Hello. We are a manufacturer of automation equipment, small company around 13 people. Most everything we do is custom, but we do also have a standard product line.
We’re coming off a 3 year Netsuite contract, and I kind of feel we were oversold with Netsuite. Without customizations it’s difficult to navigate. It’s also very laggy, for what they charge I feel it shouldn’t be.
That being said - I am looking at alternatives, and am looking into Epicor. We need a good project management module, a straight forward BOM and demand planning ability, and the ability to run multiple subsidiaries.
Our reporting requirements and accounting requirements are quite simple. We do need payroll but I am probably going to go with 3rd party there.
How is Epicor for something like what I have described? How is the multi-tenant speed and performance in the cloud vs an Azure server install?
Has anyone migrated from Netsuite or similar - how big of a pain is that, and what would be an average cost (I know that’s a very subjective question).
The biggest thing that jumps out at me about your description is “13 people”. If that’s the total # of employees (Accounting, Engineering, Service, & Manufacturing), then I guess a lot of your folks wear many hats.
When we started with Epicor we had about 30 people, but only about 6-7 regular users (people that open the program every day (an accountant, AP, AR, a sales entry person, a buyer, & Mfg manager/shipper), and and only had 8 user licenses. We found that the Epicor system was way more powerful than we needed.
We opted not to use many of the features and functionality. Not because they didn’t fit our business processes - but because we didn’t have anyone that really understood the system as a whole - and more precisely didn’t have the manpower to do the setup and maintenance required for some
of the modules. I’m telling you this the system is usually shown off in a way that can be overwhelming. Yes the manufacturing modules have the ability to assign resources (people, equipment, etc…) for optimal scheduling. But you can also run it with out doing any scheduling, or even tracking labor.
With only 13 people, I hope one is a full time IT person, and not just one of your engineers that is SAD (System Admin by Default ). Having someone to invest time in learning the system, and using it properly, will go a long way in using E10. As for customizability, E10 knocks it out of the park. And for support … well, you’ve already found this place.
Also, read the following. It’ll give you some insight about some pushback you’ll get when “your” new system doesn’t work the exact way “they” expect it. And some pointers to make a new implementation go smoother.
@anon99908839,
If your mainly a custom manufacturing facility, you will love the options Epicor offers.
Continuing on @ckrusen points about wearing a lot of hats, make sure you get a good demo of the transactions required for your “quote to cash” cycle.
Feel free to validate questions or concerns here.
Most of us will agree, Epicor is flexible and easy to customize for most business needs.
I’ve done a few implementations with less than 10 people, worked out well for them.
I don’t know we’ll be able to get a dedicated IT person. We have a few electrical and mechanical engineers, myself, and a director of operations who will be using the system. I think we’ll do OK on our own with good reference material for best practices.
Curious what your thoughts are on doing the cloud-hosted version, or the Azure server version? One of the things I got really annoyed with on Netsuite is the lag…
A few points. ERP systems are always oversold and under deliver. The lag and the amount of customizations required in Epicor are the same as Netsuite if not worse. If you had a bad experience with Netsuite you will most likely have a bad one with Epicor too.
I would make a list of the systems or processes that you need and try to determine the potential benefit of finding the absolute best system for that problem. For example, is it more important that your project management is perfect or your BOM management? Which one has more potential to take you where you want to go, wherever that is?
Once you have your list, go test all of the software that does the most important tasks. I would only look at software that you can actually test, not just a sales demo. Once you have your key software picked start looking for additional software that integrates into that key piece. That would be my advice for a small shop but I’m very curious what other people say.
The thing about ERP systems, they give you enough rope to hang yourself.
I think you are wise for seeking another SaaS solution. You’re in the business making automation equipment, not IT infrastructure. I was on Epicor’s SaaS product for five years and now at a company with the system hosted in Azure. The speed in comparable but obviously, you have a little more control with you hosting your own instance in Azure. This scenario still makes you run the software (install, upgrade, etc.) but there are certified Epicor partners that will do that for you too.
Epicor’s project module is almost there. There are features in advanced versions that should exist in the base version (Project numbers in the G/L) and then some features just missing like shipping product from Inventory against a project - at least that was a year ago when I worked for a robotic company.
The current version, 10.2.700, can run mostly in the browser and the next version (Epicor 11) will provide the whole system in the browser. This will reduce the installation work for a small team like yours and feels faster than the local Rich Client.
If you are already a Microsoft 365 user then you may also want to take a look at Microsoft Dynamics for a comparison.
I hope I didn’t scare you with the point about having a dedicated IT person. It’s not necessary, but sure helps. When I started, our company was on Vista 4 (used a FoxPro DB), then we upgraded to Vista 8, then to E10. I’m no IT person (I’m an EE that is just very handy when it comes to computers). And Once the system was up and running, I became more of a user than a maintainer. Meaning I used the program (Part Maintenance, BOM’s, etc…), more than I maintained it (adding users, customizing forms and reports, etc…)
). Having someone to invest time in learning the system, and using it properly, will go a long way in using E10. As for customizability, E10 knocks it out of the park. And for support … well, you’ve already found this place.