Epicor 10 Archives - Page 3 of 19

6 Tips to Save Time & Money When Customizing Your Epicor Application

by Rob McMillen | Dec 6, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, Prophet 21

Here at EstesGroup, we do a lot of customizations for Epicor ERP and P21 systems. These include adding new logic to processing, adding / changing reports, updating screens to add custom information and creating new dashboards to simplify business understanding. We love customizing both P21 and Epicor Kinetic / E10 because it drives customer efficiency and productivity. But the process of getting things done can be frustrating when delays set in. With that in mind, I want to give you six tips to streamline the customization process and save you time and money!

Does your Epicor application have you caught in a cycle of subtraction?

#1 – You should consider having an ad-hoc Statement of Work (SOW) setup with EstesGroup.

Doesn’t it always seem that the more urgent the request, the more roadblocks you encounter?

Often you want something quick, but you find that your current SOW has expired. Or maybe is doesn’t have enough hours for the customization. This delays your request and adds more work for you. That’s why we offer our “ad-hoc SOW” as an option.

If you have an ad-hoc SOW established with us, we can skip the step of creating a new SOW (sending emails, getting signatures, entering all of that into systems, etc.) and focus on getting the work done.

Action Step: Contact us and setup an ad-hoc SOW now. Then keep it active so that there is no delay if you have an urgent issue. We usually set them up for 12 months long and we will contact you for approval to renew. And we always get your email approval before starting any work so there are no surprises.

#2 – Have the actual user write up what is needed so that you get the most accurate version of the request.

Remember the telephone game? You whisper in another person’s ear, and they then do the same? What you find is that a request that goes through multiple people can gradually change. Then when the estimate comes back, it doesn’t match the real user’s needs and we’ve introduced more delay in the process.

Action Step: If you are the intermediary at your organization and are gathering the information, have the actual user describe what they want in their own words. Don’t try to interpret it for them or make assumptions you haven’t checked out.

#3 – Focus on describing what you want and how you would like it to work not the details of how the developer should make the code changes.

Often, we get customization requests where the customer focuses on describing the details of how the customization should technically be done rather than what the customization should accomplish.

That’s helpful but overlooks the fact that a developer may know a better way to accomplish the same thing. Plus, realize that developers are naturally prone to find solutions that will not require more work in the future. And there is also a good chance they may have done this same change for another customer.

Letting them figure out the best way ensures they will offer a solution that doesn’t affect your next upgrade and is also simpler to do.

Action Step: Focus on what you want and how you would like it to work. Describe what the screens must do, or how the report should look. Trust the developer to use their expertise to find the best way to do it.

#4 – Use a standard set of questions for each customization request. Don’t settle for a brief email that can be interpreted several different ways.

We often let requests come in with partial information and the result is a lot of unnecessary back and forth conversations to get the information needed. Your time is valuable, so use a template.

We know that when the user answers the right questions, they offer the best information. And a template is a great way to simplify the process. Of course, we know that in some cases an internal discussion is best to gather the answers. But you can still use the template, right?

Action Step: Use this downloadable form to capture the request information up-front.

#5 – Be clear about what you want and don’t rely on assumptions!

Developers will make assumptions. It’s human nature and that will affect how they estimate the time to make, test and deliver the customization. If you can define those assumptions beforehand, it will reduce delays and improve the quality of the estimate. Here’s a list of common assumptions made by the developer:

The customer doesn’t need to license any new modules to complete the solution.
This area of the application hasn’t been significantly modified before.
The customer has a good testing environment they can use.
The customer has good data to test with.
The end user will review and help test the solution.
I’m the only person currently customizing the environment.

Action Step: If these assumptions are incorrect, include the information in your request so they include them in their thinking. Don’t make them guess!

#6 – Don’t wait to verify the developer has good access to your test environment.

One of the biggest delays in delivering customizations is when the developer cannot get working access to your test environment. We’ve seen delays of several weeks around this problem and we know that is frustrating for you.

