Panorama Consulting: Top ERP Systems 2024

Panorama Consulting, known worldwide for its comprehensive assessment of ERP systems and vendors, has just released its TOP 10 ERP SYSTEMS REPORT, 2024.

Here’s what the report has to say regarding Epicor Kinetic for Manufacturing:

Key strengths for EPICOR Kinetic for manufacturing:

  1. Leverages the power of ChatGPT to deliver predictive analytics and contextual recommendations via the Epicor Virtual Agent
  2. Allows you to implement Epicor Advanced MES as an add-on to capture data directly from machines and operators and get real-time analytics in a visual format
  3. Provides governance, risk, and compliance tools for addressing legal, regulatory, and supply chain mandates.

Read the full report here.

SMB’s Are Adopting ERP Technology – WHY?

 Small to mid–sized businesses (SMBs) face a number of challenges in today’s marketplace.

Under pressure to remain competitive while cutting costs, SMBs adopt ERP systems to:

  1. diversify their business models,
  2. enable descriptive and predictive analytics, and
  3. improve supply chain operations.

Furthermore, SMBs have less tolerance for drawn–out implementation projects and continuous ERP consulting spend to configure and adapt their systems. To address these challenges, ERP vendors invest in industry–specific ERP packages, self–service tooling for extensibility and analytics, and solutions to support HR and Sales. As the footprint of an ERP system within an organisation grows, so too does the potential value and risk. SMBs must consider the hidden costs of an ERP system as part of their evaluation, such as data storage, customisation, training, and maintenance.

Read the full report from Isaac Gould of Nucleus Research here.

Gartner names Epicor ‘Cloud ERP Leader’ for Product-Centric Enterprises

For those seeking cloud solutions to support their manufacturing, distribution, delivery and servicing of goods, Gartner has named Epicor as Cloud ERP LEADER in its 2023 Magic Quadrant.

Epicor’s cloud solutions include purpose-built, industry-specific solution packages for SME manufacturers and distributors, delivered through partners like Aspera Solutions in EMEA.

Recent innovations include enhanced analytics with its GROW business intelligence platform and further extensibility. Future roadmap investments are centered around AI-enabled, end-to-end supply chain data and analytics, including the use of GenAI and sustainability capabilities.

According to Gartner, Epicor’s top strengths are:

  • Strong midsize industry offering for discrete manufacturing and distribution: Nearly all Epicor customers are lower midsize, and it has a strong solution set to handle complex requirements for discrete manufacturing and retail/wholesale distribution. These capabilities include CPQ and advanced analytics.
  • Composable platform: Epicor leverages Microsoft Azure for infrastructure services and is able to provide a variety of services with its Automation Studio and Data Fabric. Services include integration, low-code and full-code development, AI/ML capabilities, and analytics in a variety of geographies for hosting its cloud solution. This may enable a highly composable architecture and approach for midsize customers only found in more expensive and large enterprise-focused vendor platforms.
  • Data as a service: Epicor’s product strategy increasingly focuses on a shift from transactional ERP to a data-driven operational model enabled by AI and business intelligence capabilities. This “data as a service” approach is designed to change how data is shared between trading partners to optimize supply chain processes and minimize disruptions.

Follow this link to download the full report.

Productivity Gains of 78% within a year of ERP Implementation

The Panorama Consulting Group has released its 2023 ERP Report, with interesting commentary on ERP and its key providers.

The report interviewed 183 companies (between November 2021 and August 2022), that have implemented an ERP system, and had at least one phase live at the time of interview.

Of note within the report:

  • 45% of the implementations had moderate customisation and 34% had no customisation – made possible due to minor configurations, and/or the choice of a tailored ERP solution (e.g. Epicor Kinetic for discrete or process manufacturers),
  • 90.9% of those interviewed realised inventory benefits within a year of implementation,
  • 77.7% realised productivity / efficiency gains within a year,
  • 63.9% realised labor/operations benefits within a year of implementation,
  • 76.2% realised better supplier interactions within a year,
  • 90% of respondents in manufacturing realised supply chain benefits, & finally
  • The top 3 reasons for project overruns were
  1. underestimating project staffing requirements (38%),
  2. scope creep (35%) and
  3. technical issues (34%)

Read the full report here

Epicor for Manufacturing Delivers 14.2% Higher Revenue & $2.90 Million in Annual Benefits – IDC Dec. 2022

Enhance your Business Value with Epicor Kinetic

3-year ROI of 373% (on average), & investment breakeven within 9 months
 

In September 2022, IDC spoke with manufacturing companies using Epicor Kinetic (Epicor for Manufacturing) to run their operations and businesses. These customers reported that Epicor for manufacturing delivers strong value, enabling more efficient and reliable manufacturing operations, and considerably improving business results.

