Epicor CMS vs. Sage 500 ERP

Through daily use of Epicor, it is apparent that at it's basest level, it favors a stock-based manufacturing model (your company has established SKUs and Production works to replenish stock levels when a KANBAN or other system triggers a re-order point). While it excels at that, ours is a custom-order industrial manufacturing model (we produce to customer specification or repeat orders), meaning there is no stocking of finished components, only the materials it takes to make them. It's taken some finesse (and the purchase of additional modules) to get to where we need to be.

Incentivized

Sage 500 ERP is great for companies with core accounting needs, distributors, and discrete manufacturers. Some areas, such as process manufacturing, would require a companion product from an ISV for the software to be truly functional. Some areas, such as construction or retail apparel, may simply not be well-served.

Incentivized

• EDI Order Processing
• Serialized Inventory Tracking
• Order Processing

Incentivized

• Sage is the one-stop-shop for all of our needs. We're able to control contracts, subcontracts, and field reports from the program.
• Another strength is the ability to database all the information and export it to excel. This makes data-based investigations a breeze.
• The ability for Timberscan to be imported to Sage is a huge help with invoice management. Prior to this it all had to be done manually and slowed the process to an essential halt as there are thousands of invoices per month.

Incentivized

• Too "modular"
• Each task involves opening a new window.
• Slow to process orders (despite upgraded fiber-optic internet).
• More geared towards stock-based manufacturing rather than made-to-order, without requiring additional modules.

Incentivized

• The biggest concern/complaint of Sage 500 users is speed. Some of the screen take a while to load.
• The user interface needs some refreshing. Screens need to be updated to take advantage of shortcuts and to be more intuitive.

Incentivized

It's too pricey for our size of company.

Incentivized

CMS takes time to learn and use the menu driven green screen. However, once you are familiar it makes for fast navigation.

Incentivized

I have been using Intacct for almost 10 years in 2 different companies and I just simply love it. I tried SAP (GUI) and Netsuite and they dont come close to what Ive seen.

Incentivized

Support is getting better but can still be slow to respond.

Incentivized

The online training courses are not up to date. We experienced technical issues with two of the classes.

Incentivized

Keep your database and application in different servers.
Install Microsoft Office on your application server so you can use some of the data analysis tools in Sage.

Incentivized

Epicor CMS had a UI that was deemed more aesthetically pleasing than (subjective, naturally!) Sage, for which we attended a presentation/orientation session. Our Team felt Epicor (once outfitted with the necessary add-ons) would be better suited in the long run for longevity and ongoing support (especially considering our outgoing software was Sage).

Incentivized

500 seems much smoother at handling some of the basic accounting tasks, for example both issuing and later reconciling checks in Dynamics AX seems a little tedious.

Incentivized

• Epicor has necessitated dedicated "Staging" personnel, as multi-line orders are generated as individual orders to Production/Manufacturing, meaning someone must ensure they all come together upon completion prior to shipping.
• Payroll and Accounts Payable/Receivable have noted improved integration and tracking compared to the legacy/outgoing software (Business Vision).
• Inventory tracking is vastly improved over the outgoing software, with detailed reports/tracking of remnant/off-cut materials, which benefits Material Handlers as well as the Purchasing Manager for keeping the inventory budget in line with targets.

Incentivized

• Positive: The program allows for a lot of data entry and splitting of information. It has the capability of replacing multiple programs and therefore saving cost.
• Negative: The modules are cumbersome and not user friendly at all. As a result not many user are comfortable using it. This means that the program is not being used to its capacity.
• Negative: Although the program has the capacity to be great, the user interface destroys that potential. Sage needs to seriously work on their program to simplify it. It's as if it still uses Command-line entries from 1995. Needs to be updated ASAP.

Incentivized