A manufacturer comparing Katana and LineNow needs the supplier’s confirmed material to match the approved build specification. Test a proposed substitute before treating a confirmed delivery as production-ready stock.
We make LineNow. This comparison uses linked vendor documentation and an illustrative purchasing scenario.
What Katana documents
Katana describes a shared system for stock, orders and production, with purchasing, warehouse workflows and integrations. Its site positions the product for businesses selling across multiple channels and locations. Manufacturing is an important part of its scope, but it should not be described as its only use case. See the primary source.
A supplier-execution tool and a production system may both track raw materials. That overlap does not make them interchangeable. Material availability, production progress and the supplier's latest promise need to agree, while the production team retains responsibility for scheduling and substitutions.
Change the material without silently changing the build
An illustrative assembly requires two brackets per finished unit. A run of 100 units therefore requires 200 approved brackets before allowances for scrap. A supplier offers 100 brackets in the specified material and 100 in an alternative material.
Ask the demo team to retain both the requested specification and proposed substitute. Record the engineering or production approval before changing the material used in the build. If the substitute is rejected, the system should preserve the unresolved shortage; a vendor confirmation must not be treated as proof that the material is acceptable.
Next, receive the approved portion and check which production jobs can proceed. Show where the remaining quantity and due date live, and who updates the work schedule. Finally, inspect whether the cost estimate remains distinguishable from the actual cost after production. These checks establish the operational boundary between purchasing and manufacturing.
What to demonstrate in LineNow
In a LineNow manufacturing purchasing demo, attach the offer for 100 specified brackets and 100 alternatives to the living purchase order. Have the buyer preserve the requested material and record the production team’s decision on the substitute.
If the alternative is rejected, the 100 approved brackets cover only 50 finished units at two brackets each, assuming no scrap or other shortages. Follow the outstanding 100 brackets and their due date into the planner’s next decision. Demonstrate how that information reaches the production schedule in the proposed setup.
Choose from the operating evidence
Evaluate Katana when inventory and production coordination drive the project. Evaluate LineNow when supplier confirmations, changes and receiving need better coordination beside that system. A LineNow demonstration of components or BOM usage is not evidence of equivalent work-order scheduling or manufacturing execution.
Have the buyer and production planner work through the rejected substitute together. Compare how quickly they can establish approved material availability, find the remaining supplier commitment and revise the build plan. Include the production, warehouse and purchasing modules required for that workflow in the proposal.