Interviewed manufacturers attributed gaining the automation, integration and flexibility they require to operate efficiently, flexibly, and robustly to respond to business demand. They linked these gains to operational efficiencies such as streamlined manufacturing floor operations and lower operational costs, as well as improved business results such as higher revenue and improved margins. Taken together, these benefits have allowed interviewed manufacturers to capture significant value through their use of Epicor for Manufacturing, with IDC calculating that they will realise an average three-year ROI of 373% and break even on their Epicor investment in an average of nine months.

Key Quotes from the IDC report include:

  • “IDC calculates that [manufacturing companies] will realise benefits worth an annual average of $2.90 million per organisation.”

     

  • “Epicor has enabled interviewed companies to increase their capacity significantly (34% on average), allowing them to better deliver their core products to existing customers as well as grow and expand their businesses.”

     

  • “Epicor has enabled interviewed companies to significantly improve their on-time delivery rate, allowing them to deliver in a timely fashion on 94% of orders, which is an increase of 39%. This improvement greatly increased customer satisfaction”.

  • “The study participants experience 63% fewer incidents that affect manufacturing availability and performance, and that when incidents do occur, they are resolved 17% faster. As a result, manufacturing line team members lose far less productive time — an average of 63% less — which translates to higher productivity for these teams worth an average of $150,700 per year per interviewed manufacturing company”.

     

  • Epicor users within the study “also reported an average supply chain productivity gain of 26%, reflecting their enhanced ability to navigate current challenges related to supply chain activities”.

     

  • “IDC calculates that interviewed Epicor customers complete an average of 38% more inventory turns annually and avoid lost business worth an average of $271,300 annually by having the right inventory to manufacture in ways responsive to actual customer demand.”

     

  • “Interviewed manufacturing companies attribute an average of $7.14 million in higher revenue to their use of Epicor for Manufacturing. This equates to an average of 14.2% higher revenue and shows the sizeable impact of Epicor on these organisations’ ability to move to address business demand and ensure customer satisfaction through the creation and delivery of high-quality and relevant products and goods.”

Red the full report here

Epicor Kinetic for Manufacturing, Autumn Release 2022

Latest Release of Epicor Kinetic for Manufacturing Delivers New Industry Features and Connected Services

Released by Epicor: Austin, TXOctober 20, 2022

Epicor, a global leader of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, today introduced a variety of features in its Fall 2022 release for Epicor Kinetic for Manufacturing, part of the Epicor Industry ERP Cloud portfolio. The updates will help manufacturers better compete with deep industry-specific functionality, connected services to integrate and optimise workflows, and deliver a smoother user experience journey.

“Now more than ever, manufacturers need people-centric, open, and connected technologies to gain visibility across their business and optimise supply chain processes,” said Vaibhav Vohra, Chief Product Officer at Epicor. “The latest release of Epicor Kinetic empowers our customers with a variety of fit-for-purpose features and integrations that deliver on that, helping them grow their business and compete in today’s global marketplace.”

New capabilities across the latest release of Epicor Kinetic for Manufacturing include:

Deep Industry-Specific Functionality

  • The ability to track inventory by part and revision allows customers to reduce part number maintenance time, ensure component compatibility, and have full visibility into inventory segmentation
  • Improved API connection between Epicor Kinetic and Epicor Advanced MES that includes passing of Downtime and Scrap codes
  • Embedded electronic signature capability that can be used with Business Process Management (BPM) on any business object to support compliance and quality management needs
  • Enhancements to fulfilment improve visibility of Make-to-Orders, streamlining the release of sales orders to picking
  • Improved financial reporting capabilities, aligning the Procurement to pay trackers and GL reporting showing valuable data that will help customers easily reconcile their data across different areas

Connected Services to Optimise Workflows

  • Epicor Commerce Connect customers can rate shop at checkout by pulling the best freight rates from Quick Ship, eliminating the need to maintain shipping rates in both applications
  • Deeper integration between Epicor Kinetic and Epicor CPQ, including new features such as 3D Sketch & Extrude and a MoM Viewer Widget to view MoM calculations in real-time while users are configuring

Smoother User Experience Journey

  • Built to engage employees across the enterprise with a digital messaging and notification engine
  • Enhanced collaboration offers an optimised mobile experience

For more information on the latest release of Epicor Kinetic, get in touch.

