The busiest knowledge bases in our Web site are those that contain information on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

I analyzed the profile of business users who visit our Web site to create mixed-mode ERP selection projects, and examined how that profile has changed over time Read the rest of this entry »

In the discrete manufacturing sector, the bill of materials (BOM) is a fundamental piece of product data that exists throughout the major stages of a product’s life cycle. According to Wikipedia, BOM is the term used to describe the raw materials, parts, subcomponents, and components needed to manufacture a finished product. Simply speaking, BOM is just a list of all materials needed to be assembled together into a product. The concept is clear and simple, and it doesn’t seem to be a difficult task to manage BOM, especially when we have a powerful tool—software—in hand. However, this is true only when the product structure is so simple that not much collaboration is needed to develop the product, when consumers are delighted to have the same products that everyone else has, and when design, engineering, and production are performed under the same roof. The truth is, during the past few decades, the landscape of the manufacturing sector has changed dramatically, and it is still changing at a rapid pace. Read the rest of this entry »

Puzzled by process? Dazed by discrete?

First, let’s understand who should use a discrete ERP application.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe just for the sake of change (or some fun), let me start this blog post as a quiz question. It could go like this:

Can anyone name the mid-market incumbent manufacturing and distribution-oriented enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendor that has a global presence (through regional territory distribution centers and a global reseller network in the United States [US], Canada, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Australia and the United Kingdom [UK]), an install base of 12,000 companies in over 60 countries, and the channel consisting of a few hundred value added resellers (VARs) that contribute to about 85 percent of its revenues?

As some helping tips, the privately-held vendor was incorporated in 1978 in South Africa, and has since grown organically (with no major acquisitions thus far) to about $60 million in revenues. Well, for those (rare few I suspect) that have guessed we are talking here about SYSPRO, may I boldly suggest an audition for the “Jeopardy” (or like) quiz show?

In any case, for nearly 30 years, SYSPRO has been offering a broad range of extended-ERP solutions for small and mid-sized manufacturing and distribution organizations (the sweet spot being the companies with US$10 million to US$250 million in revenues).

I believe that SYSPRO has survived largely unscathed through all the mayhem and carnage in its market via the right combination of product and technologies, plus a successful “partner-dominant” go-to-market strategy that can (and should) be leveraged more aggressively going forward. Read the rest of this entry »

One renowned vendor seems to have contributed to the 2007 holiday shopping season. That would be Irvine, California, the United States (US)-based Epicor Software Corporation (Nasdaq: EPIC). With over 2,500 employees worldwide and with projected 2007 revenues of $414.5 million (not including the pending acquisition), Epicor is the global leader in the mid-market, serving over 20,000 customers worldwide.

With more than 20 years of operating history (since 1984, including a number of acquisitions and name changes), Epicor today delivers comprehensive enterprise software solutions with a sophistication and maturity that competes with Tier One vendors, but typically at a fraction of the cost associated with these bigger brethren solutions. Namely, these large enterprise systems, though highly functional, have traditionally also been quite complex and expensive to purchase, install, integrate, and maintain. Read the rest of this entry »

People often ask us “what’s the difference between process and discrete ERP?” We model both systems in such a way that they share many common components, nevertheless process manufacturing industries have unique requirements that differ from discrete manufacturing industries. Here’s a rough overview of the difference.

A quick definition from APICS (The Association for Operations Management) describes discrete manufacturing as “The production of distinct items such as automobiles, appliances, or computers.” Whereas process manufacturing covers “Production that adds value by mixing, separating, forming, and/or performing chemical reactions. It may be done in either batch or continuous mode.” Now let’s look at a few examples. Read the rest of this entry »