Epicor 10 Archives - Page 2 of 19

Best Practices for Evaluating a Next-Generation B2B Platform

by Brad Feakes | Oct 23, 2023 | Distribution, eCommerce Consulting, Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, Manufacturing Innovation

How to Think about E-Commerce as a Manufacturer

E-commerce continues to be a pivotal topic in the manufacturing world – distributors caught on to e-commerce comparatively quickly, as the demand for streamlined processing became a core competency. But in the manufacturing world, where product complexity is many times greater than the items delivered over traditional distribution channels, the acquisition and fulfillment of complete, complex, and high-dollar products becomes much more complicated.

Manufacturing companies that successfully leverage e-commerce as part of their overall go-to-market strategy do so in a variety of ways and seek to achieve a variety of benefits. That said, I thought it would be beneficial to cover some of the ways in which manufacturing companies are successfully leveraging e-commerce solutions to the benefit of their bottom line and their strategic initiatives.

Expanding Your Spare Parts Business

As a consultant, I once noticed an interesting trend when it came to system configuration – customers routinely spend an inordinate amount of time configuring their ERP system around their finished goods. And then they go live, and we all realize that the vast majority of their orders are not for finished goods but rather for spare parts. In many organizations, these orders amount to a significant revenue stream. Why is that? The margins achieved by service parts, replacement parts, spare parts, and related value streams are generally much higher than they are for finished goods. When a customer is in a bind, their machines are down, and product is not getting out the door, the demand for simple components goes way up, and as a result, the asking price similarly climbs.

To that end, e-commerce systems can streamline the process for finding the right part you need and expediting the fulfillment process, getting the order in the queue, without the need to chase down a customer service rep.

Expedited Warranty Processing

The flip side of the spare parts business is the world of warranty. In these cases, customers need some form of service part to address an issue covered by the original product’s warranty, often at no cost. Deploying your warranty parts to your e-commerce system allows your customer base to get a hold of the parts they need as soon as possible and helps cut down your own warranty costs by reducing the degree of human interaction. The net result is a better overall service offering, without the increase in overhead.

Finished Goods Acquisition

While our discussion has thus far centered on the acquisition of component parts, many manufacturers have extended their e-commerce offerings to include finished goods. I’ve seen customers readily deploy their highly standardized and stocked finished good products to their e-commerce systems, and in doing so, provide another avenue for customer service and order taking. This can be of great value to organizations that cater to both a B2B and B2C community. It can also service the lead-time needs of existing customers – in cases where companies are short-staffed on the order entry / customer service front, an e-commerce connection allows your customer base to get “first in line” when placing an order. In many industries, such a priority can shorten order-to-deliver lead times, which can be of great value to a given customer.

Customer Portal

The ability to stay on top of your orders has become of increasing importance to customers in B2B relationships. This includes but is not limited to orders that were placed online. When a customer places an order, they often expect online status information, to be able to track their orders through the fulfillment process. This can be important both for quick-turn items, where delivery timing is of the essence, or for large, long lead time items, where status at various stages becomes critical to know. E-commerce solutions provide a natural way to provide customers with updates to order status, whether the order was placed online or through a customer service representative. This allows you to provide an easy means of constant status to your customers while saving your own team.

Dealer Interaction

One important customer channel for many manufacturers is the dealer-distributor network. Dealers and distributors are a strange blend of outside sales and end customers, and their needs overlap the two. A goal for many organizations is to make their dealer-distributor network as much an extension of their own organization as possible. How is this done? Through seamless communication, often fostered by an e-commerce-enabled dealer portal. Dealer portals often combine elements of traditional e-commerce with elements that betray the intimacy that dealers need and expect from their manufacturing partners. Are you looking to better service the needs of your dealers and distributors? Give e-commerce a try.

24/7 Customer Service

As you might have noticed, many of the above circumstances have referenced difficulties in getting your order placed. This is surprisingly common, and I am forever shocked and surprised by the challenges many companies have in finding reliable customer service and order processing resources. Customer service is a difficult business, and many workers who might have posted for these roles have found other options. That said, the time it takes for your customers to get their orders into your system and “into the queue” can be a deal maker or a deal breaker.

