ERP Archives - Page 13 of 22

Partnering with your ERP Consultancy

by EstesCloud | Mar 15, 2021 | ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, ERP Risks and Challenges

How the Right ERP Consultancy Can Take the Risk Out of ERP Implementation

Implementing ERP presents many challenges. One of these involves the simple dilemma of finding good help. Implementing ERP is not a one-man band, but rather a symphony of interconnected members, each doing their part in the performance. Your ERP consulting partner is one such member of the overall team and can significantly impact the success of an ERP implementation. With that in mind, here are a few considerations that will help you make the best choice when finding a consulting partner.

An ERP Consultancy Provides a Path of Success

Scope

At the beginning of your project, define what completion is and how to objectively measure the project’s completion. That definition might evolve as the project moves along, but it’s helpful to define your destination before you embark. This helps you understand how long you will need consulting assistance — completion means the consultant can move along to their next client. You will need to write that final check. Completion also means it is time for you and all the people in your enterprise to sit back and smile. Plan for that success.

Requirements

Consider the needs of your organization and the expertise you already have within your business. You might have a person you think is ready to lead your project: they have the skills and training, but a consultant could guide them and provide experienced mentorship along the way. Or, you might have a very lean organization and need to use a consultant as a full-time manager of the project and then plan to cut the consultant loose when the project is complete.

Culture

Culture is a very important consideration. The consultant who is successful working with a strict top-down leadership style will be different from a consultant who would succeed in an environment where each manager is independent and is expected to make decisions on their own. Your consultant must fit into your existing style and work well with your personnel.

Business Interaction

Negotiations with your consulting partner will begin with senior members of that organization. Those people might not be the same people who will actually work at your business with your own employees. Part of your agreement with the consultant should be control over consultant staff and their ability to get along with your employees.

Logistics

Provide your consultant with access to your systems, a place to sit, and an open communication line to everyone. Introduce the consultant to your staff and let people know who they are and the important work they will be doing on your behalf. Reinforce the call to open communications as needed throughout the project. Many ERP projects are a means of providing tools for future expansions or other plans that likely are confidential. Ensure the consultant understands and has signed appropriate non-disclosure agreements.

Change Management

You will hire a consultant that has the expertise to work with your business eventually to a successful completion of your ERP project. The relationship is not entirely technical. Your employees and system users all react to change in their own unique ways. Some will adapt quickly and embrace the new processes. Others will fight to keep the old process they are already comfortable using. Most will fall somewhere in between, neither fighting change nor immediately accepting change but will, in the end, use your new ERP system. A few might never accept the changes and will part from your business.

Managing change and helping your people along is one of the critical components of your ERP project. The ERP consultant you hire probably has the expertise you need in this area and you should take full advantage of it so your people can stay satisfied.

Data Management

Part of the ERP project will be data conversion from your legacy systems and loading that data into the new ERP. Many IT staff do not have the bandwidth to handle this work in addition to their current jobs. Often this work will be managed by your consultant. Consider who will handle data not only during the project’s duration, but also who will pick up the responsibilities thereafter.

Verification

As the project moves along, you will test specific transactions and the overall system to ensure the results meet your needs and expectations. Use your own people for some of the manual tests. Not only will they help with the project step, they will gain some training and become ambassadors representing all of your ERP users. The consultant will be a guide to setting up and managing testing. The consultant might have automated test processes too which will perform tests that follow your processes and repeat tests 24 hours a day. You will gain many additional test cycles and avoid human errors in testing.

Training

Think about how to train your people to use ERP when the project is complete. You can train a few to train the many and use your existing resources. You could also use the consultants to design and implement needed ERP training for you and your team.

Collaboration With Your ERP Consultancy of Choice

Fundamental to the idea of ERP is the notion of collaboration. Enterprise applications build bridges within the enterprise, and between the enterprise and the outside world. The act of implementing ERP is similarly an act of collaboration. In this light, when choosing a system integrator, ensure that they are an implementation partner, and not merely a consultancy for hire — for it is through people and partnership that the true benefits of ERP are realized.

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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!

