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Aourix vs Katana for process plants.

Q: Does Katana track lots and expiry?

Yes, through the Traceability add-on at US$249 a month as of September 2026. Batch numbers are unique per variant and tracked globally rather than per location; its FEFO logic sorts expired batches last and blocks batches expired over a month.

Q: Can Katana produce invoices or a Certificate of Analysis?

Neither natively. Sales orders sync to Xero or QuickBooks Online, which raise the invoice. Quality is an inspection task in the Shop Floor App with no Certificate of Analysis.

Q: What does Katana cost?

Published in US dollars as of September 2026: a free plan up to 30 SKUs, Core from US$299 a month scaling with sales orders delivered, and Advantage on quote. Traceability, Manufacturing Management and Warehouse Management are add-ons at US$249, US$199 and US$149 a month.

Q: Does Katana operate in Australia or Indonesia?

No local office, localisation or Indonesian presence was found. Australian GST is handled by the connected accounting system; MYOB is not a native integration. Support is 24/7 in English without regional desks.

Katana describes itself as the operating system for multi-channel commerce, with strong e-commerce and accounting connectors. This page looks at how it handles the weekly work of a soap, food or chemical plant, and where a specialist lead-to-cash system fits instead.

See the platform

Facts about Katana come from its public documentation and pricing pages, checked on 16 September 2026. Tell us if something has changed.

Katana is a tidy inventory app for a Shopify seller, and it is priced like one. Put a soap or chemical plant on it and the gaps show in the first week: no by-products, lot tracking sold as a US$249-a-month add-on, a priority list instead of a schedule, no Certificate of Analysis, no invoicing, no multi-company and nothing in Indonesia. Aourix is built for exactly that plant, with Genie doing the planning, in one quote per plant.

If you only read one thing

Bottom line

What you are buyingStock by location and e-commerce sync. Good at that. Lots and expiry cost US$249 a month extra and QC is a checklist task.

What you still do not haveBy-products, a capacity schedule, a Certificate of Analysis, invoicing, three-way match, multi-company, or any presence in Indonesia or Australia.

Where Aourix winsThe whole process flow for one quote per plant: lots and CoA included, a real scheduling board, quote to signed contract, dispatch paperwork, Genie, and local support in both countries.

Cost

The number nobody puts on the first page.

Katana has no per-user fee, which sounds cheap until the add-ons a plant needs are switched on. Here is what the same plant is looking at, and what is still missing at the end.

Katana · one plant, three yearsAbout US$34,000 over three years, and still no invoicing, QC, CoA or multi-company

Core plan, from US$299 a month, one locationUS$3,588 a year
Traceability add-on (lots and expiry), US$249 a monthUS$2,988 a year
Manufacturing Management add-on, US$199 a monthUS$2,388 a year
Warehouse Management add-on, US$149 a monthUS$1,788 a year
Year one subscriptionUS$10,752
Expert-led onboarding, one-offUS$2,000
Three-year totalUS$34,256

Core scales up with sales orders delivered and extra locations are billed per unit; one reviewer reports US$299 becoming US$797 a month. Figures use Katana's published prices in the currency shown, checked 16 September 2026; partner-quoted items are marked as such.

Aourix · the same plantOne quote per plant. Everything in the table included.

No per-user seats. The whole plant uses it, from the sales desk to the gate.
Lots and expiry, QC with CoA, the scheduling board and Genie are included. Nothing is an add-on.
Implementation by the Aourix team is in the quote. Live in four to eight weeks.
Local support in Australia and Indonesia, in local hours, included.
One figure agreed before we start. No partner day rates, no module list.

For less than what a plant pays Katana for stock control alone, Aourix runs the enquiry, the batch, the QC release and the truck at the gate.

Who each one is for

Different plants, different answers.

Choose Aourix if

You run a plant with formulas, batches, expiry dates, QC release and export paperwork, sell business to business on signed quotes, and want a scheduling board that knows each line's capacity.

Choose Katana if

You make finished consumer goods, sell mostly online through Shopify, Amazon or WooCommerce, want stock synced across channels with a free tier to pilot, and invoice from Xero or QuickBooks.

Side by side

Thirteen things a process plant actually needs.

Numbered references point to Katana's own documentation, listed at the bottom of the page. The Aourix column describes what is live today.