Plus, we are prone to assume that because access worked once before, that it still works. New versions of VPN software and minor configuration changes in your network will easily break the process used only several weeks ago.

Action Step: Provide connection information to the developer early in the process and have them test their access as they develop solutions. If you can validate their access yourself by emulating the developer, we highly recommend doing that so that you know your connection information works.

SUMMARY

Customizations are great but the process can be challenging. As you use these Six Tips to Save Time and Money When Customizing Your Epicor Application, you will simplify the process for your organization and save time in getting the solutions you need. Plus, you will feel less aggravation in the process!

Please feel free to share this information in your organization and let us know if you have any other suggestions as well!

Are you ready to begin a conversation about your Epicor application?

We have Epicor Kinetic / E11 / E10 & Epicor Prophet 21 experts on standby to answer your questions about every aspect of the application – from the software vendor through to the server!

Paying the Piper in Epicor E10, Kinetic & Prophet 21

by Brad Feakes | Oct 18, 2021 | Distribution, Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP, Prophet 21

Best Practices for Paying Supplier Invoices in Epicor ERP

There are many challenges when it comes to paying supplier invoices in Epicor E10, Epicor Kinetic (E11), or in Epicor Prophet 21. In simple terms, a company purchases goods from a supplier according to pre-established and carefully-specified terms. In most cases, a company needs to pay them within the specified terms, waiting as long as possible, as to keep the cash flow within the confines of the company’s banking system for as long as possible.

But the payment must not be so late as to incur the wrath of the supplier and avoid the inconveniences that credit hold will place on subsequent purchases. And the company may elect to take advantage of an early payment discount, if one exists.

Sounds simple enough. But a company also must ensure that invoices are accurate. The amount invoiced must correspond to the quantities that were actually delivered. Some many-to-one complexities muddle the water a bit, given that a supplier invoice may cover several purchase orders and that each PO could be dozens or even hundreds of lines in length.

Supplier Invoices Epicor Kinetic ERP Cloud

Automating the Three-Way Matching Process

At this point, we haven’t even begun to validate the amount that was on the original purchase order. Such is the magic of the three-way match: cross-referencing the information that was on the PO with the information on the receipt and matching both of these with the invoice from the supplier.

The matching process differs by company, as many companies have different rules and tolerances that govern the matching process. This can make the process laborious and time consuming for accounts payable staff, and it’s not uncommon for many accounting departments to spend inordinate amounts of time matching invoices and cutting checks for routine purchases.

Given that the three-way matching process is largely mechanical in nature, one would think that it could be automated. But what would it look like for a system to perform some of the heavy lifting, allowing your AP staff to focus on the critical few problems, without having to grind thought the invoices that went through without a hitch?

Firstly, the system would need to read the invoice. It would need to read and digitize supplier invoices, whether they’re sent as PDFs Word documents, or in some other format.
Secondly, it would need to validate the invoice. It would need to review the past POs and match the invoice lines with the corresponding PO lines, whether they come from multiple Purchase Orders or a single PO.
Thirdly, they’d need to perform the three-way match. Using the rules that your company has configured, the system would need to compare line items from the purchase order, the invoice, and the actual receipt of goods.
Finally, the system would need to generate payment vouchers with the click of a button.

The benefits of such a system should be self-evident. Automation works to secure your supplier relationship, while minimizing invested time and effort. Moreover, such a system would be the kind of repetitive and rigorous data-driven analytical work that computers are made to do:

Processing matched invoices
Kicking out exceptions

Automation allows skilled staff to focus on the real work, not the grunt work.

Are you in search of such a solution? Our supply chain automation partner SourceDay will be presenting a webinar entitled “3-Way Matching Success Through AP Automation” with Epicor ERP software solutions expert Jim Frye.

The webinar will focus on the final stage of the purchase order process: paying supplier invoices. Anyone who’s navigated the perils of accounts payables in Epicor knows the burden of matching purchase orders and invoices. There has to be a better way!

