Kinetic

Exceptional ERP Software for Manufacturers

Comments: Over the course of nearly twenty years as an Epicor admin in manufacturing, my experience has been fantastic. The software is simply to use, extremely flexible, and the ways that the data can be extracted (reports, BAQ's, and Dashboards) make it a VERY powerful analysis tool when the time to enter data is done properly. The support team is also fantastic...and while maintenance and support is expensive, it's worth it and you get what you pay for.

Pros:

Epicor is extremely flexible right out of the box, and is exceptionally strong in the areas of managing and tracking Production Jobs, Bill of Materials, Scheduling, Labor, Inventory, Purchasing, and Order Entry. It also has the ability to have customized development, and things like the Epicor BAQ's, Dashboards, and Business Activity Manager features allow customizes information, exportable grids, and notifications to be setup by administrators and even end users as these modules are user-friendly and fairly intuitive! The Shop Floor Data Entry Module (MES) is also very intuitive and simple to use for the users on the production / manufacturing floor.

Cons:

Epicor ERP is expensive software, and since it's such a wide product that handles so many aspects of your business, setup really must be done according to Epicor's recommendations and completed thoroughly. Also, since it's so flexible, there is a lot of it that you won't use, so it's best to create clear work instructions for your team and/or hide fields and/or functions that you will not need to use.

Alternatives Considered: JobBOSS²

Reasons for Switching to Kinetic: The user-interface, functionality, exceptional flexibility and customizable design made this the right choice for both manufacturers that I have worked for using Epicor.

Robust ERP System Ideal for Manufacturing

Comments: We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how it is turning out to meet our business needs, while knowing the amount of work necessary to get it set how we need.

Pros:

Easily mass upload and update data. Configurable modules to meet your business needs. Responsive, knowledgeable and helpful consultants.

Cons:

Some restrictions which are costly to customize and work around. Forms are not easily edited. Many modules are an extra added cost to subscribe every year.

Epicor Manufacturing, some parts are better than others

Comments: Epicor is a mid-market software for companies that are under 100 employees (roughly) and more than 50 who need an ERP. Version 10 is by far the cleanest version. Given the choices at this size of a company's growth, it is a viable choice. Just be careful that the VAR doesn't walk you down a road to heavy customizations that get in the way of future upgrades and cost you yearly in re-working them when you upgrade or patch the ERP. Stick to custom reports, custom user screens, and use the Business Objects provided to interface with and all should be well.

Pros:

Ease of use, E10 is cloud based, support (when in US) is good, Short learning curve, fairly flexible, highly customizable

Cons:

Highly customizable tends to get pushed to overly customized which = a mini-new ERP project with every upgrade to fix broken customizations, VAR network: some are great, some not, support for down-rev version falls off quickly, plan on extended cost of ownership, import/export functionality is limited unless add-on products are purchased, Field Service module is the weakest link in the product.

Strong ERP for midmarket Make to Stock / Make to Order manufacturers

Comments: While sometimes ERP can feel like a necessary evil, Epicor Kinetic is mature, robust, extensible and proven. It should be a strong contender for any mid-market manufacturer considering a digital transformation.

Pros:

Epicor Kinetic is a robust, mature ERP system that is continuing to innovate. The core function and structure is sound, included modules are robust, and there is a strong and growing architecture for extensibility & customization.

Cons:

Many features have been added over the years, some via acquisition - not all are done well or at feature parity. The new UI still feels like it's in Beta, but all new features are developed for the new UI. Internal support is poor, but there is a strong consulting and user community that offsets that somewhat.

Workflow made easy

Comments: We used this to manage the company. We track time on projects. Keep inventory, and is used heavily in supply chain.

Pros:

This software handles all of your company needs. It does time management, inventory, project management, and more. This was very easy to roll out to end users.

Cons:

So far we have only used this for less then 6 mo. I don't have any down side at this point. There is still a learning curve that we need to over come.