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A Tale of Two Agents: Epicor’s Interconnected Framework

A Tale of Two Agents: Epicor’s Interconnected Framework

Epicor Task Management Handles the Details

The communication between the client application and its server is a fundamental consideration for any ERP system, but every ERP has its own peculiarities when it comes to how this communication occurs, especially when it comes to processing asynchronous tasks.  

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Within the context of Epicor’s Kinetic ERP system, the communication of asynchronous tasks is accomplished via the interaction between Epicor’s system agent and task agent. The system agent and task agent form an interconnected framework that manages asynchronous processing and background tasks, ensuring smooth operation and scalability of the Epicor ERP environment. An in-depth explanation of their relationships and roles can help your company leverage your ERP system to its fullest capabilities.

System Agent

The Epicor system agent, a part of the Epicor application, ensures smooth communication between the ERP system and the task agent. Understanding the Epicor system agent, including its key functions and relationship with the Epicor application is important for businesses seeking the maximum benefits from their ERP. 

Epicor System Agent Management
The system agent is a logical entity within the Epicor application that schedules and manages background tasks. It is defined at the application level and serves as an intermediary between users or the system and the task agent.

Epicor System Agent Key Functions

  • Task Scheduling: Handles the scheduling of recurring tasks, such as generating reports, running MRP (Material Requirements Planning), or processing batch jobs.
  • User Interface: Users interact with the system agent through the Epicor client to submit tasks or manage schedules.
  • Delegation: Delegates tasks to the appropriate task agent on the application server for execution​​.
The system agent operates within the Epicor application and communicates with the task agent(s) for task execution. It ensures tasks are queued and sent to the correct server or task agent.

The Epicor Task Agent

After the Epicor system agent communicates tasks, the Epicor task agent is integral for execution, logging, and monitoring within the ERP system. Through the Epicor Administration Console (EAC), users can easily configure and manage task agents on the application server. The task agent communicates directly with the Epicor application for transparent task reporting.

Epicor Task Agent
The task agent is a service running on the Epicor application server that executes the tasks queued by the system agent. It is responsible for carrying out the actual processing work.

Task Agent Key Functions

  • Task Execution: Executes tasks such as report generation, data exports, or process workflows initiated by the system agent.
  • Multitasking: Supports concurrent task processing by managing multiple queues or threads.
  • Logging and Monitoring: Logs task execution details and provides monitoring capabilities for administrators​​.
Task agents are configured and managed on the application server through the Epicor Administration Console (EAC). Multiple task agents can be deployed for load balancing and redundancy​​
The task agent acts as the execution engine for tasks managed by the system agent. It processes instructions received from the system agent and reports back the status or results of the tasks to the Epicor application.

The system agent, task agent, and Epicor application work together for seamless ERP system performance regarding task generation, delegation, execution, and completion.

Task Submission:

  1. A user submits a task (e.g., generating a financial report) in the Epicor application interface.
  2. The system agent queues this task for execution.

Task Delegation:

  1. The system agent identifies the appropriate task agent on the application server and sends the task to it.
  2. The task is hereby delegated.

Task Execution:

  1. The task agent processes the task, utilizing system resources on the application server.
  2. The task agent logs the task status and output, providing updates to the system agent.

Task Completion:

  1. The system agent retrieves the task results from the task agent.
  2. The system agent makes the task available in the Epicor application for the user to access.

Task-in, Task-out: Examples of Epicor Task Processing

The system agent is essential for efficient report generation while the task agent ensures smooth MRP processing.

Epicor Report Generation:

  • Users schedule a monthly sales report via the system agent.
  • The system agent queues the task and sends it to the task agent.
  • The task agent retrieves data from the database, generates the report, and stores it for user access.
Epicor MRP Processing:

  • The system agent schedules MRP runs during off-peak hours.
  • The task agent processes the large data sets, calculates demand, and updates inventory levels in the database.

