Overview
What is Epicor Kinetic?
Epicor Kinetic (the name of the former Epicor ERP) presents a wide feature breadth, customizability, and scalability, typical product-centric cloud ERP offerings. It is meant as a single, end-to-end software solution for businesses, and is available on-premise, hosted, or in…
Epicor ERP is Enterprise software for everyone
Epicor by Bob
Epicor streamlines all activity and helps communicate between …
A solid foundation on which to grow.
Material accountability
Epicor ERP Review
Epicor ERP in a manufacturing environment
Epicor for ERP only
Epicor ERP works for us!
Epicor is a great all-in-one data management program
There is always light at the end of the tunnel...
Epicor Cloud Software
Epicor Cheerleader
Epicor our information central
Epicor ERP 10 Considerations for Mid-Market Manufacturers considering the next ERP Solution
Epicor ERP, a great choice for manufacturing companies.
Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- Cost of goods sold (38)8.989%
- Order entry (39)8.080%
- Dashboards (36)7.979%
- Role-based user permissions (37)7.070%
Pricing
What is Epicor Kinetic?
Epicor Kinetic (the name of the former Epicor ERP) presents a wide feature breadth, customizability, and scalability, typical product-centric cloud ERP offerings. It is meant as a single, end-to-end software solution for businesses, and is available on-premise, hosted, or in the cloud as a software…
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Product Demos
Epicor Collaborate - Software Demo | ERP | Epicor Kinetic
Features
Payroll Management
Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.
- 7.7Pay calculation(13) Ratings
Pay calculation provides for computation of employee pay with state and federal deductions.
- 7.7Benefit plan administration(9) Ratings
Benefit plan administration is administration of health insurance plans and 401k plans, and other benefits.
- 6.3Direct deposit files(9) Ratings
Direct deposit is the ability to electronically transfer pay to an employee’s personal bank account.
Customization
This addresses a company’s ability to configure the software to fit its specific use case and workflow.
- 6.1API for custom integration(24) Ratings
An API (application programming interface) provides a standard programming interface for connecting third-party systems to the software for data creation, access, updating and/or deletion.
- 6Plug-ins(22) Ratings
A number of third-party plug-ins are available to expand the core functionality of the software.
Security
This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.
- 8Single sign-on capability(30) Ratings
The software system supports a centralized authentication mechanism allowing the user to access multiple systems with a single, centrally managed password.
- 7Role-based user permissions(37) Ratings
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Reporting & Analytics
Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.
- 7.9Dashboards(36) Ratings
Users can create, customize and share dashboards, which provide an overview of the most important metrics.
- 9Standard reports(36) Ratings
The software offers pre-built reports with metrics standard to the category.
- 8.3Custom reports(32) Ratings
Users can create custom reports.
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Financial management solution, including capabilities for general ledger and configurable accounting
- 7.3Accounts payable(34) Ratings
This includes the automation and tracking of payment to vendors and suppliers, with features such as payment scheduling, check printing, open purchase order alerts, document management, direct ACH bill payment, and vendor records.
- 7.2Accounts receivable(35) Ratings
This includes the management and automation of invoices and collections, with features like statements, invoices, receipts, payment reminders, customer records, auto billing, and refund checks.
- 9Global Financial Support(16) Ratings
Account using multiple ledgers, multiple currencies, and multiple entities
- 6.3Primary and Secondary Ledgers(16) Ratings
Record and report across multiple currencies and accounting standards with primary and secondary ledgers
- 7.3Journals and Reconciliations(19) Ratings
Automate and synchronize ledgers and processes
- 7.9Configurable Accounting(17) Ratings
Configure accounting rules and segments for each chart of accounts
- 8Standardized Processes(18) Ratings
Centralize financial management to facilitate standardized financial processes
Inventory Management
The ability to track and manage the flow of goods or materials into and out of an inventory.
- 9.9Inventory tracking(35) Ratings
The software syncs orders and stock to maintain a real-time picture of inventory and supports multiple methods such as LIFO and FIFO.
- 9.9Automatic reordering(21) Ratings
The software can be set up to automatically reorder a good when it falls below a certain threshold.
- 9.9Location management(28) Ratings
The software can track multiple goods across multiple locations.
Order Management
The ability to process orders, and track them from quote to cash.
- 9Pricing(36) Ratings
Users can set up complex and unique pricing requirements.
- 8Order entry(39) Ratings
Users can enter an order once, and the data flows to all the necessary units such as fulfillment and billing.
- 7.2Credit card processing(19) Ratings
The software facilitates credit card processing.
- 8.9Cost of goods sold(38) Ratings
The software calculates the direct costs attributable to a finished product, such as materials and labor, and includes roll-up pricing.