Join Epicor ERP expert Jim Frye to learn how SourceDay helps Epicor customers reduce the time and effort it takes to pay supplier invoices, resulting in early payment discounts, efficiency gains, and hard cost savings. The webinar will cover the following:

The challenges of paying supplier invoices in Epicor
The measurable benefits of faster invoice payment
How to increase operational efficiency and automation

Learn more about Epicor software by attending an EstesGroup Summit! Whether you’re a small business or a global manufacturer or distributor, our world-class enterprise resource planning (ERP) consultants can help you with everything from raw materials management to ERP cloud migration. Our Epicor consulting team can help you move from the paper based systems of the past to the cloud based applications of the future.

BRAD FEAKES

SVP or Professional Services

EstesGroup

TALK TO BRAD

JIM FRYE

Enterprise Sales Director & In-House Epicor ERP Expert

SourceDay

TALK TO JIM

PHILLIP PAVELKA

Solutions Engineer

SourceDay

TALK TO PHILLIP

Leveraging Union Queries in Epicor Kinetic BAQs

by Brad Feakes | Oct 13, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Kinetic, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation

BAQs — Becoming One Data

A fundamental value of your Epicor ERP system is the data that it holds — all that data sits there, nicely organized and begging for consumption. But good data needs to be converted into information to be of value. As such, getting good data out of your ERP system is key. Often, it takes a good query to perform that information transformation. A Union query is one tool in the Epicor BAQ toolbox that can perform this action.

Within the Epicor Business activity query toolset, Union queries combine multiple data sources into a single results set. Union queries are a great way to combine data from different tables that are, for whatever reason, sufficiently similar as to combine them into a single dataset. Some examples might include:

You are using the project module and wish to combine project phases and project tasks into one single set of activities
You are tracking the completion of manufactured parts in a mixed mode environment, and need to merge the Job Assembly and Job Material tables
You are reviewing sales activity for a customer and wish to combine open orders and open quotes

The UNION command in some ways functions like a JOIN command. It is used to select related information from two related tables. The biggest difference is in how the two tables are related and returned. A JOIN returns multiple table data elements combined into a single row, while with the UNION command, the records from different tables are returned as separate rows. It’s important to note the following: because records from different tables are being combined into a single set of rows, the rows returned need to be of the same data type. We will spell this out further below.

Let’s look at the attached Epicor BAQ example and better understand the UNION command in an Epicor business activity query.

The following query combines three sets of supply-side data into a single dataset:

Purchase Orders
Jobs
Inventory

SubQuery1 is the top-level query. It pulls data from the PartBin and PlantWhse tables:

SubQuery2 is a Union query, from the JobPart and JobHead tables. Note: the data types are organized in the same order as the top-level query:

SubQuery3 is also a Union subquery that returns data from the PODetail and PORel tables:

Note: UNION command requires all selected columns to be of the same data type. If these returned values are not of the same type, you will receive error messages, per the screenshot below:

The value of Union queries is far-reaching. For example, the above query can then be used in a job shortage dashboard, such as the one below. In the following dashboard, the main query returns all past-due job material records where the material’s related operations have been started, but the material has not been issued. The main query published out the material part number, such that the child query can subscribe to this value and present the collected supply for the part in question, whether coming from inventory, from a job, or from a purchase order:

Need help with Epicor Kinetic BAQs?

Ask us about BAQs now

Like BAQs? Looking for more Epicor Kinetic tips and tricks?

Meet us at the EstesGroup Kinetic Summit!

3 Ways to Spring your Epicor Installation Ahead

by Brad Feakes | Mar 15, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Administration, ERP, ERP Consulting

Spring Cleaning & New Growth for Epicor ERP

While individuals differ in their opinion of daylight savings time, the metaphor of “springing ahead” feels perfect for the enterprise resource planning (ERP) season. Spring is, after all, the time of growth and expansion. So how do companies make the most of this season? Successful Epicor customers often find ways to move their implementation forward, following through on the ERP resolutions made in winter.