Benefits of Epicor Task Management

The system agent, task agent, and the Epicor application streamline the ERP system, providing efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

  • Efficiency: Tasks are processed asynchronously, minimizing delays in user interactions with the Epicor application.
  • Scalability: Multiple task agents can be deployed to distribute workload across servers.
  • Reliability: Tasks are queued and processed independently of user sessions, reducing the risk of task failure due to client-side issues.
The system agent, task agent and Epicor application perform important roles in forming a powerful framework for the Epicor ERP system. Together, they simplify task management, including task generation, execution, and reporting.
Understanding how these three components work together is essential for businesses to optimize their operations, improve the reliability of their systems, and scale their ERP systems.
Are you ready to optimize your ERP system and streamline Epicor task management? Contact us today, and we’ll help maximize your ERP investment with the ideal setup.
Mastering Custom Reports in Epicor ERP

Mastering Custom Reports in Epicor ERP

In today’s data-driven business landscape, creating custom reports in Epicor ERP is crucial for informed decision-making. However, this process can be more challenging than expected. Let’s dive into the best practices for developing custom reports that meet your exact needs and leverage Epicor’s powerful capabilities.

Epicor ERP Custom Reports

Assessing the Need for Custom Reports in Epicor ERP

Before embarking on custom report development, consider whether it’s truly necessary. Simply replicating legacy system reports or providing vague instructions like “make it happen” often leads to disappointing results. Instead, a strategic approach is key to unlocking the full potential of Epicor ERP’s reporting features.

Key Elements for Specifying Epicor Reports

To ensure your custom reports deliver maximum value, focus on these critical components:

Query Logic

Define the precise data set your report should return. For example, “all active parts in Part Class X” or “uninvoiced sales order miscellaneous charges.” This foundational step guides the developer in structuring the underlying query effectively.

Filters

Determine if your report requires filtering options, such as by part, supplier, or site. This flexibility enhances user experience and report functionality within the Epicor ecosystem.

Groupings

Specify how you want data grouped in your report. For instance, “group by site and customer” provides a clear organizational structure for your information.

Sorts

Within your groupings, establish sorting preferences. This impacts the query structure and data presentation. Examples include “sort by invoice number” or “alphabetically by part number.”

Fields & Field Order

Identify the specific Epicor ERP fields containing relevant data and their desired order in the report. For calculated fields, provide the exact formula (e.g., past due = due date – current date).

Sample Data

Ensure your development environment contains representative data for testing. This might involve creating sales orders with miscellaneous charges to accurately model your reporting requirements.

Visual Mockup

A visual representation of your desired report layout significantly aids developers in organizing the output. When transitioning from a legacy system, adapt the old report format to align with Epicor’s capabilities.

Leveraging Epicor ERP’s Advanced Reporting Tools

Epicor offers robust reporting solutions like Epicor Data Analytics (EDA) and Epicor Financial Report Writer. These tools integrate seamlessly with your ERP system, providing real-time insights and customizable dashboards.

Optimizing Report Performance

To ensure your custom reports run efficiently:

  • Use appropriate indexing strategies
  • Implement smart data caching
  • Leverage Epicor’s built-in performance optimization features

Ensuring Data Security and Compliance

When developing custom reports, always consider data security and regulatory compliance. Epicor ERP provides robust security features to protect sensitive information while allowing authorized access to critical business intelligence.

Continuous Improvement and User Feedback

Implement a feedback loop to continuously refine your custom reports. Regular user surveys and performance metrics can help identify areas for improvement and ensure your reports evolve with your business needs.

Gain Optimal Performance by Mastering Custom Reports in Epicor ERP

By following these best practices and leveraging Epicor ERP’s powerful reporting capabilities, you can create custom reports that provide accurate, timely, and actionable insights. Remember, the key to success lies in clear specifications, strategic planning, and a deep understanding of your business requirements.

Stay ahead of the curve with Epicor ERP’s advanced reporting solutions and drive your business towards greater efficiency and profitability.

