Industry experts note economic recovery is on the way, as according to AMR (recently acquired by Gartner, Inc.), “The outlook for capital spending is improving, with modest growth for IT spending anticipated in 2010.“1 Today, Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC) is ready to help organizations take advantage of the changing economic tide with a new major release of its next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite. The new offering, Epicor 9.05, delivers substantial capabilities focused on cost reduction, process improvement and customer responsiveness-stated top priorities toward achieving business recovery and growth.
According to a recent report by Forrester Research, Inc., based on survey respondents in North American and European small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), the top business goals for these organizations are cost reduction and recovery from the downturn. “Similar to large firms, SMBs consider cost reduction in their core business to be a No. 1 priority. Execution speed in business processes such as shortening the time of order-to-cash processes follows cost reduction as a top priority for future business growth.” (Forrester Research, Inc., “The State of SMB Software and Emerging Trends: 2010,” Feb. 12, 2010)
The new release-available today in more than 50 countries, representing 65% of the world’s economy-delivers functional improvements, enhancements and new modules across every suite within the solution, including Epicor ICE business architecture. Every new capability has been considered in terms of the industries Epicor serves and their need for better expense management and heightened customer responsiveness and service.
The latest release builds upon Epicor 9, which continues to be a huge success with over 140 customers live and more than 35,000 user seats shipped worldwide. Manufacturers, distributors, financial institutions, service firms and retailers globally enjoy its ease of use, ability to adapt to business and industry-specific requirements, and scale as an organization expands or changes, and ultimately grows. With the new major release of this award-winning solution, Epicor will offer more businesses in more countries the opportunity to benefit from the power of its dynamic, collaborative platform for achieving business process improvements and truly integrated view of the business and value chain.
“As we begin to emerge from the economic challenges of the past two years, we’re seeing a conservative ‘maximize efficiencies, minimize expenses’ philosophy in the markets we serve,” said James Norwood, senior vice president, worldwide product marketing for Epicor. “Our new release is designed to enable customers to target these often competing mandates allowing them to focus on areas of opportunity, helping them to quickly realize tangible and sustainable results in their business on the road to recovery. Quite simply, we believe it is the right release for the right time in the market.”
Empowering Business with Industry-Specific Functionality
Epicor has extended industry-specific capabilities for companies in manufacturing, distribution, financial services, construction and engineering, and project-based organizations within the new release. For instance, for manufacturers and distributors, the introduction of lean performance metrics, enhanced quality assurance, and a real focus on both inbound enterprise asset management and outbound aftermarket mobile service management are just a few areas that have been introduced.
Broadening the reach into the services sector, strong new capabilities in the areas of project management and accounting are expected to significantly assist businesses involved in government contracting work, and related professional services. All the industry enhancements are designed to help companies focus on the customer and manage costs utilizing Epicor ERP in their day-to-day operations.
Powerful, Measurable Global Financial Management
Building on its already comprehensive Financial Management and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) capabilities, Epicor has expanded functionality for measuring key performance indicators across all operational aspects, helping organizations gain visibility of costs and further their financial goals. New advanced financial reporting capabilities, an embedded configurable asset management engine, and a sophisticated advanced allocations module will help finance departments streamline business processes, reduce closing cycles and be integral to tracking financial performance across the enterprise, providing new levels of efficiency, audit-ability and control.
Taking Usability to New Heights with Agile Business Architecture
Epicor True SOA (service-oriented architecture), which incorporates the Epicor Everywhere Framework, provides a powerful, visionary foundation that enables companies to better use and derive benefits from ERP at a business level-employing Enterprise 2.0 technologies to dramatically improve usability, productivity, collaboration and business performance.
Expanding on modern consumer Web concepts introduced in Epicor 9, the new release offers Epicor Mobile Access, which allows business users to quickly and easily define and deploy mobile applications for conducting business on devices like BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and the Apple iPhone in a matter of minutes. In addition, Epicor Enterprise Search has been expanded to allow it to be invoked from almost anywhere, such as within Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint or Excel as well as from a Browser or within the application, delivering essential real-time information when it’s needed and where it’s needed.
Cylicron Engineered Cylinders is an independent, privately-owned full-service manufacturer of industrial cylinders for the Rotogravure and Flexographic printing industries that is leveraging Epicor’s next-generation ERP today and participated in the beta program for the latest release. “The major enhancements Epicor has made in this new release will be of tremendous value to our company,” said Adam Gabbard, chief financial officer of Cylicron. “We are particularly impressed with the advanced financial reporting and maintenance management capabilities, and addition of a configurable asset management engine, which will enable us to further track performance across our organization and maximize our resources.”
JV Precision Machine Company, a second generation family owned manufacturer offering precision CNC machining services to a wide variety of US industries, runs its business on Epicor 9 today. “As a participant in the beta program for this newest release from Epicor, we are looking forward to leveraging enhanced capabilities around cost reduction, process improvement and customer service,” said Josef Visinski, vice president of JV Precision Machine Co. “In particular, expanded functionality for measuring performance across all operational aspects, the advanced financial reporting capabilities, and ability to gain even greater visibility of costs will be very beneficial.”
Symetrics Industries, designer and manufacturer of electronics solutions for defense departments around the world, are traditional early adopters of Epicor next-generation technology and had a first look at Epicor 9.05. “We are particularly looking forward to leveraging enhanced project billing, electronic timesheets, and expense tracking in the new release,” said Peter Volkert, Director of Operations at Symetrics Industries. “Epicor has really delivered, far beyond our original vision in these areas, which have a direct connection to business process improvement and cost management.”
About Epicor Software Corporation
Epicor Software is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services industries. With 20,000 customers in over 150 countries, Epicor provides integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise retail software solutions that enable companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability. Founded in 1984, Epicor takes pride in more than 25 years of technology innovation delivering business solutions that provide the scalability and flexibility businesses need to build competitive advantage. Epicor provides a comprehensive range of services with a single point of accountability that promotes rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership, whether operating business on a local, regional or global scale. The Company’s worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.