Providing an easy means to enter orders and get them immediately into the fulfillment cycle can be an enticing option. Also, in our increasingly remote world, where employees routinely look to get tasks done at odd hours, the ability to provide 24/7 customer service can be of great value to many organizations. When your customer is in a pinch due to an emergency or machine downtime, the ability to immediately get in front of you can be of immense value.

Separating the Best from the Rest

As you can see, e-commerce has grown in breadth and depth over the years to cover an increasing number of avenues and solve a variety of problems for customers. But now that we know what a world-class e-commerce solution can do for you, the question remains: what are the best practices for evaluating a world-class e-commerce solution? In our webinar on October 25th, 2023, our friends at Parttrap can help you see what you need to look for when evaluating an e-commerce solution.

License to Go Live: Accessing Epicor License Info

by Brad Feakes | Jan 9, 2023 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation

Manufacturing a License to Be Different

No two Epicor implementations are quite the same.

One of the primary reasons for the differences between the configuration of two Epicor® Kinetic environments has to do with licensing. The Epicor® application has a broad suite of licensed modules, and most customers do not license the exact same Epicor® modules. So, how do you decide how to drive your Epicor® license?

Epicor License Info Epicor Kinetic Data Management

Considering the complexities and capabilities of manufacturing and distribution companies, Epicor® has created ERP systems for these industries that are ready for the unique challenges business owners face, from office to factory to customer. Each Epicor® application is a many-headed hydra, and with each head comes different modules and different capabilities. The number of heads determines the character of the monster.

If you are an enterprise resource planning (ERP) consultant, it is important to understand which modules are licensed, as this affects your options for helping a customer solve its many business problems.

If you are an ERP system user, it is similarly helpful to understand which Epicor® Kinetic modules are licensed, when working with support and troubleshooting unexpected behavior.

As you will see, the modules you license impact the behavior of the system, and unexpected behaviors might actually be explained by the underlying Epicor® license.

In the past, accessing Epicor® licensing was a bit of a pain. You needed to be able to access the Kinetic application server’s admin console to be able to gather licensing information. This required additional access levels and many additional steps.

Epicor Admin Console Epicor License Info

Now, as a function of Epicor’s more recent versions, you can access licensing information directly from the application.

When logged into the application itself, you can access Epicor® license information through the Epicor® Company Configuration module by simply navigating to the “License” tab and clicking the “Retrieve License Info” button to load the Epicor license information that would previously be retrieved via the Epicor® Admin Console:

You no longer need access to the Epicor® Application server to extract this information. All you need is the appropriate Epicor® security permissions to access the Epicor Company Configuration screen.

As with any Epicor® grid, you can also export the license into a spreadsheet format, using the “Copy to Excel” or “Copy All Include Labels” commands.

This new functionality makes it much easier to get licensing information at the tip of your fingers, when working with Epicor® support or your customer account manager.

Do you need to get your Epicor® Module list in a hurry? Are you chasing down an issue with support and need the details now? Look no further than the Company Cig screen, and be on your way to fast and good answers about your system.

GET HELP WITH YOUR EPICOR LICENSE & MORE NOW

Common Epicor Project Terms You Should Know

by Rob McMillen | Jul 21, 2022 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, Prophet 21

It seems that every discipline has its share of jargon.

You see it when accountants throw around terms like “EBITDA”, engineers speak of “TQM”, and I.T. staff reference “API” or “DMZ”.

These are the words and phrases used by specialists as they discuss their work. The beauty of this insider jargon is that it allows greater efficiency in communication, but it comes with the trade-off that it creates an ingroup and an outgroup who struggle to understand each other. And those in the ingroup are rarely aware of how it limits communication with those on the outside.

So, with that in mind, let’s consider six terms that are often used with Epicor projects. I’ve sequenced these common Epicor project terms, so they are linked together logically.

Test Scenario

When we implement new versions of Epicor, there is always a set of tests done to validate that the application is correctly supporting business functions.