Overcoming Epicor Cutover Challenges: A Tale of Cryptic Errors

Overcoming Epicor Cutover Challenges: A Tale of Cryptic Errors

Epicor Admin Quick Tip: Regen After a Refresh

I once had an Epicor go-live brought to its knees by an administrative snafu – as cutover weekend neared, the Epicor admin refreshed the Epicor production environment with a copy of the Epicor Pilot database. Such a step is not uncommon in an Epicor cutover. But this had not been the first time that a production refresh had occurred, and there had been subsequent customization activities developed since the last Epicor database refresh. As such, there were several Epicor user-defined fields that were present in the Pilot database but new to Production. This small discrepancy created unexpected hardship to all involved.

Epicor Cutover Database Admin

Chaos to Resolution in Epicor

The net result for the Epicor core team that was cutting over to the new system over the weekend was a litany of cryptic Epicor error messages, abysmal system performance, and a near mutiny by the Epicor user community. After roping in a few Epicor administrative experts, we were able to discern the discrepancy, regenerate the data model, and move beyond this hurdle. But the memory of that small Epicor system administration rule-of-thumb gone wrong stuck with me, long after the project had wrapped up.

One reason for this latent memory is that it finds itself refreshed by new instances – just recently, I found an end user reaching out to me over some cryptic errors in a test environment, an Epicor environment that had just recently been refreshed from a seed database. My first question: “Did you regenerate the Epicor data model after refreshing the Epicor database?” Problem solved, albeit this time, without the pitchforks and torches.

Echoes of CRC Errors

Does this issue sound familiar? For those of us whose Epicor administrator duties go back to Epicor 905, Epicor Vantage, or some earlier Progress-based version, these issues might be likened to the familiar “CRC errors” that once plagued our Epicor custom solutions. In that case, a field had most often been added to the database, and that field caused an existing Progress-based compiled assembly to malfunction. The table structure at the database level did not match the table structure at the application level, and chaos ensued.

Sometimes, the resolution to an Epicor issue is simple. In this case, a simple Epicor admin policy would be to regenerate the data model when refreshing an Epicor environment. This ensures that you will not have any mismatch with your Epicor UD fields, and that the users can jump in without issue.

This is especially true in an environment where custom solutions are being developed, as is the case with many Epicor implementation projects, where changes are most often occurring. This can also be the case in Epicor projects that are heavy in the use of the Epicor Product Configurator module, or longtime Epicor customers who have undergone a significant amount of Epicor customization.

Post-Model Regen

Now that you’ve regenerated the data model, don’t forget the subsequent step of retrieving a copy of the Epicor database’s data model, so that the application server in question can store it locally, for use by the application itself. At a minimum, the Epicor admin should recycle the application pool for the application server instance in question – this is accomplished from the administration console. Now, I’ve had some administrators tell me that it is preferable to start and stop the ERP application pool, rather than simply recycle it. The difference between stopping and recycling an IIS application pool demands its own article, so I will stop at mentioning this controversy for the time being, without discussing its resolution.

Epicor Regen After Refresh

Epicor Cutover Success

The art of efficient Epicor system administration often boils down to steering clear of preventable pitfalls. The instance described here serves as a prime illustration of a minor adjustment that can avert substantial issues. By ensuring the proper regeneration of the data model and taking the necessary steps to maintain database consistency, ERP administrators can fortify their systems against disruptions.

Do you need help with your Epicor cutover or are you looking for more admin tips?

If you find yourself seeking guidance in the realm of ERP administration, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our Epicor Kinetic consultants can assist you in navigating the intricacies of your ERP environment, ensuring smooth operations and enhanced productivity for your organization. EstesGroup brings your company functional, technical, and custom solutions for Kinetic ERP. Manufacturers will benefit from our full-suite of services and solutions, including on-premise expertise and 24/7/365 IT and ERP consultants. From third-party integrations to private cloud and hybrid cloud managed services, Estes provides everything your team needs to succeed before, during, and after go-live.

Introducing Epicor Automation Studio

Introducing Epicor Automation Studio

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). 