- 9.9Order Orchestration(16) Ratings
Define and execute order fulfillment processes for products as well as services on the same order.
Subledger and Financial Process
Revenue management solution including capabilities for subledgers and financial processes
- 9.9Billing Management(17) Ratings
Access role-based billing work area, perform discrete and recurring billing
- 9.9Cash and Asset Management(18) Ratings
Manage liquidity and cash requirements, asset transfers, disposals, reclassifications, and financial adjustments
- 5.7Travel & Expense Management(13) Ratings
Enter expenses from mobile devices, integrate credit card and travel booking, configure policy enforcement
- 8.9Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting(14) Ratings
Control spending at any budget level or time interval
- 8.2Period Close(18) Ratings
Sustain fast close with integrated subledgers, intuitive dashboards, embedded collaboration
Project Financial Management
Project financial management solution including capabilities for project budgeting, cost control, billing and contract management.
- 9Budgeting and Forecasting(15) Ratings
Establish project budgets and forecast future project financials
- 8Project Costing(16) Ratings
Standardize, track, and control costs at all project phases
- 10Cost Capture(17) Ratings
Capture costs including those for procurement, financials or time and labor, including from external systems
- 9Capital Project Management(11) Ratings
Track and manage capital asset costs
- 9Customer Contract Compliance(9) Ratings
Associate projects or tasks with customer contracts, and lines within contracts, to meet billing terms
- 9Project Revenue Recognition(12) Ratings
Recognize project contract revenue in line with accounting policies and regulations
Project Execution Management
Project execution management solution including capabilities for project scheduling, resource management, and team member task management.
- 7.6Project Planning and Scheduling(12) Ratings
Interactive Gantt chart for establishing tasks, durations, and delivery schedule
- 5.4Task Insight for Project Managers(7) Ratings
Project manager visibility into task progress of team members
- 7.2Project Mobile Functionality(5) Ratings
Capabilities for project functions such as updating and monitoring task progress and timecards from mobile devices
- 7.3Definable Resource Pools(6) Ratings
Definable and hierarchical resource pools of potential project resources
Grants Management
Grants management solution for higher education, public sector, or non-profits with capabilities for managing financial awards for program and project funding
- 8Award Lifecycle Management(3) Ratings
Manage the life of program funding awards from initial funding to close-out
Procurement
Procurement management solution with capabilities for sourcing, contracting, procure-to-pay and supplier management
- 8.7Bids Analyzed and Compared(5) Ratings
Evaluate, compare and recommend across multiple bids in real-time using diverse user selected criteria and graphical analytics
- 9Contract Authoring(4) Ratings
Document authoring with guided navigation, negotiation templates and productivity tools for reviews and collaboration
- 7.7Contract Repository(5) Ratings
Secure and searchable contract repository leveraging standard company language components, structures and formats
- 8.8Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated(7) Ratings
Create touchless purchases using purchase orders generated automatically per rules from approved requisitions
- 7.9Supplier Management(10) Ratings
Broadly manage and report comprehensive supplier profiles, capabilities and performance; identify bottlenecks; balance allocations, workloads
Risk Management
Risk management solution with capabilities for managing controls, assessing control effectiveness, certifying controls, and addressing deficiencies
- 8Risk Repository(2) Ratings
Idenity, document, and manage business risks in a unified repository
- 8Control Management(3) Ratings
Establish and update risk and controls matrix, control test plans, and instructions
- 8Control Efficiency Assessments(2) Ratings
Assess control effectiveness on criteria such as geography, business unit, compliance requirements, etc
- 8Issue Detection(2) Ratings
Detect and create issues as part of the assessment flow
- 8Remediation and Certification(2) Ratings
Create and update remediation plans and certify controls
Logistics
Logistics solution with capabilities for transportation planning, transportation execution, trade compliance, customs management, warehouse management and warehouse workforce management.
- 7.7Transportation Planning and Optimization(5) Ratings
Plan shipments across all modes of transportation via lowest costs/highest service
- 7Transportation Execution Management(4) Ratings
Execute and track shipping orders
- 7Trade and Customs Management(4) Ratings
Manage duties, tax rates, customs documents, and other data required for products shipped in and to specified countries
- 5.1Fulfillment Management(8) Ratings
Support for multi-channel demand and execution fulfillment processes
- 7.7Warehouse Workforce Management(6) Ratings
Set goals, measure actuals, and analyze productivity for warehousing tasks and activities
Manufacturing
Manufacturing solution for managing manufacturing processes and costs.