A Test Scenario is the set of instructions, steps, and expected results used to do that. A “test scenario” might include who will do the testing, the objective of the testing, the sequence of steps to follow, the data entered the application, and the results that should be expected.

This information should always be available in printed form so that it can be reviewed and used by those doing the actual testing.

So, when you hear the term “test scenario” it is important to ask several questions. What is being tested? Who is doing the testing? What is not being tested? How will we know the test is comprehensive? What sequence will the testing be done in?

With test scenarios, there are several ways they can be applied, and it starts with our next term.

Unit Testing

In an Epicor project, there are two general types of application testing. The first is “Unit Testing” which is focused on validating stand-alone functionality that accomplishes a single task.

It answers business questions like “Can I enter a new vendor in Epicor and include all necessary information without issues?” or “Can I create a new Customer Payment Terms record?”.

So, we see that Unit Testing is always focused on a simple process that is relatively self-contained. It is simpler and usually easier to do but because it is so focused, there are usually dozens of unit tests required in a project.

But unit tests are not enough to accomplish the goal of thoroughly testing the Epicor application.

Cross-functional / Integration Testing

The second type of application testing, seen in Epicor project is “cross-functional” or “Integration testing”. While “unit testing” is focused on simpler processes, this type of testing is more complex.

It will involve testing transactions that process through Epicor from start to end. This could include accounting transactions, customer order transactions, manufacturing transactions, purchasing transactions or payroll transactions. Each of these involves multiple steps involving multiple departments to work well.

A common example of “cross-Functional testing” is testing all business processes required to move from a Quote to Cash Received from the customer. Within these two endpoints there are many distinct business processes involving multiple business areas (finance, order entry, engineering, customer service, purchasing, production, receiving and shipping).

This type of testing ensures that multiple business processes are supported completely by Epicor and that each business area in the organization can complete their work, validate the results, and manage exceptions that occur.

Together, “unit testing” and “Integration testing” provide the most thorough validation of the system. Which leads to our next term which describes how these tests are created and monitored.

Subject Matter Expert

A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a person who is the most knowledgeable about a particular business process. They might be the Purchasing SME and understand each of the steps and requirements for successfully purchasing materials in the organization. That person would be able to describe the details and process for Vendors, Purchase Orders, Lead Times, Inspections, and Receiving of purchased goods. They literally are the expert on this area of the business and often have years of experience to back up their knowledge.

And SMEs are critical to the success of any testing done on a project because they know the business processes very well and can quickly spot gaps where the Epicor application may not be working well.

Typically, SMEs are responsible for specifying the requirements for how application software should function to best support the organization’s needs. And SME’s either build or review “test scenarios”.

This ensures there are no unexpected gaps between organizational business processes and the way Epicor operates. Ideally the “test scenarios” are designed so that application testers simply work through the steps, gather feedback and in the process, validate the needed functionality in the application. The Testers shouldn’t need to be experts on Epicor or all the business processes. Their skill should be in following the steps and verifying results.

When it comes to “cross-functional” testing, multiple SMEs are often outside their area of expertise. So they will collaborate with other SMEs to design an integration testing process that includes the best scenarios to support company needs.

All this testing and effort is usually grouped into specific timeframes in the Epicor project. One of those is User Acceptance Testing.

User Acceptance Testing

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the phase in a project where the application users work as a team, to verify that Epicor changes support all their business processes. Typically, the UAT is several weeks in length. During this time, selected application users will use multiple test scenarios (usually created by SME’s) to verify that all business processes are supported by Epicor. This will include both changes made and other areas that might be impacted. Both unit and cross-functional testing will be used.

All the results will be logged, and any exceptions will be documented and reviewed. The logged exceptions will become a list of issues that must be resolved before the organization can continue using the Epicor application.

The list of issues is then prioritized, and work is assigned to resolve them. They fall into these categories:

1. Modifications to Business Processes to better use Epicor capabilities

2. Modifications to Epicor to better adapt it to business needs

3. Some combination of #1 and #2

The purpose of the UAT is to fully test the changed functionality of Epicor to verify it meets the requirements for supporting the business in its new form.