Whether you’re heading toward a great spring-loaded leap forward or merely some spring cleaning, there are many things that you can do to help your Epicor application spring ahead in terms of functionality, capability and overall return on investment (ROI).

Epicor Installation Manufacturing Tool Sparks

Spring your Epicor Installation Ahead with a Master File Cleanup

Daily problems in business operations often have their source in the master file records. Master file records are the kind of data that gradually deteriorates over time, if not cared for with vigor. Cleaning up the customer, supplier, and part master tables allows companies to quickly resolve multiple ongoing issues. I’ve seen many companies perform annual intensive data cleanup efforts to rectify such ongoing issues, and this often results in a system that is more predictable and more scalable over time. With each master file, countless questions can be asked to verify the accuracy of this foundational data.

These might include some of the following:

Customer Master: Are customer contacts up to date? How about the terms? Are credit limits in need of a review?
Supplier Master: Is banking information correct? Are purchase points defined correctly? Are terms up to date?
Part Master: Is supply-side information correctly configured to handle demand? Are part costs in line? What about customer and supplier-based part pricing?

Spring your ERP Ahead with a User Security Review

Cleaning up security within the ERP application is a simple step that can improve the maintenance and maintainability of the application. One significant question would be to ask whether your company utilizes individual user security or group security. The use of group-based security tends to keep the management of security much cleaner than the individual method, as users inherit permissions from the security groups, which ensures consistent and predicable access, without the scramble of managing individual permissions on every user account. Has your individual user security gotten out of hand? It’s never too late to rationalize security groups and roll back some of the disarray. This is one simple way of keeping your Epicor installation from becoming risky business.

Within this general structure, attention should be take to a few key functions, as to ensure that they are adequately managed:

Part Maintenance: Who has the ability to create and maintain parts? In many organizations, too many individuals have this ability, and it can create a significant amount of disruption if they are not doing so in a consistent manner.
Quantity Adjustments: The ability to adjust inventory quantities on the fly is a powerful but dangerous capability. Often, quantity adjustments are made to cover other issues, such as incorrect quality practices or inaccurate material issuing tendencies. Limiting quantity adjustments to a few reliable individuals is key to preventing inventory problems from spinning out of control.
Job Entry: Who should be able to modify a job? There are several settings (backflush, make direct, purchase direct, etc.) that can radically affect the application. Tightening the screws on job entry is often a means of ensuring successful supply for the jobs in question.

Spring Ahead with Focused Education

In an ERP context, education should be distinguished from training. Training generally refers to basic instruction geared for general end users, to allow them to perform processes accurately and consistently. Education differs from simple training in that it focuses much more on the underlying mechanics of the ERP system than on performing specific pre-defined tasks. When a larger critical mass of super users understands the underlying mechanisms of the system, you are better able to make decisions and further refine your system, improving efficiency and handling new challenges as they arise. Also, as new employees enter the organization, providing them with a solid understanding of the system can prevent needless backtracking. This is especially true for an Epicor installation.

So, what areas of the application could use some additional deep dives? Here are a few:

Transaction types: What’s the different between MFG-STK and MFG-WIP? It’s an important distinction.
Non-Stock: Understanding the effects of the non-stock flag on Sales Order Entry, the Engineering Workbench, and Job Entry is fundamental to successfully managing parts through the system.
Phantom BOMs — phantoms may help simplify your job BOMs, consolidate engineering levels, and simplify transactions.
Labor Entry Method: How does backflushing differ from Quantity Only? These are subtle but important differences, and the ramifications are widespread.
Backflushing Materials: Backflushing is another opportunity to make the system more efficient, but it relies on a solid understanding of the related hierarchy.

A Clean Epicor Installation Enables Growth

Spring, after all, is the season of growth, so push to move your Epicor ERP application forward this season, and sew the seeds for a bountiful harvest in 2021. Ready for optimal growth? Get the Epicor consulting services or Prophet 21 services you need to get ahead of the season. Take a tour of Epicor in a future-proof environment with a free ECHO cloud hosting demo. ECHO supports all ERP systems, including cloud-ready P21 & cloud-ready SYSPRO.

