Epicor: Solutions that are Made With You, For You

Epicor, a global leader of industry-specific enterprise software, works hand-in-hand with its customers to create software solutions and services in a single source to improve efficiencies and productivity in the manufacturing sector, which results in major competitive advantages.

Epicor even has a tool called Epicor Ideas, which is a portal where users, such as metal fabricators, can share their ideas about how to improve the Epicor software. The company shares promising ideas with its user base, and they can vote on whether they think the idea will be a good addition to the software.  “Some neat enhancements have come out of that process, such as feature functionality,” said Andrew Robling, principal product manager for Epicor. “Every year we look at our road map and there are a significant number of new features being added based on the ideas that our customers come up with.”

Epicor’s flagship Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software product for the metalworking industry is called Kinetic, a cloud-based ERP solution that offers real time business intelligence and built-in collaboration tools. The software is specialized for make-to-order manufacturing, discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing.

Epicor also offers several cloud-based Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) solutions, including Advanced MES, which integrates machines on the shop floor, gathering information such as temperatures and pressures. For customers that are conducting metal stamping, for example, “we are capturing a signal every time the stamping machine cycles,” Robling said. “Or if you have turning machines, we are capturing what is happening on those.”

Epicor continues to strengthen its products with acquisitions; a 2022 acquisition is now integrated into the company’s Kinetic ERP solution. Called Epicor Connected Process Control, which was released in May, it is comprised of embedded, guided digital operating instructions; interactive work instructions; reject/repair paths for the shop floor, and other functions.

Robling said the digital guided operating instructions assist workers via videos and pictures as to the steps they need to perform when working on any given component. Robling shared the example of torquing a bolt where the employee can reference the digital guided operating instructions to ensure they are using the correct torque levels so that the work is within tolerances.

The digital guided operating instructions are also a way to address the challenges when it comes to training employees. They are a way to share the company’s tribal knowledge in a simple to use format to train new people, walking them through the processes before they are let loose on the shop floor. And instruction can be adjusted to a person’s skill level. Where an inexperienced employee might need to learn a dozen steps to complete a job, an experienced employee may only need to review five steps in order to complete a job.

The Connected Process Control function also provides full traceability regarding products being produced, ensuring data, such as values and tolerances, are automatically captured from whatever device is used during the process. In addition, the Connected Process Control also provides focus on areas such as financial and supply chain management.

Epicor continues to offer additional capabilities to its software to make a manufacturer’s processes even more seamless. In May, Epicor launched its Field Service Management functionality, which is integrated within its ERP solution, to streamline field services by empowering the staff with mobile workforce capabilities. The capabilities include equipment history tracking, service contracts, a scheduling and dispatching board, and a mobile application, which provides field technicians with immediate access to procedures via a mobile phone or tablet. With the mobile app technicians are able to find the steps they need to fix machines, watch instructional videos, upload pictures, and order components, as examples.

Another highlight of Epicor’s enterprise software is the business intelligence tool, Grow Data Platform, which provides a full range of dashboards and analysis and creates data you can use on the shop floor. Robling said that manufacturers today require more than business intelligence, but also the need to take the data and analyze it from an Artificial Intelligence (AI) perspective. “It is the next step, right?” Robling noted. “Driving that data using AI is something we have been embedding into our solution as well.” He elaborated that there are literally many different connectors that comprise a “data lake,” which can contain data that comes from any number of places, such as an ERP solution, or automation data, and so on. AI algorithms can analyze the data to spot trends and act as a predictive maintenance tool, and not just a preventative maintenance tool. So, for example, based on the data being collected and the past repair history of a machine, a metalworking company can anticipate a needed repair before the machine breaks down with a critical component failure.

These AI functionalities are behind Epicor’s Cognitive ERP solutions.

AI is at the Core of ERP

Epicor’s Cognitive ERP initiative is the “idea of infusing our ERP solution with AI; there is a lot we are doing there,” Robling said. Examples include logging into the ERP solution and viewing performance, reminders of upcoming events, and welcome prompts asking, “what would you like to do today?” Users can type in or speak their task, such as entering an order for a customer, and the Cognitive ERP launches the order process. “Our philosophy on AI is that ERP is at the core, which is uniquely positioned to pull AI value throughout the enterprise,” Robling said. With ERP solutions, copious amounts of data are coming into the systems, and customers rely on the data to make informed decisions. Robling said the AI offers 10x value, industry-focused, customer-led use cases, which empowers workers to deliver the right contextual intelligence at the right time.

The message Epicor continues to hear from its manufacturing customers is that they want to use AI to empower their people to do more with technology. They want to be more efficient. Epicor’s software engineers work with so-called “alpha” customers to develop its initiatives around AI to ensure improvements in profitability, as well as customer and partner satisfaction, Robling noted.

To that end, Epicor follows governing principles for AI during the development process. The principles aim to drive high customer value, beyond a chat agent function, for example. Epicor leverages the capabilities of Microsoft Azure Open AI software in its capabilities, which supports the Epicor Knowledge Assistant. This AI feature is built into its ERP solution, which offers a faster and easier way to access relevant information from Epicor documentation, as an example, Robling noted. So instead of browsing through thousands of pages of information, users can simply ask the Epicor Knowledge Assistant a question, which will provide a concise and practical answer to the question. Robling said the search is powered by Azure AI and Azure Open AI Chat GPT 4, which are cutting-edge technologies.