Contact

Paul Egan

Paul.egan@asperasolutions.com

 

Epicor Industry Insights Report 2022

Key Findings of the Epicor 2022 Industry Insights Report

What do companies really need from their ERP partnerships?

In 2022 Epicor asked 1,350 technology decision makers (principally in manufacturing & distribution in the USA & UK) about their cloud ERP.

  1. How satisfied were they with their current situation?
  2. What would they look for in a new solution?
  3. How was their ERP journey as customers and how could their experience be improved at every  stage—from first contact through evaluation, onboarding, go-live, and ongoing support.
  4. Finally, how do they feel about their transition to cloud technology? What’s important to them, and how can partners accelerate value at every stage of the journey.

This report details their answers.

Read the full report here.

Read the Andy Coussins, SVP & Head of Epicor International, interview with ERPNews, here.

EUG Conference – Nov 16-17

Welcome Back – EUG Conference 2022

After a long hiatus, the Epicor User Group (EUG) conference makes a welcome return this week, and we hope to see you there.The event is always a fantastic opportunity to network with other Epicor users, to discuss issues and tips, and find out what’s new within the software – so it’s always a really worthwhile event.The Aspera team will be there, and are presenting  with others on subjects such as:1) Multi-Site Implementations – What Should You Look Out For?2) Project Management in Upgrades & Implementations – Best Practice Tips and Insights from the Customer Perspective3) Automating Epicor &4) What’s New in Epicor for 2023

Details:

Date: November 16-17thVenue: Leicester Marriott Hotel, UK

Register here!

Aspera Appoints New CEO – Fergus Doyle

Oct, 2022

Aspera Solutions Announces Two Significant Management Updates

Aspera is delighted to announce two developments at senior management level within Aspera Solutions Ltd.

Lonan Byrne, founder and Managing Director of Aspera for the past 30+ years, has taken up the role of Executive Chairman. As board chairman, Lonan will continue to maintain an active role in the development of Aspera, with a focus on investment and supporting international growth.

We are also delighted to announce the appointment of Fergus Doyle as Chief Executive Officer at Aspera Solutions. With a background in mechanical engineering and extensive international industry and business managerial experience, Fergus joins Aspera with a focus on strengthening customer relationships and the growth of Aspera’s business internationally in enterprise software services.

Speaking on the announcement, Lonan Byrne commented, “It has been a privilege to lead Aspera over the past 36 years, and to witness the significant changes in IT and ERP technology in that time. We greatly value the relationships we have developed with our customers, and the opportunities they present to enhance and grow our service offerings. I fully support Fergus and the Management Team in Aspera’s customer engagements into the future.” 

“Over the next few months I look forward to connecting with our customers, prospects & partners to learn more about their specific goals, experiences, and challenges. I’m excited to take on this role and embark on this exciting journey to continue Aspera’s development as a world-class ERP solutions provider.” Fergus Doyle, CEO, Aspera Solutions

Email: fergus.doyle@asperasolutions.com

Epicor – The Powerhouse Behind the Scuderia Alphatauri Powertrain

“Any technical Partnership is crucial for us and especially the partnership with Epicor. 

Because nowadays, Epicor manages the team”.

 

Franz Tost, Team Principal
Scuderia Alphatauri

“The main improvements are the communication, the time saving and at the end the performance, because people aren’t spending time entering the data into they system or to look for the data within the company.

So at the end we gained a very good team performance using Epicor kinetic software”.

Giovani Cattarina, ERP Engineer
Scuderia Alphatauri

“For sure you can see a better performance in the car. More parts in a shorter time, with more reliable data”.

Simone Balilla, Production Planning Manager,
Scuderia Alphatauri