- 7.9Production Process Design(15) Ratings
Define data for plant hierarchy, process standards, work areas, calendars and standard operations
- 7.6Production Management(19) Ratings
Centralized critical status information for production supervisors
- 8.1Configuration Management(13) Ratings
Capture and process customer configuration orders
- 7.7Work Execution(15) Ratings
Monitor procution status, manage work orders for standard and non-standard production, enforce tight controls on serialized products
- 9.3Manufacturing Costs(19) Ratings
Estimate, plan and monitor costs and variances by plant. Capture resource costs using standard, actual, LIFO, FIFO or multiple costing methods.
Supply Chain
Supply Chain Planning solution with capabilities for planning, performance monitoring, change responses and execution.
- 8.9Forecasting(17) Ratings
Statistically forecast based on historical patterns and sales input, monitor accuracy and estimate new demand
- 8.9Inventory Planning(20) Ratings
Establish projected inventory levels, monitor actual levels and compare with projected levels
- 9.9Performance Monitoring(15) Ratings
Analyze business metrics and compare actual performance to plans, identify issues, prioritize demands and respond to changes
Product Lifecycle Management
Product Lifecycle Management solution with capabilities for innovation management, product development
- 7.4Proposal Management(4) Ratings
Capture budget, resource, and benefit expectations for proposals
- 7Product Master Data Management(5) Ratings
Create, classify, and manage product items, BOMs and product changes
Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
What is Epicor Kinetic?
Epicor Kinetic software offers a modular approach with robust capabilities focused on reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving customer responsiveness across the enterprise. Given its modularity and customizability, Epicor Kinetic is able to solve a wide variety of business problems and needs.
Kinetic Modules
- Epicor Asset Management - Users can record, track, and depreciate fixed assets with Asset Management, an integral module of Kinetic. It provides a register of all fixed assets used in the organization.
- Kinetic Supply Chain Management (SCM) - For manufacturers, from sourcing raw materials to delivering finished products, it offers the visibility to transform the manufacturing supply chain into a results-driven value chain. SCM is a full suite of enterprise application capabilities.
- Kinetic Planning and Scheduling - The Kinetic MRP module provides manufacturers and distributors with forecasting and master production scheduling (MPS) capabilities.
- Kinetic Sales Management - Generates and tracks customer or prospect requests for quotation (RFQs)—from the time of receipt until an order is placed. Users can create estimates and get quotes out more quickly, with pricing.
- Kinetic Customer Relationship Management(CRM) - Provides the information and oversight to deliver the best possible customer experience at every touchpoint. Connecting employees, departments, and supply chain partners with Kinetic capabilities.
- Kinetic Project Management - Financial solution for project-based manufacturing.
- Kinetic Product Management - Product Management serves as the central hub for processes, product data and history. It provides collaboration and data exchange among enterprise users who interact with these products, like product managers, engineers, salespeople, buyers, and quality assurance representatives. It controls the process to ensure the right product is built using the right bill of material, routing, and specifications.
- Kinetic Global Business Management - For managing global manufacturing operations and multiple sites with centralization and visibility.
Epicor Kinetic Competitors
Epicor Kinetic Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
Mobile Application | No |
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(115)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Epicor ERP is a versatile software that offers comprehensive toolsets and customization options to streamline the entire manufacturing process. Users have praised its ability to enhance data transparency and promote efficient workflows, allowing them to sell, engineer, and manufacture without the need for unique IDs. With its integration capabilities and master scheduling feature, Epicor ERP has proven beneficial for various departments such as order entry, sales, IT, finance, purchasing, and engineering. Customers have reported improved visibility between departments and increased collaboration within their organizations through this centralized database. The software's wide range of applications includes sales, accounting, production scheduling, supply chain management, and human capital management. By replacing multiple databases and streamlining processes, Epicor ERP has successfully reduced overhead costs while increasing productivity. Users have also highlighted its real-time data integration and user-friendly features, which enable efficient decision-making across different facets of the business. Additionally, it has been implemented in multi-site setups to combine manufacturing sites and sales offices across different locations. Overall, Epicor ERP addresses issues related to multiple databases and inefficient data management, providing a comprehensive solution that supports growth and enhances operations in various industries.
Highly Customizable: Users have praised Epicor ERP for its high level of customization, with many stating that it allows them to tailor the software to meet their specific business needs. This flexibility eliminates the need for extensive customization or reliance on Epicor for software changes.
Valuable Data Export Feature: The ability to export data to an Excel spreadsheet is seen as a valuable feature by users, allowing them to easily manipulate and analyze the data in Excel. This feature is highly beneficial for in-depth analysis and reporting purposes.
Useful Dashboards: Users find the dashboards in Epicor ERP to be highly useful and easily updatable. This streamlined interface enhances productivity and efficiency by providing quick access to important information and facilitating real-time decision-making.