Talk to us about hosting your ERP

3 Things to Consider When Upgrading From Epicor 905 to E10

by Brad Feakes | Feb 16, 2021 | Epicor 10, ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, ERP Risks and Challenges

People, Infrastructure, and Scope in an Epicor 905 Migration

A customer on the front end of an upgrade from Epicor 905 to E10 asked me for advice on ERP upgrade planning. I’ve long reflected on some of the keys to a successful Epicor 905 upgrade to E10—the lessons learned by decades of experience, and collected across countless end-of-project reviews. In light of wins and losses of the past, I’ve put together some thoughts on successfully upgrading an ERP system.

Working with consultants often helps in transitioning from a legacy ERP and gaining traction with the new version. This is especially the case if your business intends to leverage the upgrade as an opportunity to perform process changes, implement additional modules, or take advantage of new functionality. All of these things involve risk, largely due to the complexity of data amassed in the process. But if you consider your people, your infrastructure, and your scope, then an upgrade will be the best decision you can make for your future.

Your People & Your Partners

Upgrading your ERP system is all about the people.

The people your upgrade will support
The people who will help make your application meet your goals

The Philosophy Behind Your People

Methodology: You want to work with folks who have a process for taking your company through the steps, so ’tis not a hodgepodge of random activity.

Expertise: I’d recommend you work with a consultancy rather than an independent “jack of all trades” — generalists are good for what they do, but I find the overall solution is superior when delivered by a coordinated team of folks. Look for specialization: Operations, Finance, Tools, Installation, etc.

Knowledge: This is where you want some good generalist know-how accessible to you when needed. For example, if you’re upgrading Epicor from 905 to E10, you’ll want someone around who has knowledge about 905 and expertise about upgrading to E10. This is especially helpful for tools considerations and code conversion, but not really important otherwise. The data from 905 to 10 is generally the same, and the functionality is also quite similar. If you have ABL code that you need to convert, you’ll want to partner with a team that has these skills.

Experience: This is key. In an Epicor upgrade, for example, you need folks who are strong in E10 and can recommend how the system will best run in 10, so that your transition is smooth and effective.

The Technical Nature of an ERP Upgrade

These considerations apply to any ERP, but I’m going to walk you through this with my Epicor consulting experience coloring the waters. In general, the move from Epicor 905 to 10 is technical in nature, with the change of the database and business logic layers from Progress to .net & SQL Server. Here’s a quick summary of some of the major changes and their implications:

Core Modules: These are very similar from 905 to 10 with some new sub-modules and lots of new bells and whistles. You’ll find many opportunities for changes in configuration, and some of these can create unexpected behaviors, so test carefully.

Updatable BAQs & Dashboards: These generally come over uneventfully, with a few tweaks. If they contain ABL code, some rewrites are required.

Embedded Customizations: These also generally come over uneventfully, with a few tweaks.

BPMs: Anything with Progress 4GL ABL code will need to be rewritten.

Configurators: Similar to BPMs, anything with Progress 4GL ABL code will need to be rewritten.

SSRS / Crystal Reports: 905 primarily uses Crystal Reports. In 10, these have all been converted to SSRS. If you have a lot of custom Crystal Reports, you’ll want to consider whether to rebuild these in 10 or deploy Crystal in the E10 environment.

At all levels, you have to assess the ERP system and the technology that supports it. When you’re upgrading a legacy ERP, should you also upgrade your servers? Will your system require new data management solutions like cloud-based disaster and recovery services? Are you facing new cybersecurity and compliance decisions?

Technical Considerations

Upgrading an ERP system demands skillful handling of data. This includes both the mind and soul of the ERP: the strength and spirit of the application. With on-premise, hosted, and SaaS solutions now available as ERP infrastructure options, your upgrade should include technology assessments both in and out of the software.