This leads to a common question about the differences between User Acceptance Testing and the term “Conference Room Pilot”. Both terms are often confused.

Conference Room Pilot

A “conference room pilot” (CRP) is focused on testing the functionality of Epicor with the intention to identify the differences between it and the needs of the organization.

This means that it can be done at two points.

One point is before the system is chosen and when the organization is still in the procurement steps of purchasing an ERP.

The second point is at the final point of implementation when the focus is to confirm that the needed business process functionality of the organization is fully supported by the data, configuration and customizations made to Epicor.

If the answer is “yes” then the system is moved to Production status. In this situation, the CRP is the final “gate” before the Epicor application is used for company operations.

The CRP does share similarities with a UAT. Both look at Epicor from end-to-end, both include demonstrations of functionality, and both often include non-functional testing (such as performance).

But they differ in that a Conference Room Pilot is measuring where Epicor meets the business needs and where the gaps are, while User Acceptance Testing is confirming any changes made are working as specified.

When upgrading Epicor from one software release version to another there is usually several User Acceptance Tests that verify that the Epicor application has no errors. Then as a final step, there is a Conference Room Pilot to confirm that Epicor supports the full business functionality needed.

Time to talk Epicor project terms with the experts? EstesGroup’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) consultants can save you time, money — & maybe even a trip to the dictionary!

Chat with us now to begin a conversation about Epicor project terms, ERP implementations, business management, cloud migrations & cloud ERP services (and everything else in ERP)!

Introducing Epicor Automation Studio

by Rob McMillen | May 27, 2022 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Administration, Epicor Kinetic, ERP, ERP Implementation, Prophet 21

There’s always something new with Epicor Kinetic and P21. And here’s something new that is coming!

At the annual Epicor Insights conference, in Nashville, there was an announcement about “Epicor Automation Studio”. The word “Automation” caught my attention because it is a popular term right now. It can describe everything from complex machinery in the factory or warehouse to event-driven even software that runs on the desktop (like the inbox rules in Microsoft Outlook).

All these automations are designed to reduce the mindless tasks that we humans often do, so we can ideally spend more time on ~~Facebook~~ work and being more creative/human! For hundreds of years we’ve automated the physical world (washing machines). Now we see increased automation of our digital worlds to better fit our personal needs.

So, how does Epicor Automation Studio help?

Here’s what we heard.

It is a low-code/no-code toolset for P21 and Kinetic
It will support integrations between Epicor and other applications

This sounds interesting. We all know that there are significant needs for “integrating” various applications. I discuss this topic of “integration” with Epicor Kinetic and Prophet 21 clients weekly.

Often the need is to integrate EDI, e-Commerce, scanners, shipping packages, factory floor vending, or third-party applications so that they work seamlessly with Epicor and P21. So, anything that would simplify that effort would be great!

A quick “google” check helped me find an Epicor article about Epicor Automation Studio, here. It is just an introduction and discusses, in a video, how “Citizen Developers” will be able to use this new tool (I will discuss these Citizen Developers terminology in another article!).

This Epicor article adds more information about what Automation Studio does.

Helps bridge the business / IT gap
Connects Epicor / P21 to thousands of applications
Allows Epicor users to share and store automation “recipes”

What is Epicor Automation Studio?

At first glance it sounds like an Epicor version of Zapier. Zapier has been around for many years. It’s a subscription cloud service with pre-built connectors that allow a non-developer to link applications, so they share information. This involves picking two software products from a list on the screen, determining what actions you would like them to do and selecting it.

The beauty is that it focuses on “what” you want to do without requiring you to know “how” it is done.

Each Zapier process starts with a Trigger and is then followed by multiple steps to complete it. As a user you just click on options to define the one or more steps. It’s intuitive and flexible.

I’ve seen Zapier used to send texts every time you get an email in your Inbox from a key customer or open a help desk ticket if a message has certain words in it or send updates from your Contacts to Salesforce or load new information onto a website page.