SQL Server: Turning Tips and Playing Tricks

by Brad Feakes | Jan 31, 2021 | Epicor, ERP, ERP Consulting, Software

SQL Server Configuration, Tuning & Optimization

The perspectivism of an ERP system shifts based on one’s point of reference. To an end user, an ERP system might simply be a series of screens from which one enters and extracts data. But to an ERP administrator, the view from behind the curtain might be quite different.

For an Epicor admin, the Epicor ERP application’s curtain call generally includes a number of actors: the application server, the database server, and the end user client install among them. Each of these layers requires different tricks and techniques to keep them running smoothly.

Learn about SQL Server by watching an Epicor consulting video presentation:

SQL Server Training

Server-side wisdom is not attained simply by paying for the next round. Much of this kind of information is acquired by doing. There are guide books and training materials, of course, but these cover what we tend to call the “happy path” — and anything that veers off that path is uncharted. Also, there is a certain truism about software vendors keeping their cards close. I once had an instructor shut down one of my end-of-class questions simply: “I could tell you, but I’d have to bill you for it.”

Common Epicor Admin Tasks

In that light, we thought that it would be helpful to openly discuss some of the SQL Server tools and tricks of the trade, as to assist Epicor admins and members of the user community in solving common SQL server tasks. In the above video, recorded at a past EstesGroup User Summit, Daryl Sirota, EstesGroup’s Director of Technical Services, goes over some key SQL Server considerations that cover the range of challenges that a system administrator may encounter in managing the Epicor ecosystem, including the following:

Licensing

SQL Server licensing models vary, often by the number of users vs. the number of cores. An important consideration with licensing is scalability. The more you look to scale an environment, the more licenses you may require. Moreover, how you deploy SSRS vis-à-vis also adds potential licensing complications. We would recommend that you explore the options in constructing your SQL server environments to manage these licensing concerns.

Security

Database security begins with understanding who has admin access to a given database (be it a user with physical access, a database owner, or a local SQL admin or Windows administrator). Beyond basic access, a border concern has to do with understanding how data is leaving the database — whether through replication, application access, an external API or a basic user download. Understanding how your data may leave the server is a good starting point to understanding how to safeguard it through cybersecurity or endpoint security.

Backups

Backing up your data for future disaster recovery scenarios introduces a number of challenges. Firstly, it should be clear that backing up your data is not enough. You need to test your backups to make sure they are complete and can be restored properly. Moreover, RTO and RPO considerations extend beyond an individual DB. Backing up an individual database is one thing. Another equally important element is being able to back up and restore your entire SQL server. Disasters can happen to an individual DB or to your entire server, and different strategies will be required, depending on the kind of failure.

Performance

There are a number of simple steps that can be taken to optimize performance. First, confirm that you’ve formatted drives to a 64K cluster size, to optimize efficiencies. Another step might be as simple as separating the database and transactional log volumes, due to their different IO patterns. Additional decisions, such as how you choose to allocate data, or how to separate the SQL engine from SSRS, can also impact performance.

Redundancy & Availability

Redundancy is less about backup and disaster recovery than it is about constructing a server environment that is sufficiently resilient, such that the overall system can operate even when one of its components fails. This might involve virtual machine replication, in order to provide redundant database servers. In our ECHO managed hosting environment, for instance, our SQL servers are replicated such that if SQL server were to go down, a redundant VM steps in and takes its place.

A SQL Server Maintenance Plan

Beyond the above, a number of PowerShell and SQL scripts can be put to use to complete a number of common tasks, such as copying a production environment to a test instance, truncating transaction logs, updating the task agent settings or recreating SQL replication in support of e-commerce solutions.

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Epicor Server File Download: Serving the Process Server

by Brad Feakes | Jan 3, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, Epicor Administration, ERP, ERP Consulting

The Pandora’s Box of ERP

Epicor processes can be a Pandora’s box of complexity. Rumbling under the surface, these processes perform innumerable tasks that allow an ERP system to function effectively. But when these processes fail to deliver the expected functionality, understanding the logic of these subaltern beasts can be problematic.

Happy distribution warehouse manager holding a cloud-enabled mobile tablet

Was it a problem with network connectivity?
With master file setup?
With company configuration?
Was it a bug?

Accessing Log Files Through Epicor Server File Download

One can spend an immense amount of time trying to troubleshoot these processes, especially given the timing required to perform trial-and-error with back-end processes. Such repetition gives ERP wheel-spinning a new meaning.