Upgrade vs. Reimplementation

Think about whether you want your ERP upgrade to be a straight, utility-driven upgrade from the legacy to the current version or a reimplementation. We’ve worked with customers who have gone either way. We’ve found that reimplementation efforts tend to take longer and cost more, but leave you with a much cleaner data foundation.

A Data-Driven Epicor 905 Upgrade

If you’re trying to pull off some configuration/business process changes as part of the upgrade, this is easier to do as part of a reimplementation. If running Epicor and you’re looking to do the straight, utility-driven upgrade, I would recommend partnering with Epicor specifically to do the database conversion/upgrade. They have proprietary tool (“Cirrus”) that performs this upgrade, and it’s really the best way to do this. In the past, with early versions of 10, the upgrade toolset was part of the Admin Console, and partners like us performed the upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, we also had to request data scrubbing programs to run in 905 prior to the actual upgrade. These helped prepare the data for the 905 > 10 conversion.

Over the course of the last few years, Epicor developed the Cirrus toolset that performs the database uplift. This incorporates all that scrubbing and referential integrity stuff to successfully migrate the DB. These capabilities are not built into the admin console upgrade capabilities, so my understanding is that a better-quality uplift is achieved by working though Cirrus. As a customer, I would be working through Epicor to get the DB upgrading it, and not relying on the admin console. In reviewing the feedback from the Epicor user community, I think that the general consensus would be to leverage Cirrus when possible.

The Project Scope: Budgets & Ongoing Planning

Begin with your history. How to handle your historical data is unique to your project, and you might want to bring in a consultant to help you make decisions around the complexities. There are a number of additional budgetary/planning considerations that should be made at the onset of an upgrade project. Here are several that we normally work though with our customers:

Project Management: Do you have an on-site PM who will handle more of the PM duties, or do you want the partner to assume those?
Server Install/Configuration/Tuning: Who do you have for technical staff to assist with server-side activities, or do you want the partner to assume those?
ABL Code Conversion: Who do you have for development staff that can assist with code conversion, or do you want the partner to assume those?
Cirrus Upgrade: Are we working through Epicor to do the Cirrus upgrade? If doing a Cirrus upgrade, you should plan for that cost.
Delta Education: Do you want to self-educate or have your partner provide ERP training and support?
On-site Consultation: Do you want to have consultants on-site to assist, or do you want to have the partner working remotely and on-site on an as-needed basis?
Milestone Prep: Do you have resources that can perform the prep activities, or do you want the partner to assist?
Milestone Verification Events: Do you want to conduct CRP and UAT events on your own?
Gap Closure: Do you want assistance with gap closure, or do you want to spearhead this?
Customization/Tools: Do you have an internal resource to perform any new tools work (customizations, BPMs, reports, etc) that would be part up the upgrade project?
Data Conversion/DMT Assistance: Do you have a data-savvy resource who can own DMT & data questions and query the data out of the existing system, manipulate it to load into Epicor, and run the DMT tool to load?
On-site Support at Cutover: Do you want on-site support at cutover?
First Month-End: Do you need on-site finance support for the first month-end after cutting over, or do you have strong Epicor-savvy internal financial resources?

Upgrading an ERP system can be challenging. It’s a highly rewarding endeavor, and the outcome justifies the move. Good luck on your journey, and reach out to our experts with any questions you have along the way!

Epicor Part & MOM Settings: Learning By Example

by Brad Feakes | Feb 11, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation

Epicor Cover: Lessons From the Trenches

Sometimes the best way to understand the inner workings of an ERP system is to review examples of its activities and to trace them back to the underlying setup that generated the activities themselves. In the Epicor ERP context, I’ve encountered challenges in helping users understand the impact of some core part settings. Like many ERP systems, Epicor’s part master file is fundamental in governing how these parts flow through the ERP application. There are a handful of “big little checkboxes” that radically change the system’s behavior, and understanding these system settings is a core building block to successfully configuring your Epicor ERP system.