Support Team: Unhelpful and Slow to Respond Many users have expressed dissatisfaction with the support team, stating that they have encountered issues with unhelpful support, slow response times, and a lack of understanding of the manufacturing process and the system. Some users have found it frustrating to receive canned responses from support and have struggled with upgrading due to lack of assistance. User Interface: Confusing and Inconsistent The user interface has been a source of frustration for many users, as they find it confusing and inconsistent. Users have mentioned difficulties in performing tasks due to the unclear layout and design. Some reviewers have also noted that certain functions within the software have different names but perform the same tasks, causing confusion. Navigation: Too Many Tabs and Non-Straightforward Links Several users have reported difficulties with navigation within the software. They feel overwhelmed by too many tabs and non-straightforward links, making it challenging to find specific features or information. This issue has led to frustration among users who desire a more streamlined navigation experience.
Users frequently recommend the following approaches when using the software:
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Request structured and pointed demonstrations and speak to references who have used the most current version of the software. This helps in assessing the software's capabilities and suitability for specific needs.
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Consider the flexibility of choosing between dedicated/single tenancy and multi-tenancy. Having the option to select the most suitable deployment model has proven valuable for different organizations with varying requirements.
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Prioritize data standards and people readiness before starting discovery sessions. Taking this step ensures that data is standardized and users are adequately prepared, leading to a smoother implementation process and successful outcomes.
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Maximize adoption from a wide user base to fully leverage the application's potential in achieving success.
These recommendations are based on feedback from users, which highlight these approaches as valuable when working with the software.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-21 of 21)Epicor ERP is Enterprise software for everyone
- Epicor does a lot of things and being such a massive software it's hard to talk about what it does well, but I would say from my perspective it is easy to manage and once set up it runs fairly consistently and has a good amount of uptime compared to previous versions.
- Epicor ERP is highly customizable and also has a new REST API that can be utilized to do even more than previous versions.
- Install is complicated and upgrading is a major event requiring all branches of your business to test and test and test some more.
- Support... It's kind of just ok, especially with more complex issues, a single call can drag out for months if they cannot find a fix right away.
A solid foundation on which to grow.
- Querying data is very easy with the built in business activity query builder. Deploying the data in useful dashboards is easy and highly valuable
- It provides all the core functionality we need to run our engineer to order business
- Recent addition of the rest API allows integrations and querying of cloud data with 3rd party BI tools
- The shop floor data collection screens are not very intuitive and the gui is quite dated
- Report building in the SaaS environment is very clunky - it is hard to test as you develop reports
- It is still not fully mobile/web compliant - it is improving, but key functions like the manufacturing data collection still needs Windows based devices to work.
Material accountability
- User friendly
- Fast
- Good at finding what I need
- Way too many options
- Would like to see some drop downs
- The boxes move easily
Epicor ERP Review
- supply chain management (SCM)
- human capital management (HCM)
- Human Resources management should be improved
- Integration with other Financial and HR applications
- Overall security
The license price is well-positioned. Epicor provides good education and support.
It is a financial accounting software product designed for multi-user LAN-based environments.
Epicor ERP in a manufacturing environment
- Customization.
- Scheduling.
- Complicated customization.
- Many of the functions which are used by most companies need to be added by users.
Epicor ERP works for us!
- Streamline processes.
- Compliance.
- Cumbersome to implement.
- Cumbersome to upgrade.
Epicor Cloud Software
- Ability to create custom reports
- Ability to tailor the software to current business practices
- User friendly
- Planning module is not intuitive
- Engineering workbench is cumbersome when doing repetitive entries. Should have ability to copy and paste entries on a mass scale.
- Whenever there is an upgrade there should be more detail on the changes.
Epicor our information central
- Ease of use
- Information availability
- The different modules available for our business
- Some of the logic on how things are calculated or updated
- The SSRS reporting system
- How each program or file interfaces within the system
- The accounting, manufacturing, quoting, scheduling, quality, and sales [options] are suited for us.
- The service option is not suited for us.
Epicor ERP 10 Considerations for Mid-Market Manufacturers considering the next ERP Solution
- Epicor's user interface is easily customizable so that users can focus their main access screen to support just those functions that are relevant to their work day; helping to avoid menu clutter and confusion.
- Epicor advanced scheduling provides true drag and drop customizable dashboard with real-time updates to allow users to easily track jobs on the shop floor in an easy to understand Gantt-style (MS Project style) graphical interface.
- Epicor's customizable dashboards are also updateable, adding the ability for real-time collaboration and updates. From nearly every key field in Epicor, even on dashboards, the ability to drill down to source data is one "right click" away.