However, Epicor Automation Studio will need to handle more complex situations that involve Orders, Customers, Parts, User ID’s, Jobs, Vendors, and Purchase Orders. And to do all of that, there will have to be underlying processes that likely use Application Programming Interfaces (API’s).

Today, it would take a good C# developer to integrate an application with Epicor using API logic. That skill involves knowledge about the plumbing between the two applications and also the time to fully test it.

And that’s why Epicor is moving this direction. They realize that automation is a growing trend. Particularly the trend to involve Epicor users in more of the work that has traditionally been an IT function.

We’ve already seen some of this where Epicor allows users to customize their menus, favorites and screens in Kinetic and P21. For example, in Kinetic, users can rearrange data columns when displaying information. Then they can save the format for future use. Every time they access this data, it appears in their preferred column sequence.

Another area, we see, is the use of Business Activity Queries (BAQ’s) in Epicor products. BAQ’s do require more technical knowledge than a screen customization but have opened the door to some end users creating custom dashboards and reports (SSRS). For those who are not developers they offer a simpler way (point and click) to display information and improve productivity.

What is interesting is how widespread this is. In almost every organization there is at least one non-IT person, that has decided to invest time learning how to create BAQ’s, Reports, Dashboards and even BPM’s. I’m always amazed and grateful for their skills because they are the real changemakers!

With Epicor Automation Studio, the trend continues where we see several business changes that are merging.

The first change is the widespread use of point and click interfaces (who doesn’t have a cell phone?).
The second change is the introduction of low-code/no-code tools to automate and accomplish more without having to know the details of the system.
The third change is the sharing of information (“recipes”) with others, so they don’t have to start from scratch.

While there will always be work for those who are highly technical you should expect to see more of the application customization shifting to tech-savvy end users who know what the business needs and have better tools to implement those changes. So get ready.

Who knows? Maybe someday you will start a new job and use a “studio” to design your digital workspace to your personal preferences. That would be interesting, right?

Ask the Author About Epicor

Rob McMillen is a Senior Project Manager and Principal Consultant with EstesGroup, the premiere cloud provider for manufacturers and distributors. He has worked in the manufacturing industry for over 30 years supporting multiple implementations of new ERP systems and leading projects. Because his mom was an English teacher, he grew up with a love of writing. Combined with his working experience, he has written articles for LinkedIn and User Groups, and has published numerous blog posts. He is also a co-author of a book on technology and working collaboratively. He currently lives in the DFW area.

Rob McMillen
Principal Consultant / Project Manager at EstesGroup

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Out-of-the-Box vs. Best-in-Breed Credit Card Processing

by Brad Feakes | May 12, 2022 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP, Prophet 21

The (ERP) Credits Are Rolling

ERP was once a battle between “comprehensive” and “best-of-breed” solutions. While the “comprehensive” solution providers claimed to offer a one-stop-shop of business functionality, providers working under a “best-of-breed” model constructed simpler overall ERP systems that were easier to integrate with third-party solutions.

The debate has morphed over time, as “best-of-breed” providers try to progressively dress themselves as comprehensive ERP solutions, while the old dinosaurs are working to make their systems more interoperable.

Credit Card Processing in Enterprise Resource Planning

For customers, this has served to muddy the waters. At a macro level, it seems safe to say that ERP has increasingly moved to a best-of-breed model, where customers are willing to manage an increasing number of third-party solutions, provided that they provide “best-in-class” functionality.

Credit card capabilities find their place among this morass of functionality, with third-party solutions competing with the integrations provided directly by vendors. Let’s look at some of the challenges that companies normally face when implementing the out-of-the-box solutions that ERP vendors provide.

Configuration Issues

We see customers frequently complain to us of the challenges in configuring their credit card modules. A customer purchases an integrated module from an ERP vendor’s feature card and expect that it should be as easy to implement as the rest of the application. Normally, we only hear from them after those hopes have been dashed.

It’s worth noting that these “modules” are modules in name only—in truth, they are loosely integrated third parties, sold as a comprehensive, out-of-the-box solution. Some ERP vendors even offer multiple versions of credit card integration, which further complicates the situation. As such, a consultant may become savvy in configuring one payment model in one licensed module, only to stumble at the next implementation.

