the industrial mid-market: for companies in manufacturing, machine building and engineering that run several projects at once with the same people. Our customers typically have between 20 and 300 employees and often move off Excel or MS Project. As a rule of thumb we recommend Linetrack from around 30 employees, and below that mainly with clear growth plans. There is no hard ceiling: Stadler Rail, a much larger company, is among our reference customers too. Linetrack adds little in micro businesses with 10 to 15 employees, where hallway conversations are enough, and where only a single project runs.

91 %

named Excel and tool
sprawl as their starting problem

400+

Excel lists and planning
tools replaced

20

employees at the
smallest customer

10 days

from kick-off
to go-live

All figures on this page come from a full survey of every live Linetrack implementation, as of August 2026. Time to go-live is the median in working days.

Starting point

Where SMEs stand with project management today

Four patterns we keep seeing in project-driven industrial companies between 20 and 300 employees.

Excel lists and MS Project instead of a system

Usually no project management system is in place yet. Planning happens in Excel lists, sometimes in MS Project. 91 % of our customers named exactly this Excel and tool sprawl as their starting problem.

Detailed planning lives in the departments

How long engineering needs or when assembly is free, the department knows itself. That knowledge sits in its own lists and agreements and never shows up in the project plan.

Several projects, the same people

Engineering, production and assembly work on several projects at once and share the same people. Without a view of free capacity, double bookings happen and only surface at the delivery date.

Processes work, but are not written down

The hand-offs between departments work, but little of it is documented. For the rollout this means: first understand how each department works, then model it.

The right size

When project management software pays off for an SME

A system like Linetrack needs a certain company size to pay off. We tell prospects that plainly. What matters is headcount and where the company wants to grow.

We have supported many rollouts like this. How it went at other companies is shown in our references.

10–15 staff
Micro business. Much of the coordination happens in hallway conversations, and that is enough. At this size you do not need a capacity planning tool that steers utilization across the whole company.
under 30
With clear growth plans. If you plan to grow significantly over the next few years, starting early makes sense. Processes are set on the right track from the start, and the system speeds them up instead of having to rework entrenched habits later.
30+
Our best practice. From around 30 employees, Linetrack usually pays off. What matters then is that departments agree on a shared approach to staff scheduling and connect it with project management's planning.

Department view in Linetrack: engineering utilization per employee and calendar week, with over- and underload highlighted in color — Staff scheduling in one department: utilization per employee and week.

Island solutions

Why project management software in an SME often becomes an island

Many project management systems stop at the project management level. Milestones and a forecast are created there. Engineering, production and assembly keep planning in their own lists, because the new system does not cover their detailed planning.

The result is one more island: project management maintains its plan, departments maintain their lists, and the two are reconciled in meetings and over the phone. Nothing is solved; there is just one more tool.

What this landscape typically looks like, and which categories of software exist, is covered in the multi-project management software comparison.

Typical SME system landscape without shared planning: ERP, project management tool, MS Project and Excel Gantt at project management level, below them separate Excel lists for engineering, assembly and production, below those task tools such as monday.com, Asana, Trello, Jira and MS Planner – with no data flow between the levels

Requirements

What project management software has to do for SMEs

Our customers' rollouts point to five requirements that project management software in an SME has to meet.

How this plays out with schedules and utilization day to day is shown on scheduling and capacity planning in one system.

Connect high-level and detailed planning. Project management's forecast and the departments' detailed planning belong in the same plan. Otherwise the next island appears.
Departments plan for themselves. An SME has no dedicated scheduler. Each department has to be able to maintain its own share without going through project management.
All projects and people in one view. Who works on which project and where it gets tight has to be visible across all projects, not just per project.
Usable in daily work quickly. The entry barrier has to be low. First results have to show after days, not after a pre-project.
Costs based on usage. A company pays for what it actually uses. When departments are added, the license grows with it.

Diagram: project management, departments and supply chain come together in one shared plan in Linetrack — Project management, departments and suppliers work in the same plan.

High-level and detailed planning

The bridge between project and department

In Linetrack, project management plans at a high level with a forecast: which projects are coming and when they need which department, and how much. Building on that, departments plan their share in detail, down to the individual employee.

Both live in the same plan. If a date in engineering moves, it directly affects assembly's planning, and project management sees what that means for the delivery date.

Rough-cut and detailed planning come together as cross-department resource planning. The features behind this are described on the project planning and resource management pages.

High-level planning in Linetrack: resource forecast per department and calendar week, projects as blocks across engineering and assembly — 1High-level planning: projects spread across departments

Detailed planning in Linetrack: work packages for mechanical assembly in the Gantt chart — 2Detailed planning: the department's work packages

Potential

Why SMEs gain more from multi-project management

When introducing a project management system, SMEs have some real advantages over large companies. The rollout should use them instead of wasting them on a corporate-style project.

How Linetrack brings several projects and shared resources together is shown on the multi-project management page. All modules of the Linetrack project management software are on the home page.