- Epicor reporting uses standard Microsoft SQL SSRS instead of 3rd party add-ins such as Crystal Reports. This improves speed significantly during report generation, and ensures a common platform for upgrades without concerns about rewriting reports to incompatible versions.
- Epicor has a "Google-like" search feature (Enterprise Search) that is top notch. It literally allows you to search on any key word in your data set and brings back relevant results in various groupings to make it simple to quickly get to the data you need. This is the favorite feature of new users.
- Epicor's costing features could use improvement. Although excellent in either a make to order or make to stock environment, Epicor has trade-offs when used in a mixed-mode environment. Of particular concern is when partial shipments are made during a production run without the job quantity being changed when closed short and a new job issued. Unless this is done, Epicor may under or over-cost early shipments and then "reconcile" this at job closing, resulting in erratic financial results on 2 shipments from the same job.
- Epicor's gross margin report stops updating with actual costs as soon as a "ship" transaction is created. For most companies this will not be an issue, however, in an environment where shipments may take place before all costs are in, this skews the margin reports greatly, resulting in much higher margins from the manufacturing reports than what can be expected on the financials. Fortunately, the production detail report will always be correct; however, there is no reason why the gross margin report can't be modified to include "ADJ-CST" transactions which would correct for this, however, by default, Epicor's standard margin report does not use this functionality.
- Epicor has great flexibility in screen customization, however, it isn't intuitive in making these changes, therefore, this feature set, which could significantly reduce data input times, goes mostly unused.
- Epicor has a built-in ability to generate quick queries, however, fails to take advantage of recent innovations in query development that would make it easier for novice users to generate their own results without IT help. With the advent of AI, this is a future improvement opportunity.
It is however, not for everyone. Competition in this sector is very good, with several mid-level systems being available at a similar price point. If you are considering adopting a new ERP system and are in the plastics space, you also owe it to yourself and your team to consider IQMS, which is becoming a de-facto standard in this segment. Also, for specific medical sectors, you will find that Epicor software validation for CFR Part 11 compliance can be quite costly-- although the software is capable of supporting this with modification.
Overall, Epicor is a solid choice. Ultimately, it will be up to your team to determine what works best for your needs. You won't be disappointed with Epicor if you do the due diligence and take the time needed to properly review and demo the product. Remember though, demos are typically "best case" staged, so be sure to throw several curveballs at your vendor and bring out the unique requirements of your business.
Epicor ERP, a great choice for manufacturing companies.
- Epicor has the best product configurator that I have seen on the market. This was one of the main reasons we went with Epicor, and have not been disappointed at all.
- Epicor is also one of the easiest ERP system to learn, and has many ways for users to get training. Epicor University, on-line courses, or class room settings, also user conference every year, and user support groups.
- The Enterprise search ability in Epicor is great, can find parts, customers, suppliers, etc. so easily. And if you can't remember where a report or task that you want to do is on the menu, you can search for that also.
- It is hard for me to think of something I don't like. However, the physical inventory process could be done better. It doesn't work for us as we use what are called phantom assemblies, and I have not found any ERP system that handles that out of the box correctly.
Epicor Review
- Provides mostly error-free key functionality.
- Provides tool kit to enable us to develop our own queries and reports.
- Consultancy - we are still suffering from the poor advice by Epicor consultants we were given during our implementation.
- Consultancy - it is near impossible to get prompt consultancy support from Epicor.
- Account Management - I don't feel like a valued customer of Epicor and my requests are not dealt with promptly.
- Epiccare - some tickets are handled promptly and well, but sometimes the responses feel like delaying tactics e.g. we report a problem that has caused a data anomaly that we say we cannot replicate and the reply comes back to ask us to replicate it!
Proper implementation is vital
Also, a new product configurator is under development and scheduled for release by Q4-2018.
- Our version evolved from Vantage, and to be honest, I'm not really impressed yet. I've seen good examples so am aware it's due to implementation errors, rather than Epicor shortcomings.
- Unfortunately, our version of the product configurator is very slow.
- The need for well educated/trained consultants to get a proper implementation should be addressed well by Epicor, as this also determines user experience to a great extent. There is no true fall-back for improper implementation.
- Consultants should be very well trained to make sure program integrity is maintained during challenging implementations.
- There should be an improvement on answering questions raised, especially upon migration issues.
- When is Epicor aware of improper/incorrect implementation they might proactively offer improvement support?
Understanding the question very well and think to know Epicor pretty well too, this highly depends on whom is asking.
When a medium to large size OEM company would be asking, I'd probably agree (with the right consultant!).
I believe the package offers too many options (too complex) for small project-oriented companies though. At least in Holland, there are better alternatives readily available.