Also, beyond just a chat function, via Epicor’s Executive Portfolio of Intelligent Industry Solutions, the AI delivers more than 50 plus industry use cases. There are also tools around areas such as automation, MRP and inventory.

The AI-infused use case library’s examples assist users as they start on their journey to the digitalization of their own processes. It is important to scale up, to start slowly, and establish what goals you are trying to achieve, and then implement the ERP software based on what you are trying to gain within your operations.

One use case centers on a metalworking company’s implementation of an ERP solution from Epicor after the company had experienced a shop floor shut down; it didn’t want to find itself in that position again. The company had to be shut down for several weeks due to a critical component failure, which cost thousands of dollars. The component failure happened overnight when only a few employees were onsite. A hydraulic fluid machine developed a leak that not only went all over the shop floor, but the fluid also didn’t reach the machines it was supplying, causing the machines to fail. The software solution from Epicor focused on better monitoring of the hydraulic fluid levels, adding value to the company by targeting those areas.

In another use case, Epicor’s software solutions, such as Kinetic, ECM, EDI and Supplier Portal, assisted New Hudson Facades of Linwood, Penn., which is a fabricated metals manufacturer, in achieving better access to its business data, as well as integrating with their supply base, and better managing their procurement processes. Prior to the digitalization process, New Hudson Facades used an inefficient and error-prone paper-based system.

Through the Epicor Supplier Portal, POs were sent immediately, and within minutes, received confirmation on the delivery status. There was also a 95% reduction in invoice issues. Perhaps more importantly, real time information was available to the buyer, procurement agent, and supplier, enabling full visibility of the entire shipping process and accurate shipping information. Additionally, the automated solutions eliminated errors and accelerated the process, while enhancing the security of business data. “When we bid on a job, highlighting that we have an integrated supply chain solution is an important selling point,” said Eric Soring, IT project manager, business systems & information architecture at New Hudson Facades. “Ultimately, we are in a stronger position when we can demonstrate that we are using technology to advance the business.”

Future Developments

And advancing a metalworking company’s businesses, assisting them in establishing a competitive advantage in the marketplace, is what drives Epicor’s team. The software provider constantly plans for and creates products to address the needs of manufacturers, now and in the future.

“There’s some great things that we’re working on to release and help from a sustainability and an ESG standpoint,” Robling noted. That includes tracking the carbon footprint involved in the production of shipping of parts, for example. In addition, the customers of Epicor’s customers increasingly want to know the carbon footprints of the products they are purchasing, not just the value of the products. The Epicor team is developing ways to track those types of characteristics, presenting them in a meaningful way. The company is also developing dashboards that track total energy consumption as well as other functions that can be measured. Robling noted this goes beyond overall equipment effectiveness, tracking scrap and so forth, but extends to tracking carbon emissions and other measures.

Robling also added that tracking and showing sustainability-related data is appealing to the younger workforce. Research shows that they are increasingly interested in working for companies that place a priority on sustainability initiatives. “It helps from a labor attraction standpoint,” Robling said.

What’s more, as is the case throughout the fast changing business landscape, the move to digitalize processes is of critical importance in order to remain competitive, particularly in the manufacturing sector. The gains in efficiency on the shop floor can’t be understated. If you don’t have plans today to look at implementing a smart factory or to start digitalization of your processes, you need to get on board or you are going to miss the bus, so to speak,” Robling noted.

He added that AI is no longer an interesting idea, and surveys back that up, showing that manufacturing companies continue to increasingly invest their money in AI in order to drive efficiency, and overcome shortages in skilled labor. “We are really well positioned to help our customers,” Robling said. Epicor’s software engineers work with analysts to stay on top of the next best things regarding ERP solutions and the implementation of AI into those products. “We are always looking to see how we can help our customers gain a competitive advantage by adding functionality,” Robling said. “We are not afraid to develop new applications.”

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Single Source Synergies and Visibility

The theme is all too common. A metalworking business faces management challenges because they either have paper-based systems or outdated business management software systems or disparate software systems, which are inefficient and lack visibility as to the shop’s processes.

With ERP software systems, such as Epicor’s Kinetic, shops benefit from software systems that are created and driven by the direct needs of metal fabricators, such as improved nesting capabilities when cutting sheet metal. Epicor Ideas is a portal where metalworkers share their ideas to improve the software. Customers submit an idea to the portal and that idea is socialized and voted on as to whether other users think the idea would be a good addition to the software. “They [customers] are really driving the direction the software is going and the capabilities that are being added,” said Andrew Robling, principal product manager for Epicor.

For Dubuque, Iowa-based A.Y. McDonald Industries, a lack of consolidated data and reporting due to manual processes was unable to support efficient business practices across all 13 locations. The fabricated metals specialist, which was established in 1856, turned to Epicor Kinetic integrated with Epicor Advanced MES to establish a single source of data so leadership could make informed decisions.

In addition to the benefits realized by A.Y. McDonald, the company’s customers enjoy a better experience as well because they can see product availability, prices, and view their invoice histories. “Epicor Kinetic is the foundation of our business,” said Steve Savary, vice president of IT for A.Y. McDonald Industries. “It gives us the synergies and visibility that we were lacking before. Now we have a single, consolidated financial point of view, in terms of what we are ordering and purchasing, as well as inventory control, production and shipping.”