To that end, I’ve put together a few examples that help demonstrate Epicor part and Epicor MOM setup, and their ramifications on Epicor job structure. In fact, Epicor job MOMs are highly dependent on the upstream settings, and without this understanding, the structure of an Epicor job MOM can be confusing. Such principles as Epicor job materials, make-direct materials, and job subassemblies are all traced back to a few small settings. Let’s look at some examples and see how they play out.

The Difference is in the Settings

Fundamental decisions create a stable core
Successful configurations come from experience
Subtle variations significantly alter outcomes

Enterprise Resource Planning Project Team Meeting

In my examples, I utilize Epicor’s training database.

I begin with a few existing parts, and make small modifications to demonstrate the different scenarios.

Let’s begin with part DSS-1000.

This part came directly from the Epicor training database. The key material, part DSS-1010, was also pre-defined. Part DSS-1000 occupied material sequence 10 of parent part DSS-1000. This serves as the baseline for subsequent scenarios.

From here, I copied parts DSS-1000 and DSS-1010 multiple times and made subtle variations.

The following component materials are used in the subsequent scenarios:

DSS-1010: Directly from the training database. Stocked MFG Part (i.e: not Non-Stock).
DSS-1010NS: MFG, Non-Stock: Used for Make-Direct and Subassembly examples.
DSS-1010NSPB: MFG, Non-Stock Phantom BOM Part.

The following higher-level assemblies are used in the subsequent scenarios:

DSS-1000: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010) is a stocked material.
DSS-1000MDM: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NS) is a Make-Direct material.
DSS-1000SUB: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NS) is a Job Subassembly.
DSS-1000PBOM: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NSPB) is a Phantom Assembly.

Interaction between Part Master, the Engineering Workbench, and the Epicor Job

It is fundamental to understand that the part master settings affect the default settings in the Epicor Engineering Workbench and that both the Engineering Workbench and the part master affect the final job MOM. The default behavior can be described as follows:

Non-Stock > Pull as Assembly > Job Subassembly
Not Non-Stock > Not Pull as Assembly > Job Material (Issued from Stock)

Default Behavior: Stocked Part from Part Master to Job MOM

Let’s explore Epicor’s default behavior in handling a Stocked Material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010 is a stocked part.
Part DSS-1010 is a not flagged Pull as assembly material on Part DSS-1000, material sequence 10.

The outcome: Material sequence 10, part DSS-1010, shows up on the job as a material that is issued from stock (not Make-Direct).

Default Behavior: Non-Stocked Part from Part Master to Job MOM

Let’s explore Epicor’s default behavior in handling a Non-Stocked material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010NS is a Non-Stocked part.
By default, Part DSS-1010NS is flagged Pull as Assembly on Part DSS-1000, material sequence 10.

The outcome: Part DSS-1010NS shows up on the Job as a Subassembly. Material Sequence 10 no longer exists on the Epicor job bill of materials.

Override: Processing Non-Stock Part as a Make-Direct Job Material

By default, a Non-Stock Material would be processed as a Subassembly (Pull as Assembly). But this behavior can be overridden, in the Epicor Engineering Workbench, resulting in different downstream behaviors. Unchecking the Pull as Assembly flag for a Non-Stock material will cause the material on the job to be supplied in a Make-Direct manner: Non-Stock > Not Pull as Assembly > Make-Direct Material

Let’s explore Epicor’s behavior in handling a Non-Stocked material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010NS is a Non-Stocked part.
Part DSS-1010NS is not flagged Pull as assembly material on Part DSS-1000MDM, material sequence 10. We have overridden the default and unchecked the flagged Pull as assembly flag.

Outcome: Part DSS-1010NS shows up on the Job as a Make-Direct Material on the Job.

As you can see, the decisions you make when handling Epicor’s part settings can significantly impact the Epicor jobs created to manufacture them. Hopefully these examples have assisted in your understanding of the factors that affect Epicor’s job bill of materials.