Epicor Customization Review
- Epicor has a pretty good project management module. We are able to set up projects with multiple phases as needed and track costs at both a phase level and top project level. You can use the system to assign tasks to employees working on the project and track assignments that way. Under each phase we create an Epicor "job" that can store all the parts that we need to purchase or fabricate for a project. Then we can track what parts have been purchased, received, and shipped for the project.
- Epicor is set up to have a lot of features that most users probably aren't going to use, but it is convenient to have most of what you need available. Then, you can hide parts of the program you won't need.
- Possibly the best thing about Epicor is that it has a lot of customization tools, and the system allows you to customize it in a lot of ways so you can make it look and behave how your organization needs. One very strong area of the customization is the ability to create information dashboards where you can show any type of data that you like to see. A great example of this is a Project Management Dashboard we built that allows all our employees to see how the projects are doing and what their assigned tasks are.
- Expandability. This is another great way that Epicor is customizable. As an ERP system Epicor is primarily a bunch of tables. And thankfully, Epicor allows you to add new fields to the tables, so when we want to show what kind of paint goes on our parts, or if a part is purchased or fabricated, we can add fields for those items to the part table, and use it as if those were built in fields. You can add new tables, so we have a place to store lists of all the paint choices (or anything else you want to keep track up).
- Maybe this was really smooth, but it seemed like implementation was a lot of work. As part of a 4 person implementation team, it took us a month or so of going through tutorials, the help files, and meeting with Epicor consultants to learn how we wanted to use Epicor (that month was pretty light, maybe 5-6 hours per week for each of us). Then it took about 3 months setting up Epicor to meet our needs. (The 4 of us each worked 25-30 hours a week during those 3 months on the implementation since we still had production work to do)
- Epicor can be overwhelming for new users. Our normal users have a hard time at first getting used to it because there is so much to see, learn and do in it, epecially for people with less technical expertise.
- As the person on the implementation team in charge of customizations, my biggest complaint is the lack of documentation on programming in Epicor. While they do have great documentation on how to use many of their built in customization tools, they give you the ability to write code in C# that should allow you to do anything. But, there is very little to no documentation on the API (Application Programming Interface). Most other programs will have a large help file where users can see the thousands of functions available to program within the system with info on what the functions do, how they are accessed and what inputs they need and sample code for each function. With Epicor.. nope, nothing. Maybe if you buy their SDK for another $24,000 they will have a help file included with that. I don't know.
Epicor ERP - Make it what you need it to be
- Customization - extremely flexible ways to make the system fit any environment. In particular forms and user interface optimization.
- Query and reporting tools (like dashboards) for getting information (and knowledge) out of the system that is needed for real-time operations decision making.
- New with Epicor ERP 10 the "all Microsoft stack" of ICE 3.0 tools and MS SQL Server are very fast and a much more standard development platform. Epicor has gone to great lengths to streamline and simplify the underlying architecture. Moving to SQL server has yielded 4X performance.
- Epicor has a long history of supporting manufacturing and has evolved the ERP system from its job shop roots to accommodate many different manufacturing modes.
- The switching from Crystal Reports to SSRS reporting was a real setback. SSRS has its place but in some cases Crystal is clearly superior. It CAN work with ERP 10 but takes more effort and has loss of access control if using ODBC.
- Support has limited to no access to developers (the "wall" as they call it) so for new and very technical issues Supports response is limited. Escalation can be difficult for highly technical problems that don't fit their knowledgebase.
- Search function in EpicWeb (customer portal) is limited and often produces wildly off-target results.
- Job BoM/MoM structures that are very complex (thousands of assemblies and levels) can get corrupted using tools built in to the system (like drag & drop) and whole sections can become unlinked and disappear. More typical assemblies of a few dozen components are fine but very complex jobs push the limits.
Epicor ERP: Award Winning & More Than Capable
- Business Process Management - Every company needs to customize their ERP software, but that comes with many risks, including getting 'version locked' and not being able to take advantage of newer versions. Epicor BPMs make changing how the system behaves easy for admins while removing this risk. BPMs provide Pre and Post Directives around most Methods in most Objects. There are also Data directives that trigger on data updates.
- BAQ Query Builder - With Epicor there is no need to manually write queries, BAQs make this easy, leveraging most of the MS SQL/T-SQL features and function (including sub queries). The Query Builder interface makes building complex queries quite easy. While a novice at SQL query writing, I have been able to build many complex BAQs with the Query Builder, many times not knowing where to start. The BAQs can then be used in many different ways in the software, including Dashboards, Searches, etc.