Epicor Automation Studio

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 ERP Consultant

Rob McMillen
Principal Consultant / Project Manager at EstesGroup

Ready for digital transformation? Talk to us using the chat to begin a conversation with our Epicor Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) consultants!

3 Ways to Spring your Epicor Installation Ahead

3 Ways to Spring your Epicor Installation Ahead

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 P21cloud-ready SYSPRO.

 

Epicor Process Set Maintenance: Bundle Up

Epicor Process Set Maintenance: Bundle Up

Scheduling ERP Processes

Batch processes have been with us since the inception of business computing. You can complete a batch of tasks as a single process for sake of efficiency. The benefits of such processes are clearly time-saving for an Epicor administrator. Batch processing allows for the automation of many tasks that would take an actual user an immense amount of time and effort to perform in order to accomplish the required manual tasks and calculations. In ERP software, the Materials Requirements Planning (or MRP) process is probably the most well known of such processes. As ERP systems have become more advanced, the need to group multiple processes to operate in harmony has become increasingly important.

Female using cloud technology on a mobile workstation

Epicor Process Bundling

In an Epicor context, there are many processes that you might want to sequentially bundle, such as following up an MRP regeneration by running the production planning and the shop schedule load graph processes, such that you can see the implication of the MRP run on material shortages and shop load respectively.

Sounds simple enough, but the problem with this scenario comes with the fact that such processes often run in the wee hours of the night, and only the most zealous members of the ERP fandom would wish to set their alarms for 3:00 AM so they can manually kick off a few ancillary processes once the MRP regen completes.

Enter Epicor’s Process Set Maintenance. Epicor process sets allow Epicor admins to bundle process runs into a single event. This allows you to sequentially run a suite of Epicor processes automatically, without human intervention. Process sets can include various differences:

  • processes
  • reports
  • executive queries

Once a process set is defined, and then attached to a system agent schedule, the related tasks are automatically processed according to the timing defined by the system agent.

Let’s look at a common issue, one that surfaces frequently for an Epicor admin. At times, you may wish to run processes in a manner that filters the actual processing. For instance, you may wish to run MRP by site, or PO suggestions according to a handful of part classes. Confusion is commonplace in handling process sets when the processes involved possess filtered activities. I’ll give you an example of the problem and an explanation of the actual behavior an Epicor admin can expect to experience when setting up and executing a process set.

Epicor Process Set Maintenance With Process Filters Enabled

Creating a process set occurs through the Process Set Maintenance screen. Once a process set is defined, individual processes can be assigned to a process set. In the example below, I created a process set:

Epicor Process Set Maintenance Screen

Next, I opened the PO Suggestion screen and configured its process parameters. Of those parameters, I set a site-specific filter:

Epicor Generating Purchase Suggestions Screenshot

Then I clicked the icon below to save the PO Suggestion process to the process set I previously created:

Save Epicor Process Set Screen

Returning to my original process set, I now see that the PO Suggestions process has been attached to the process set. Were I to go through the same actions with other processes, I could add multiple processes to this process set, and then use the “Move Up” and “Move Down” buttons to order them appropriately. But one point of confusion exists here. If I were to double-click on the process that I just added, to review its properties, the filter that I previous defined is no longer visible:

Epicor PO Suggestions

As we will see, this cosmetic issue is not detrimental to the actual execution of the processes themselves. To complete the setup of a process set, you need to assign it to a System Agent Schedule. This is accomplished through the Schedule Process Set screen. From this screen, you can select the Process Set:

Schedule ERP Process

Allowing the System Agent schedule to run according to its next run time, I can see in the Epicor System Monitor that the underlying process ran successfully:

Epicor System Monitor

Looking at the Log File related to the PO Suggestions run, I can see that the PO Suggestions process ran according to the filter that I had initially set. As you can see, the log file indicates the Epicor site that I had defined:

Epicor Process Log File

Epicor Admin Automation

In summary, while it may appear that an Epicor process loses its configured filters when added to a process set, in actuality, these parameters are retained, allowing the Epicor Admin great flexibility in automating a variety of ERP system activities.

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