Testing

Testing credit card solutions is always a daunting task—there is private information and money involved, after all. But a clumsy integration can exacerbate the problem. When vendors integrate with third-party solutions, but the third-party solutions themselves do not “own” the functionality and the integration, a situation where a diffusion of responsibility is likely to occur.

In such a situation, neither side of the functionally can adjudicate the outcome of testing, and provide guidance to the causes for errant outcomes. In an ERP system, the customer invariably wants a single throat to choke—a party who can assume responsibility for the functionality in question.

I’ve seen too many cases where vendor integrations leads to situations where the customer ends up paying a consultant to determine that there are bugs or unknown limitations to the integration that will hamper the use of the advertised functionality.

Functionality Limitations

It’s not uncommon that a company’s needs exceed the capabilities of the solutions that the vendor’s out-of-the-box integrations provide. Because of the specialized functionality and capabilities involved, it is often the case that the credit card capabilities provided by a vendor are a “minimal acceptable solution” variety—a solution that barely meets the base requirements, but offers very little “wiggle room” for customers whose requirements step over the vendor’s proverbial line. Such is often the problem with vendor-supplier solutions, and one of the reasons customers leverage best-of-breed solutions in their place.

“Comprehensive” Credit Card Processing or Best-in-Breed?

With all the challenges to credit card processing, we’ve found the best-of-breed solutions to be generally preferable to the comprehensive but underpowered solutions provided out-of-the box by the ERP vendor community. In that light, our work with Century Business Solutions and their EBizCharge payment platform has proven to help customers handle complex payment requirements, helping them extend their operations and shorten their order to cash cycles.

Interested in e-commerce, cloud, backup and disaster recovery, and other services and solutions that complement your ERP system? Watch our videos to learn more!

This Old IT: The Modify vs. Rebuild Software Quandary

by Joe Trent | Jan 24, 2022 | Business Consulting, Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP, ERP Consulting, Managed IT Services, Prophet 21, Software

When should you start from scratch?

When I was about ten years old, my family lived in an old frame house. I have a lot of fond memories from our time there, but it had some quirks.

New Construction ERP With Blueprints & Project Planning Consultants

Originally a two-bedroom house, a third bedroom had been added onto one side. Built in sort of a lean-to style, the roofline didn’t match, of course. And it was added against the dining room/kitchen side over what was formerly the back door, so you could look out the kitchen window into my parents’ bedroom. It was built on a concrete slab instead of the pier-and-beam construction of the old house, so you stepped down into it, and then there was another back door in the bedroom opening to the backyard. It was an interesting place.

I’m reminded of that house occasionally when I encounter an aging software package that we’re replacing with a modern Epicor ERP system.

When the old stuff was installed, the implementation team made modifications to tailor it to the company’s operation and crafted operating instructions to guide the team. Over the years, the company and its requirements evolved, so more changes and additions were tacked on, old features were abandoned but not removed, and documentation was bypassed in the name of expediency. “Spaghetti Mess” is the technical term for what you get after ten, twenty, or thirty years. That’s just the way of life.

Eventually, a company makes the painful choice to start afresh with current technology and fresh eyes, and we find ourselves on the brink of an adventure. As we all know, adventure is rarely experienced without peril, sacrifice, and hard work. But it also can bring us reward and satisfaction.

When IT comes to IT, our consultants will be there.

The EstesGroup will be excited to be your partners in this journey. Need help with technology solutions or cloud services? Is it time for help with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system? We’ll be there before you know it!

Partner with EstesGroup for your entire ERP journey.

Are you researching Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and seeking help understanding what your ERP vendor has to offer? Software vendors aside, an initial ERP implementation or ERP upgrade should improve your user experience, streamline business functions, and create new management systems that optimize your core business processes. With real-time data, a single system (deployed in a private or hybrid cloud) can be the software program that gets your business beyond the burdens of the computer system itself – meaning that your ERP software gives you a clean solution across all business units and future software development projects. EstesGroup offers custom solutions for your unique business needs.