- Dashboards - With BAQs in hand the data can be published to dashboards you build to display the data in many different ways in grids or graphs. The dashboards can even be configured in a drill down fashion by using the row selection in one grid to filter the data in another grid. Field criteria input fields can also be set up to filter the data. Dashboards can even be set up to be updatable so data can be updated directly.
- Third Party integrations - Since Epicor is built on IIS as a service architecture, it can be called and used by other APIs and third party software. The list is long but some of my favorites include, Service Connect, DMT (Data Management Tool), Magneto, etc.
- Bugs - Epicor has a history of releasing versions with more bugs than most are used to. Since I first started working with Epicor software this has improved dramatically and now Epicor releases patches every two weeks or so, much like Windows updates, which usually can be applied with minimal impact. This new model has really helped to address bugs much quicker.
- Performance - While old AS400 systems set the bar for performance, nothing else can really compete, and that goes the same for Epicor. Depending on how your environment is set up and configured performance results can vary dramatically. With Epicor ERP 10, most of the business logic layer bottlenecks have been eliminated and most performance issues seem to come down to the SQL server performance (more RAM the better) and poor query design.
- Complexity vs. Function - I would say that Epicor does a good job of adjusting the product to customer requests, however having a broad functionality tends to introduce complexities that can be mind melting to configure properly to match business needs. Though most of the time it can be done, just takes careful critical thought and problem solving.
Epicor can change your Business and get your life back!
- Custom engineering and manufacturing are supported extremely well because of the engineered to order system coupled with the "part on the fly" capability.
- The data can be easily exported to an Excel spreadsheet, if necessary, and manipulated there for analysis. Updatable dashboards allow data to be viewed/changed/entered using a grid type of layout so multiple records can all be seen at one time.
- Toolsets that allow us to customize the software as little or as much as we like to meet our business needs.
- Maintenance costs are higher than they should be.
- The switch to SSRS reporting was difficult to say the least. Abandoning Crystal reporting after 10 years is hard to get over.
- Support is a hit or miss. Financial support is good while technical support some times (not always) can take days or longer to resolve an issue.
Before a company begins the selection process for ANY new ERP system, they need to look at each business process they have currently and document each one (what are the steps necessary to get the process completed) - i.e., how do they do a quote, how do the do an order, etc. Make sure every step is documented, especially the unique steps for your company.
During the selection process, ask the people from Epicor to show you how this could be accomplished in Epicor, knowing that there may be more than one way. If there are any processes that are unique to your business, explain them and ask the sales rep to demonstrate how those processes could be done using the Epicor software. An Epicor consultant that sits in on your discovery sessions can help point you to the correct areas of the software for better success.
Epicor ERP - Worth the investment
- SSRS to generate reports, and the ability to add fields on the fly, makes presenting data a lot easier.
- User interface with immediate access to information with ability to export to Excel.
- Master scheduling capabilities within the system let us process more orders using the same amount of resources.
- In most screens, the delete button is right next to the save button.
- The software doesn't handle different manufacture types per part very well.
- Receiving a part requires several additional steps that don't make sense for our company.
Epicor 10 - Building Blocks for Manufactured Sucess
- Custom engineering and manufacturing are supported extremely well because of the engineered to order system coupled with the "part on the fly" capability.
- Using the configurator module you are able to create products with a myriad of features and options without the need to engineer them individually and account for each possible configuration until it's needed.
- Off the shelf integration with engineering tools like AutoCAD and SolidWorks gives Epicor an advantage over other solutions that would require extensive customization.
- Epicor ERP is one of the top 5 ERP vendors so the development community is healthy and growing.
- Feature documentation is confusing and needs refinement. There is crossover between certain modules such that you may be paying for something twice without realizing it.
- Client licensing can add up quickly if you are unable to take advantage of some of the more advanced features like subscription reports or SharePoint dashboards.
- Support is hit or miss. Financial support is usually very good while technical support can take days or longer to resolve an issue.
- Native CRM is a bit lacking however there is direct integration with Salesforce.com.
Epicor Vantage to E10 review. User beware!!
- User interface is improved and easy to understand and use.
- The switch from Progress to SQL has made searches faster. Reports are created in less time.
- MRP is unstable. It fails and when we send logs to Epicor support for review, they really don't have solutions or answers. It's always try this or try that. They do not have a handle on the MRP logic and cannot troubleshoot well at all. UF jobs have been created with zero quantity. When this happens, anything that was purchased for that demand is suggested to be cancelled, as well as jobs. This causes great consternation in our planning groups. Epicor has been "working" on this issue for more than 6 weeks with no resolution.
- Transferring inventory between bins is impossible due to a major bug in the system. Five months after Go Live and the issue is unresolved.
- The switch to SSRS reporting was difficult to say the least. There is only 1 SSRS reporting expert at Epicor and, once again, customer support is practically useless in this regard.