No failed attempt behind them. Teams planning in Excel or MS Project usually have no failed system rollout behind them. They start without the reservations an abandoned rollout leaves behind.
Short decision paths. SMEs decide faster than large companies and put decisions into practice quickly. A new planning system is part of daily work there after weeks, not quarters.
Fewer cross-functional units. In large companies, several divisions often draw on the same production or assembly. Because a department's utilization is only right when all its projects are in the system, they first have to settle who needs to be included. In an SME, a department can be modeled completely right from the start.
A direct effect on daily work. Once schedules, utilization and coordination run in one system, an SME notices quickly: shorter project lead times, more even utilization and fewer queries between departments.

Comparison

Linetrack compared with Excel, MS Project and standard tools

Excel, MS Project and task tools such as Asana, monday.com or Trello cover parts of planning. For an SME with several projects and shared departments, they usually lack the link between schedules, utilization and detailed planning. The individual comparisons are in the comparison overview, for example Linetrack vs. Excel.

Requirement in an SME	Excel, MS Project, Asana & co.
Several projects with the same people	Each project in its own file or board	All projects and utilization in one view
Connect high-level and detailed planning	Project plan and department lists kept apart	Forecast and detailed planning in the same plan
Departments maintain their own part	One person maintains, everyone else feeds in	Each department maintains its share
Spot capacity conflicts	Manually, usually only at the delivery date	Overload per department and week visible
Connect ERP and time tracking	Rarely, or only through workarounds	Connected, without custom development
Grow with the company	Every new department brings a new list	Add departments and features as needed

Rollout in an SME

What the rollout has to deliver in an SME

We pick an SME up where it currently stands. At the start we look at how each department plans today and bring its know-how and detailed planning into Linetrack. Where processes are not written down yet, that takes a bit more consulting. We accept that effort on purpose: without the departments' detailed planning, the system would stay an island.

The full sequence is described on the implementing project management software page. Which systems can be connected is shown in the interfaces and integrations overview.

Results that show quickly. At the median, customers go live 10 working days after kick-off. By then the first projects are already running in Linetrack.
A low entry barrier. No lengthy pre-project and no server infrastructure of your own. A department works with Linetrack as soon as its part of the plan is in, and the next one follows during ongoing operations.
You pay for what you use. The license is made up of user count, roles and the feature modules booked. A small company therefore pays only a fraction of what a large one pays, because it uses less of it.
A system that grows with you. When departments, users or features are added, they are booked on top. The structure from the rollout stays in place.

Rollout sequence at Schnaithmann: kick-off, migration of legacy data and planning templates per machine type, then training in project and forecast planning, detailed planning by the departments, task tracking and scenario planning — Rollout at Schnaithmann: forecast planning first, then the departments' detailed planning.

References

How SMEs and mid-sized companies plan with Linetrack

Four companies from machine building and automation that started with Excel lists or another system and now plan their projects across departments in Linetrack.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about project management software for SMEs

Still have questions?

Book a meeting with our team.

At what company size does project management software pay off for an SME?

As a rule of thumb, from around 30 employees. In micro businesses with 10 to 15 people, coordination happens in hallway conversations and no capacity planning tool is needed. With clear growth plans, starting early can still pay off, because processes get on the right track from the start. Typical customers have between 20 and 300 employees and up to 30-plus departments. There is no hard ceiling: Stadler Rail, a noticeably larger company, is among our reference customers too. Headcount alone is not the deciding factor; whether several projects compete for the same people at the same time is.

Which project management software is right for SMEs?

It depends on how many projects run at once and whether departments share the same people. For a single project or a plain task list, Excel or a task tool such as Trello is enough. Once several projects compete for engineering, production and assembly, you need software that links schedules, utilization and the departments' detailed planning in one plan. That is what Linetrack is built for. An overview of the categories is on the project management software for industry page.

Can project management software replace Excel and MS Project in an SME?

Yes, and that is the most common starting point: 91 % of our customers named Excel and tool sprawl as their starting problem. Existing Excel lists and MS Project plans can be taken over during the rollout, so planning does not start from zero.

How does the departments' detailed planning get into project planning?

At the start of the rollout we look at how each department plans today. That becomes its part of the plan in Linetrack, which the department then maintains itself. Project management plans at a high level with a forecast, departments plan in detail, both in the same system. No dedicated scheduler role is needed for this.

How is Linetrack different from enterprise tools such as Project Online or Primavera?

Significantly. Project Online, and especially Primavera P6, are built for very large projects with a dedicated scheduler role or a PMO. Linetrack is built for SMEs and the mid-market: departments maintain their own share of the plan themselves, with no separate planning department. The differences in detail are covered by Linetrack vs. MS Project and Linetrack vs. Primavera P6.

What does project management software cost for an SME?

You pay for what you use: user count, roles and the feature modules booked determine the price. A company with three departments therefore pays for a different scope than one with thirty. Testing ahead of the decision is free, and suppliers receive a free collaboration license.

How long does the rollout take in an SME, and do we need an IT department for it?

At the median, 10 working days pass from kick-off to go-live. After that, departments join one by one while ongoing projects continue; the sequence is described on the Getting Started page. You do not need your own IT department: Linetrack runs as a web application from ISO 27001-certified data centers in Germany, with no server infrastructure of your own. Existing interfaces to ERP, time tracking or Office are connected without any custom development required – details are in the interfaces and integrations overview.

Does the software grow as the SME grows?

Yes. The license model is modular by user count, roles and feature modules, so further departments and users can be added step by step instead of paying upfront for the full build-out. The structure from the rollout stays in place.

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