What a process plant needs	Aourix	Katana
Built for process manufacturingFormulas, batches, by-products; not discrete assembly	Only serves process plants: soap and oleochemicals, food and FMCG, chemicals, oil and gas. Industry templates set up products, families and pack sizes on day one.	A recipe is a list of materials and subassemblies; no percentage formulation, batch-size scaling, yield factors or versioning documented. By-products and co-products were not found. Industries listed include food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; chemicals are absent.^{[2] [3] [1]}
Lots, expiry and first-expiry-firstLot tracking, shelf life, FEFO picking	Every receipt carries a lot, expiry and retest date. Picking is first-expiry-first by default; semi-finished goods tracked between lines.	Batch numbers with optional expiry, unique per variant and tracked globally rather than per location, in the Traceability add-on at US$249 a month. FEFO amounts to sorting expired batches last and blocking batches expired over a month.^{[4] [5] [18]}
QC release with certificate of analysisTest results per batch, release gate, CoA document	QC release per batch with a Certificate of Analysis generated from the results, attached to the dispatch.	Quality is a Shop Floor App task to plan and conduct inspections; there is no specification and result model. Certificates of Analysis were not found.^[6]
Live batch scheduling boardDrag a batch onto a line and a day; capacity per line	Drag-and-drop board by line and day, capacity counted in tonnes and batches. Genie places or re-plans a batch on request.	A priority list: drag an order up and reservations recalculate. Finite capacity, changeovers and Gantt or calendar views were not found; reviewers note the missing calendar.^{[7] [21]}
Branded quotes to signed contractQuote PDF, client accept online, contract locks the bill of quantities	Quotation designer produces the branded PDF; the client accepts or rejects online; the signed quote locks the bill of quantities and becomes the contract.	Quotes as PDF that convert to sales orders, with a template editor. No native CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive connectors) and no native invoicing: sales orders sync to Xero or QuickBooks Online as invoices.^{[8] [9] [10]}
Purchasing with three-way matchRFQ, PO, goods receipt, invoice matched; approved supplier list	Material request to RFQ to purchase order to goods receipt, matched three ways against the supplier invoice. Approved supplier list enforced.	Purchase orders in the supplier's currency, RFQs, partial receipts and subcontract POs. Three-way match was not found as a feature; invoice matching happens in the accounting system.^{[11] [12]}
Dispatch paperwork from the orderPacking list, gate pass, VGM, certificate of origin	Dispatch wizard records weights and VGM and prints the packing list, gate pass and CoA from the order.	Mobile picking, packing and receiving with barcode scanning, and shipping connectors such as ShipStation. Packing list with weights, gate pass and verified gross mass documents were not found.^{[20] [18]}
Multi-company and multi-currencyOne login across group companies; quotes and POs in any currency	One login across group companies with the right role in each; quotes, POs and invoices natively multi-currency.	Multi-company or multi-entity was not found. Multi-currency buying and selling works, but the base currency is locked once set and all costing stays in it. Core includes one location; extras are billed per location.^{[13] [14] [18]}
AI that does work, with approvalAsk by voice, plan batches, raise requests; a person approves	Genie answers by text or voice with a chart, creates leads and plans, resolves schedule clashes and runs Meeting Mode. Every action waits for approval.	AI Replenishment, announced July 2026, forecasts twelve months and drafts a purchase or manufacturing order; an MCP connector answers plain-language questions. Nothing for scheduling, quality or dispatch.^{[15] [16]}
Works with your accounting systemOwn ledger vs hand-off to Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, SAP	No general ledger by design, so you keep the accounting system you have. Journal export with your chart of accounts mapped once is standard; a direct integration with Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or SAP is available as an integration project on request.	Native Xero and QuickBooks Online connectors for invoices and bills. MYOB is not a native integration. Australian GST and BAS fall to the connected accounting system.^[20]
Time to go liveFrom signed order to first real order in the system	Most plants are live in 4 to 8 weeks, implemented by the Aourix team: industry template, products and stock loaded, one real order walked through before switch-over.	Self-serve onboarding included, expert-led at US$2,000 or partner-delivered at US$2,300 to US$7,500, with a stated target of going live in under six weeks.^[17]
Pricing modelPublished or quoted; per user, per module, per site	One quote per plant that covers every row in this table: no per-user seats, no add-ons for lots, QC or scheduling, implementation and Genie included. Quick Start, Multi-Plant or Bespoke.	Published in US dollars: Free up to 30 SKUs, Core from US$299 a month scaling with orders delivered, Advantage on quote. Add-ons: Traceability US$249, Manufacturing Management US$199, Warehouse Management US$149 a month. No per-seat charge.^{[18] [19]}
Presence in Australia and IndonesiaLocal support hours, currency, tax localisation	Head office in Melbourne and a local support team in Indonesia. Customers in both countries, supported in their own business hours, in English and Bahasa Indonesia.	No Australian or Indonesian office, localisation or country edition found. One Australian implementation partner. English-only interface; 24/7 chat and email without regional desks. Rupiah works only as a foreign currency.^{[20] [13]}

Built inPartialAdd-on or partnerNot available

Where Katana is stronger

A real inventory ledger for multi-channel sellers: stock by location, reorder points, transfers and automatic ingredient deduction on completion.
Native e-commerce sync with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Amazon FBA and FBM, importing orders in the buyer's currency.
Bidirectional lot traceability for recalls once the Traceability add-on is on.
Shop-floor execution with operator tasks, barcode scanning and mobile picking, packing and receiving.
AI Replenishment that turns a forecast into a draft purchase or manufacturing order.
A free tier that supports a real pilot, packaged onboarding at published prices, and an open API on every plan.

Where Aourix is stronger

Built for process plants: formulas, batches, semi-finished goods and by-products, with lots, expiry and first-expiry-first picking included rather than sold as an add-on.
QC release with a Certificate of Analysis generated from the results and attached to the dispatch.
A scheduling board that counts capacity per line in tonnes and batches, and Genie to place or re-plan a batch.
Business-to-business selling: CRM, branded quotes accepted online, a signed contract that locks the bill of quantities, and the invoice raised from it.
Purchasing with an approved supplier list and three-way match, and dispatch paperwork with packing list, gate pass, verified gross mass and CoA.
Group companies under one login with multi-currency throughout, and support from Melbourne in Australian business hours with customers in Indonesia.

Running both

Katana customers keep Xero or QuickBooks as the ledger, and so do Aourix customers: journal export is standard and a direct integration is available as a project.

Questions

What plants ask when comparing Aourix and Katana.

Is Katana built for process manufacturing?

No. Its recipe is a discrete bill of materials of materials and subassemblies; by-products, formulation by percentage and batch scaling were not found in its documentation. It is designed for product businesses selling across online channels.

Does Katana track lots and expiry?

Can Katana produce invoices or a Certificate of Analysis?

What does Katana cost?

Does Katana operate in Australia or Indonesia?

Sources for Katana (checked 16 September 2026)

Katana and its logo are trademarks of their owner. Aourix is not affiliated with Katana. See other comparisons on the compare page.

Bring us one real order. We'll run it through Aourix on the call.

A 45-minute working session with someone who knows process plants. Melbourne-based, working across APAC.

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