Cin7 Core vs. VAI ERP

The production module systems that is offered by DEAR Systems is very good but a criticism is that it is tailored to non-variable production e.g., assembling a bike. If the output is variable e.g., dehydrating then the system is a bit challenging to use and can lead to inaccurate stock levels.

Incentivized

VAI base package software has a lot of productive tools that can be used for a lot of different types of businesses. At first I was taken back by this saying it would just be more efficient if they would just build it more specific to a certain business type, but now stepping back i see why they don't. They are able to customize it more to my needs

Incentivized

• Xero Online Accounting Integration - 100% reliable
• Drop Shipment combined with Own Warehouse Shipment Processing is a dream
• Support - Really efficient dealing with technical issues and more generic issues equally well
• Financial control of delivery notes and purchase invoices provides excellent data integrity
• Easily add new cost variables such as shipping costs, managed easily

Incentivized

• Design and ease of entering data into screens.
• Drill downs provided as you move around screens.
• Help Text for each screen.
• Back end programming easy to follow - good documentation.
• Interfaces to third party software - ex. Mark Magic Forms.
• Great Help Desk.
• Training Videos.
• Workflows and Triggers.

Incentivized

• Support
• Bugs
• Website Functionality
• Down-time
• Glitchiness

• There will most likely be customizations made for a particular niche site to integrate with their system.
• Product reviews, up sells, and cross sells are not built into the website functionality. Customization to the offerings would be needed.
• Very little documentation or open source resources on instructions or development in regards to the website design and integration with the ERP.

It does what it says on the tin.

Incentivized

S2K is easy to use, has room for growth, and serves the company's needs as a whole

Often times it seems people want to learn a platform in seconds and if they can't they say it is not "user friendly." There are some platforms that can do so much that it is just going to take time to learn it all. To me that is a good thing. S2K takes time to learn but it is worth it. It can transform your organization.

Incentivized

Terrible support, absolutely useless for anything more major than a simple navigational problem. They always provide meaningless responses that don't really address the issue such as, "our engineering department is working on the issue" or "we're working on some optimisation". These responses would be fine if anything actually resulted from them, but the same errors and problems have existed for 4 years so I don't believe they really amount to anything. In addition, they're quite pushy for me to "close your ticket" so it can be marked as resolved, but my issue hasn't been resolved. I don't exactly want to leave my ticket open for several months, but they send me consistent reminders to close the ticket which is obnoxious especially since their resolution was "our engineering department will work on it".

Great support. The staff is very knowledgeable about the platform and the capabilities within the IBM framework

If this is someone's first ERP implementation, I strongly suggest you ask for services to help implement. Ask for training on every aspect of the implementation. Make sure this is put into the overall ERP quote

DEAR Systems is much better software compared to Xero. The inventory tracking within Xero doesn't record batch dates and isn't really capable of production modules. Additionally, Xero doesn't have pricing tiers within invoicing, which is a very helpful feature offered by DEAR Systems. If a business has any level of complexity than DEAR Systems is a significantly more capable software.

Incentivized

S2K offered a system that could be used by various departments. There were modules for accounting, customer service, order entry, and web development. The ability to customize the website integration was a plus. S2K allows the option to have products in different warehouse locations. This allowed us to better manage inventory and see in real time what the stock status was

• Improved reporting for production
• Reduced invoicing admin
• Better cogs reporting

Incentivized

• Sales - since all screens are real-time, S2K helps keep our salespeople up to date with customer sales and their overall sales for each period/year.
• CSR - tracking of customer orders from point of entry to invoicing, being able to give the customer current information on their order by viewing a single screen.
• Purchasing - with multiple locations, tracking, and having inventory in the correct location to meet the customer demands that are shipped from their home location.
• Warehouse bin/item management makes picking orders a fast, accurate process, with the addition of order verification.
• Accounting - being able to see real-time information across all applications. A/R, A/P, and G/L.

Incentivized