- From our users point of view, there is no measurable benefit to them after "upgrading" to E10 from Vantage 8.03.409a. In fact, the CEO has asked us how hard would it be to go back to Vantage??
Epicor is being used here across the whole organization from quoting to receiving cash from our customers and then reporting the results of manufacturing by our accounting department to the management team and others.
We are at the tail end of the implementation stage and have had multiple users using the system to enter and update data, as well as contribute to the customization process to mold it to our way of doing business. We have been able to "scrub" data in our current system through this process making it stronger and more useful as we go.
The Epicor ERP system addresses the current business problems we have with having multiple databases that don't always talk to one another so we end up having to enter data several times and risk entering it incorrectly in one of the databases as well as not having the ability to mine the data efficiently and effectively.
With Epicor, everything is integrated as well as being real-time. There will be no more waiting for someone to enter the days work before we can analyze the results. Dashboards will be created so managers have the data they need, when they need it.
We are already seeing benefits from the system every day through finding new ways to look at the data thus helping us with decision making!
It has already given our management team insight to the possibilities of what they can expect in the future.
- The Epicor ERP system has the ability to be as customized as the business using it wants to customize it. If you want to see a particular field on a screen, you can add it. If the piece of data you need is something that is unique to your business, there are user defined fields in each table to add it where appropriate and display it where you want to see it. Each and every area is customizable without having to pay someone from Epicor to add it to the software and because of the way the customizations sit on a different layer from the base code, you don't have to worry so much about upgrading the base software each and every time a new release is available. Just upgrade and go. You may need to update your customizations, depending on when they were created but it shouldn't stop you from doing business and keeping up with the latest changes.
- There are multiple ways of looking at the data either through reports or through dashboards or both. The data can be easily exported to an Excel spreadsheet, if necessary, and manipulated there for analysis. Updatable dashboards allow data to be viewed/changed/entered using a grid type of layout so multiple records can be worked on at one time without having to access them one by one.
- Epicor listens to their users and they are continually working on improving their product while still supporting those that are not ready to jump to the next level. The latest version of their software, E10, addressed the issue of performance measured by the speed of transactions in the system. By looking at the architecture of the language it was initially structured with and seeing the problems with the exchange between Progress and SQL, they chose to move to an all SQL platform, thus improving the throughput and eliminating the handshaking process.
- Through partnering with their user groups, both internationally and regionally, Epicor is helping to educate their users in by providing staff that is knowledgeable in the software to present at programs (Insights Annual user conference, regional user group meetings, virtual/regional summits, etc.) and/or training sessions. Users are encouraged to participate and are gaining valuable knowledge.
- Their software support team is still needs improvement though they have come a long way from where they were 5 years ago. Difficult support questions can take a long time to get a resolution and then is "fixed" in the most current version of the software. To upgrade for some is a difficult chore because they have not taken on the task staying up-to-date and are several versions behind. Major upgrades such as from Vantage 8 to Epicor 9.05.xxx, can take months of testing because of the structure changes.
- Epicor does a great job at selling the software and showing what it can do, but it does not do a good job at showing the path needed to getting there. Most companies think that it is just a piece of software and all they need to do is put their data in then it will work. That is far from the truth. The system is an open design and each process can be done in multiple ways, so a company has to review each process and set up how they want to use it which takes time and can't be done "overnight". Epicor does not do a good job in explaining this to potential customers. This sets the customers up for a huge disappointment and failure when they want the software to act the way it did in the demonstration right "out of the box" and it won't because it was customized for the demonstration.
- Epicor's consultants are not the best choice for a company who is in the process of planning and implementing the software. Most of the Epicor customers I have talked to who have used Epicor's consulting team have not had success with them. Almost all of the companies have chosen to hire another 3rd party consulting company to help them complete their implementation.
- Epicor comes with some standard reports/dashboards, but most have to be developed by the customer who purchases Epicor. Most customers that I have talked with have expressed that they would like to see more reporting whether in report form or dashboards that can be customized, if necessary, to meet the business' needs.
Before a company begins the selection process for ANY new ERP system, they need to look at each business process they have currently and document each one (what are the steps necessary to get the process completed) - i.e., how do they do a quote, how do the do an order, etc. Make sure every step is documented, especially unique steps for your company.
During the selection process, ask them to show how this could be accomplished in Epicor, knowing that there may be more than one way. If there are any processes that are unique to your business, explain them and ask the sales rep to demonstrate how those processes could be done using the Epicor software.
Epicor 9.04 ERP Review
- Query Building
- Sales Management
- Quote Management
- System Management
- Financial Management
- Backup/DR Procedures
- Technical Support