Fortunately, Epicor has a means of slowing the wheel, if not breaking it altogether. It is a general best practice when designing and developing complex programs and processes to include some form of logging. This provides the end user, or Epicor admin in this case, an opportunity to divine the logic of the program in question. This can help you troubleshoot process issues quickly.

In the past, gaining access to these logs to anyone but an Epicor administrator has been problematic. But in recent versions, Epicor added functionality to allow an end user to access server-side log files: Server File Download.

Epicor Server File Download provides the ability for a given user to look up various types of log files and save them to a local location. This allows you to retrieve and review log files. It does not require access to the server locations where they are stored.

Let’s assume that I kicked off a PO Suggestions process and enabled logging, specifying both the logging level and the log file name:

Epicor Server Download Generate Purchasing

As the process runs, it writes a log file to the server. The log file can be retrieved using the following method:

Open the “Server File Download” screen, which has the following menu location: System Management/Schedule Processes/Server File Download.
Choose the Directory Type. User: These logs normally refer to the user-specific logs. Company: Company type files are the most common logging methods and logs for processes such as MRP or PO Suggestions normally land here. Reports: This area holds XML files related to Crystal Reports.
Use the “Select File…” button to identify the file you wish to retrieve.
Use the “Client Path…” button to define the location to which you want the file saved.

Clicking the “Select File…” button allows you to search for and select the file in question. In the example below, I located the file that I had named previously, when I kicked off PO Suggestions:

Clicking the “Client Path…” button allows you to specify the location to which you intend to download the file:

Epicor Server File Download Browse For Folder Screen

Once the source file and the destination location have been defined, select the OK button. This will kick off the download activity:

Once the download has completed, the system will raise a download status message:

Once downloaded, you can navigate to the specified path and access and review the log file to better understand the details of the process itself:

ERP system troubles? Check the log…

Navigating the workings of an ERP system’s back-end server processes can feel at first like an exploration into the Eleusinian Mysteries. Fortunately, Epicor’s Server File Download toolset allows you to unearth the hermetic actions of Epicor’s darker processes, hiding in the process server’s chthonic cave, bringing them into the platonic light of your client folder and making them visible for all to see.

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Epicor DMT: Data Management Tool Tips & Tricks

by Brad Feakes | Jul 30, 2020 | Epicor 10, Epicor Administration, ERP

The Magic of Epicor DMT Licensing

A common user challenge over the years with Epicor’s Data Management Tool (DMT) relates to the licensing of the actual module. Epicor DMT came from a very different evolutionary thread than the main application, and when trying to bind these threads, things often become tangled.

Licensing can be especially twisted, and more than a few us have felt the frustration of figuring out just who to send the license request to. Then remembering that we needed to cull the list of Company IDs from the database to be licensed. Then anxiously waiting for the returned file to arrive, hoping that we weren’t going to receive, by accident, a license file configured for a manufacturer of manure spreaders, headquartered in Glasgow.

But fear not, dear users. Epicor provides us a DMT remedy. For versions less than 10.02.5xx, you will still need to send Epicor a list of your Company IDs so that they can generate the appropriate license file for your use. But for versions 10.02.5xx and above, the DMT license is now included as part of your E10 license and is no longer reliant on your Company IDs.

As you can see below, DMT can now be licensed through Epicor’s standard license, which removes the need to drop individual DMT license files in user client folders. This greatly simplifies the deployment of the Epicor DMT application.

Epicor DMT Data Management Tool Tips and Tricks

That said, there are a couple of related tricks that can help you separate the forks from the sporks in your Epicor kitchen. One way to identify your DMT licensing from the DMT application itself is to utilize the settings icon at the bottom of the application and open the “DMT License Info”:

This will raise a properties window, providing details about the DMT license:

DMT is a client-based application. Therefore, much of the magic behind the DMT module is to be found in the application’s client folder. This includes licensing. Going back to our talk about license, it’s important to understand that for a DMT client to function correctly, one of the following must be the case:

• DMT must be licensed in Epicor’s Standard License file, which is installed on the application server.
• A traditional DMT .lic file must be deployed in the user’s client folder, where the DMT application normally resides.

Let us, as an example, assume we’re in a situation in which DMT is not licensed through the Admin Console license file. In lieu of the main license, a DMT-specific .lic file will need to reside in the client folder:

Were I to remove the .lic file from the client folder…

…upon my attempt to log into DMT, I will receive a licensing error:

As such, if you don’t have the DMT module licensed through the Admin Console, you’ll need to make sure you’re still planting the company-specific license file in the appropriate client folders. If you think about it in the sense of a cooking motif, you can think of it as a situation in which the pantry is emptier than Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, the grocery store delivery is still a day out, and your mask is at the bottom of the laundry basket. Sometimes you need to cook with only what’s already in your house. Just like your dinner occasionally falls together as a tasty combination of tomato soup and wanton noodles, you’ll sometimes need to get a company-configured license file and stick it in your client folder. With these steps, you can get the Epicor DMT program to run.

DMT is great in an E10 Upgrade.

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Part Master Best Practices? Ask Brad

by Brad Feakes | Jun 9, 2020 | Epicor, Epicor 10, ERP

Epicor Part Master Q&A

Q: What are some of the first things that someone should consider when setting up parts in Epicor?

A: We could have a long, harrowing conversation about part naming conventions, but arguments over part naming philosophies have ruined more friendships than heated discussions over the latest Star Wars movies—so I’m going to leave that one alone. In terms of Epicor part master setup, probably the first and most important consideration is the Non-Stock checkbox. The Non-Stock Flag is one of those “big-little” checkboxes that drive a ton of downstream behavior. This one flag will affect how a part will be handled on a sales order, a purchase order, and a job, whether as the top-level assembly or as a component material, and basically determines whether the related transaction will be processed through the system’s inventory module or processed directly in a “to-order” manner. This flag is fundamental for companies looking to operate in mixed-mode manufacturing. Most companies, even companies working in highly-engineered environments, rarely intend to manufacture all components “to-order.” Often there are economies of scale to consider, and components can be used on a broad array of higher-level assemblies. As such, some parts will be handled in a “to-order” manner, while others will follow a traditional inventory-based approach. For that reason, we have to place special consideration on the setting of the Non-Stock flag.

Q: Phantom BOMs are a topic of disagreement—do you have any recommendations on the use of Phantoms?

A: In general, a phantom is a part that carries a method of manufacture, but is not itself manufactured discretely. Rather, the part “explodes” when it belongs in a work order—the top level part disappears and is replaced by its components. Phantoms really are system-specific, for the rules for handling phantoms differ by ERP system. Within Epicor, a few general rules could be suggested when deciding if a part will be flagged Phantom BOM. Firstly, if a part is stocked, it should not and cannot be flagged Phantom BOM, as it is assumed that a phantom part not be stocked. Also, if a part is made independently from its parent, in a different place and at a different time, it should not be flagged Phantom BOM—it should be either a material or a subassembly, so its manufacture can be managed independently from its parent. When component parts are made at the same time and place as their parents, I’ve seen customers use phantoms to manage the components, to simplify production, while retaining the basic product structure defined by engineering.

Q: More specific to Epicor, the Pull-as-Assembly flag is a source of confusion and disagreement—do you have any recommendations on the use of the Pull-as-Assembly flag?

A: A Method-of-Manufacturing defined for a Part Revision can differ significantly when you pull the revision into a Job and get details. These differences are largely due to the Pull-as-Assembly flag. This flag essentially defines whether a component part will be manufactured independently from its parent part, or as part of the same Job as its parent, as a subassembly. One can suggest a few principles when choosing to flag a part as Pull-as-Assembly. If the part is stocked, do not flag the part Pull-as-Assembly, as you will be supplying the material from your on-hand inventory. If the component part in question is Non-Stock, and the intent is to supply the materials through a separate Job, uncheck the Pull-As-Assembly flag. But if you wish to supply the Non-Stock part with a subassembly, allow the Pull-as-Assembly flag to remain checked.

Q: Can you explain how the settings on the part master flow through to a bill of materials and ultimately to a work order?

A: It’s easier to explain this with a visual…

Are you looking for answers to your Epicor questions? Part Master or otherwise? Follow these links, and our ERP consultants will help you find answers: