ERP Vendor Update: Metal Fabrication

ERP VENDOR UPDATE

Metal Fabrication

8 Software Companies, 8 Top ERP Solutions

Insight on Today's Top ERP Providers

C O N S U L T A N T S

ABOUT THIS REPORT

The Key Software Capabilities tables focus ERP Vendor Update: Metal Fabrication on capabilities determined by our expert is compiled by Ultra Consultants from consultants to be essential or useful for interviews with software company product manufacturers of fabricated metal products. experts, product documentation and product briefings, independent research and Ultra The definitions used for classifications are as internal documents. follows:

Ultra's Insight is the opinion of our expert

• Core: A capability that is native to the

consultants, is based on interviews, project ERP solution. A module in the ERP's experience, sales experience and product base offering and included with all knowledge, and is not intended to provide a implementations. complete review or comprehensive analysis

• Add-On: A capability that is an addition

of the products or companies described. module (for a cost), available from the same ERP company and currently fully integrated with the base ERP system. Note: This report covers selected ERP vendors, which were chosen based on market

• 3rd-Party: A capability from a third-

presence, and Ultra's most-recent product party company that has been integrated information and project experience. with the ERP. Requires minimal or no configuration to implement. Company and product information in this report has been reviewed by the software

• None: A capability that is not included

vendors featured. with the base offering, an add-on module or third-party software.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHAT IS THE RIGHT ERP NOW? .................................................................................................................. 3

5 BEST PRACTICES FOR ERP VENDOR SELECTION ............................................................................... 4

EXPERT Q&A: CHALLENGES, SOLUTIONS AND CRITICAL ERP CAPABILITIES ............................... 6

DELMIAWORKS ................................................................................................................................................. 9

EPICOR ................................................................................................................................................................ 12

IFS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

INFOR LN ............................................................................................................................................................ 18

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 365/CROWE ......................................................................................................... 21

ORACLE FUSION CLOUD/TERILLIUM .......................................................................................................... 24

SAP S/4HANA .................................................................................................................................................... 27

SYSPRO ................................................................................................................................................................ 30

HOW TO SELECT THE WRONG ERP SOLUTION ....................................................................................... 33

WHY ULTRA ....................................................................................................................................................... 35

WHAT IS THE RIGHT ERP NOW?

With a tough 2021 in the rearview mirror, and with a difficult 2020 now far behind, what will the coming year look like for metal fabrication companies?

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Start by asking a different set of Industry economists say the issues that questions: What new capabilities does have been a drag on the industry – labor your organization need and want? What shortages, supply chain instability, outdated problems are you trying to solve? What technologies, operational inefficiency, rising do you want your core processes to look metals prices – will continue in 2022. But like? How can new tools enable your those same experts predict steady growth organization's digital transformation? in many fabricated metal products sectors, and note that higher demand, increased new orders and other indicators point to

growth for manufacturing overall.

Unfortunately, this (probably) better "new now" continues to be defined by the ongoing (and seemingly never-ending) COVID pandemic – and the resulting risk of supply chain, production and operational disruption.

So it's critically important for metal fabrication companies to defend against disruption by continuing to invest in modern ERP and connected technologies.

The right ERP solution can deliver the capabilities you need to improve processes, find new efficiencies, automate process management, enhance decision-making, increase manufacturing velocity, reduce waste and, most important, ensure that your company can prosper despite any challenges that lie ahead.

But what is the best solution for your organization? That's a difficult question. Because every company is different. Because no company handles any phase of operations the same way. Because business processes are built around the unique requirements of each organization.

5 BEST PRACTICES FOR ERP VENDOR SELECTION

Assess the Total Cost of Ownership

Whether your company is implementing an ERP system for the first time, or Establish a budget in terms of replacing a legacy implementation, it's implementation and total cost of ownership critically important to make the right (TCO), then ask potential vendors if your choice. budget and their solution are a fit. We asked our expert consultants to A solution quote usually includes software give us their thoughts on best practices (subscription or license), first-year support in ERP selection for metal fabrication and implementation consulting. (Additional organizations, and this is what they told us: sites and add-on modules will be extra.) TCO, however, is broader, and takes into

Emphasize Industry Experience

consideration per-user license costs, training, maintenance, customizations, Focus on metal fabrication industry upgrades, internal costs and other fees. experience when choosing an ERP vendor, including (and especially) If the system is cloud or software as a your particular segment. Here's why service (SaaS), take a hard look at the this expertise is important: An ERP Service Level Agreement (SLA) for any vendor may have broad manufacturing hidden costs, such as system enhancements experience but may not have deep and upgrades. knowledge of the unique needs of your The scale and complexity of most ERP segment. Look at its overall presence projects make it difficult to get, and stick in metal fabrication, too. Is its toolset to, a fixed price. Be aware that ERP vendors widely used by companies like yours? that offer a fixed price might exclude Ask your potential vendors to tell you necessary work and training. Identify and how they plan to be a leading solution in note all inclusions and exclusions. your marketspace. Evaluate its features

Consider Technology Strategy

and functions to see how well they align with the industry's challenges. Read the Know that an ERP solution must fit the case studies and success stories provided overall IT strategy of your organization. by the vendor – they are a good source And because the IT department plays a key of insight into how they build solutions role in deciding whether an ERP system is for companies like yours. Ask for the feasible, it should determine and provide product roadmap for your industry any technology requirements at the outset. segment. By applying these best practices, your If on-premises ERP systems are a company will better understand the consideration, the IT department will need strengths and weaknesses of potential to have the resources to maintain and ERP vendors. And it will be easier to upgrade the software, as well as be able narrow down the list and choose a to provide the necessary infrastructure, software solution that will deliver greater servers, databases and security. efficiency, improved visibility and a If the company is going with a cloudcompetitive advantage. based system, it's still essential to have the IT department involved in the ERP

vendor selection process. There may be connectivity and integration issues with existing systems, particularly legacy onpremises systems.

Put the Vendor Under a Microscope

Where will the vendor be in the next five or 10 years? Many niche players have been acquired or merged with other ERP vendors

• with both positive and negative results.

What's important to your company? The major ERP vendors offer big, broad solutions that will meet most of your needs, but come with greater complexity, risk and investment. Specialized vendors offer "smaller" solutions that will meet your

Top 10 ERP Selection Criteria

industry-specific requirements but may not be as strong in some core functions.

• Functional fit
• Industry experience

Speak with Real Customers

• Software price, TCO and ROI

Don't let your ERP vendor get away with

• Vendor viability

giving you a list of hand-picked customer references in a variety of industries.

• Implementation project considerations

To get the best idea of how a solution

• Technology

will perform for you, ask for references that have been on the solution for at least

• Risk

a year, are in the same industry as your

• Scalability

company, are roughly the same size, and have similar requirements. Then make

• References

the effort to speak with these customers

• Post go-live support

(particularly their ERP professionals) to get their insight, opinion and feedback. Choose one for an on-site visit.

EXPERT Q&A:

CHALLENGES, SOLUTIONS AND CRITICAL ERP CAPABILITIES

For manufacturers of fabricated metal to get data from the shop floor – from products, the last couple of years have been their process control systems – into their ERPs, so that they can really know what's bumpy – for obvious reasons. happening. We asked two of Ultra's most experienced manufacturing consultants, Brad Staats Tony Chalet (TS): Cost control is a major and Tony Chalet, for insight into today's challenge, too – accurately knowing and effectively managing costs can be a makechallenges and the difficulties of operating or-break issue. And once companies in a complex manufacturing environment. identify their costs, they need an easy and We also asked them about modern fast means of making and applying pricing ERP solutions and how they can create changes, so that they don't lose their opportunities for improved efficiency, margin. greater operational visibility, better production planning and more effective BS: Efficiency is critical, and always has management. Here is an edited version of been. New machines require a massive the conversation: investment. So, companies must work hard to get everything they can from their Let's start by setting the stage. The resources. ongoing pandemic aside, what are the TC: It's all tied together. Today, companies current challenges in metal fabrication? are focused on maintaining machine Brad Staats (BS): From our position as utilization and increasing production, ERP consultants, we see metal fabrication working around supply chain instability, organizations struggle with systems managing rising materials costs, and integration. So many companies need minimizing waste and scrap. a solution that gives them the ability TC: And connectivity – integration – is what How do modern software solutions make it easier to manage? makes it all work. When you have complete integration, it's possible for ERP solutions BS: Okay. Let's look at a specific example. to leverage the data that's coming out of Say I develop a quote for a part that's specialized machines. Whether it's direct nested and laser-cut. I can estimate the integration or via APIs, easy connectivity losses – waste – that are going to occur, and makes it possible for metal fab companies price accordingly. But then I actually put to maximize their technology investments. production of that part into a schedule. BS: Let's talk about another important The assumption when I quoted that part capability. In metals, it's important to be able was that I was going to cut 50 pieces from to look at things from an attribute point of the piece of steel. But when I actually view. In other words, I need steel of a certain produce it, I only need to make five of those dimension of a certain spec, etc. And I can pieces – and 20 pieces of something else. have millions of combinations of attributes. So, the cost and waste are going to be But I can't make standard part numbers for different. them all. That's not feasible. But if I could look for inventory and my orders based Modern software makes it possible to quote on attributes, I can do matching and more as the part will be produced, minimize accurate production planning. steel usage, maximize a single piece of material, and get as many parts as possible. This materials resource planning (MRP) A client was doing production planning by capability is very rare in the ERP world. In hand, and was getting 70% usage out of a fact, I only know of one solution that does sheet of steel. But as soon as we went to a this in its planning system. nesting logic software, he was getting 95% TC: Planning is very difficult without usage. attributes. You can have different-size TC: Nesting capability is critical. Because sheets or coils that can be used as a base each part is its own production order or material for a part. So, it gets geometrically work order, it's important for software to more complicated because, if I don't have make it possible to group and schedule a 10"x12" sheet of a specific material, I multiple parts. That way an operator is not can use an 11"x10" sheet. But it will be less reporting against five or 10 work orders efficient, and produce more scrap. produced from a single sheet. Standard ERP Or, to make a part, I need a 12-inch piece is not well suited to manage many orders of steel that is 12 feet long. But I can also from one piece of material. make it out of a 24-inch coil, a 36-inch coil or a 48-inch coil. Attributes make it possible So, this type of capability needs to be part to plan better and understand what is of the ERP discussion, correct? happening on the shop floor. BS: Of course. When metal fab companies look at a new ERP, they need to look at Attributes aside, what are the most the total solution, not just the core ERP important ERP capabilities for capabilities. A complete ERP solution has manufacturers of fabricated metal specialized tools that integrate in both products? directions with the ERP. So it's the ERP. It's BS: We've talked a lot about interconnectivity nesting. It's the PLC. It's third-party tools. of tools. That's a must-have. It's the WMS. It's really one big solution. What's ahead for 2022? What does the TS: Good reporting from the shop floor metal fabrication industry need to recover is key – reporting that is automated and from a difficult 2020 and 2021? uncomplicated for operators.

BS: Many metal fabrication companies are And shop floor planning key too. As we've dealing with archaic systems – ERPs that talked about, production scheduling is are 20 or 30 years old. And only some are difficult. You have a production line where moving toward new solutions. It's important something is cut, punched and de-burred. in tough times to get up to speed and But not all 100 of the pieces that are make the move from an old homegrown, going to be punched are scheduled to be highly customized enterprise management made first. You have to have the ability to solution, or spreadsheets, to a modern ERP. manage single pieces as they flow across multiple operations. TC: Here is my pitch for companies with BS: But that's not easy to do. The process old ERPs: Imagine how efficient you can be with new technologies, better functionality resists good tracking, inventory control and and more sophisticated capabilities. Take lot control. On a shop floor it's common to stock of where your operation is today, and use bins to move parts from one operation create a vision for where you want it to be to another. Someone will make 100 parts, in the future. Then plan how to get there. and toss them into bins, which are then moved to the next work center. But I might need to make 1,000 parts, so you end up with 10 bins that go to the second Tony Chalet is a Senior operation. And at the second operation the Consultant for Ultra parts may be tossed into only seven bins. Consultants, with more than Barcoding won't help. You can't track by 27 years of manufacturing part. Or by bin. industry experience in a TC: And it can get even more complicated variety of industries. He when there are special operations for has exceptional expertise some parts so the number of pieces sent in business process improvement, ERP strategy ahead is variable. Or when lots go to and advanced supply chain solutions. an outside anodizer or powder-coater and there are defects and waste, so the number coming back is not the same Brad Staats is a Senior as the number going out. That kind of Consultant for Ultra material handing is problematic in an Consultants, with a ERP, and doing it requires a specialized broad background in solution. manufacturing and operations. He has more BS: Also, it's important to be able to than 40 years of experience, manage units of measure well. In metal including work in primary metals manufacturing, fabrication you get a lot of combinations. and is an expert in supply chain solutions and You're buying using a hundredweight automated manufacturing environments. number, storing it in pounds or kilograms, and consuming it in pieces. Without good unit of measure tools, you're going to have constant issues.

KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES COMPARISON: METAL FABRICATION

This capabilities information is compiled by Ultra Consultants from interviews with software company product experts, product documentation and product briefings, independent research and Ultra internal documents.

MICROSOFT ORACLE FUSION CATEGORY FUNCTIONALITY DELMIAWORKS EPICOR IFS INFOR LN DYNAMICS 365/ S/4HANA SYSPRO CLOUD/TERILLIUM CROWE

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

• Strong support for ETO/MTO and ATO processes

Ultra's Insight: Big Capabilities for Smaller Companies

• Excellent functionality for quality management, good and project-based

DELMIAWorks Manufacturing ERP (formerly costing and strong WMS IQMS EnterpriseIQ) is a full-featured, operations-oriented ERP system that is a good Owned by Dassault Systèmes, DELMIAWorks fit for small to medium-sized manufacturers. is part of a family of companies that includes The foundation of the system is a core product, SOLIDWORKS (CAD), which gives it the unique with numerous native add-on/embedded ability to blend the products together, further modules to allow customers to configure the supporting ETO business processes. system to their specific needs. These add-on The DELMIAWorks design-to-manufacture modules offer a lot of specialized, best-of-breed roadmap includes further improvements in the functionality without having to integrate thirdshop floor processes in order to streamline party applications. instructions to the operators and support DELMIAWorks has many large customers, but employees who work multiple operations/ says its sweet spot is companies with annual work centers at the same time. Given the labor revenues from $20 million to $75 million – shortages of today and anticipated future essentially the smaller companies in the metal labor challenges, this capability is important fabrication industry. The largest segment because getting the most out of the shop of its customer base is in USA, Canada and floor workforce will be a high priority for Mexico, where DELMIAWorks provides support. manufacturers. The company also plans to International customers are supported by thirdutilize SOLIDWORKS in the quoting and design party implementors. processes to further enhance the ETO business opportunities. In our interviews, DELMIAWorks product experts said its primary strengths to be 1) that it is a full Smart manufacturing, IOT and 4.0 MES are suite of ERP functionality with strength on the native technologies that DELMIAWorks shop floor, that it 2) offers the ability to support incorporates into its product, with the goal of complex manufacturing environments and providing a single solution that uses a single mixed-mode environments, and 3) that it enables database with few bolt-ons, giving them an the optimization of fabrication operations and edge on the shop floor and in manufacturing highlights cost factors of production in real time. operations.

In addition, the product offers… For perspective on what DELMIAWorks customers think of the product and its support:

• Real-time PLC integrations/statistical In the last 12 months, there were 55 cases where

process control (SPC) are a core part of how a customer using DELMIAWorks bought another DELMIAWorks provides direct cost analysis plant that had an existing ERP system already in place, yet they replaced it with DELMIAWorks. KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: DELMIAWorks

DEMONSTRATED CATEGORY FUNCTIONALITY CLASSIFICATION INTEGRATIONS

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling Requires integration to a 3rd party

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration Level 0 and 1 is third party

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

DELMIAWorks' Pitch

DELMIAWorks is a leading provider of manufacturing ERP and MES software for repetitive and batch process manufacturers. As Automotive part of the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Medical Devices Works portfolio, DELMIAWorks provides realIndustrial Supplies & Equipment time financial, resource planning, production Consumer Goods monitoring, quality control, supply chain, CRM, Aerospace & Defense and eBusiness solutions to the automotive, Other medical device, consumer goods and industrial product industries.

DELMIAWorks provides manufacturers with a comprehensive and affordable system that improves the collaboration, manufacturing

Targeted Verticals

efficiency, and business agility needed to serve customers successfully. DELMIAWorks

• Aerospace & Defense is a proven end-to-end ERP and MES software
• Automotive solution that provides manufacturers complete
• Consumer Goods functionality in a highly scalable platform that
• Industrial Supplies & Equipment supports their growth.
• Medical Devices

Metal Fabrication Customers

Deployment Options

• Accessible Technologies (Procharger)
• Load Trail LLC ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT
• Northern Industrial Manufacturing MULTI-TENANT

Corporation

• SMC Metal Fabricators, Inc.

Profile

• Standby Screw Machine Products Co.
• TOA USA, LLC DELMIAWorks (IQMS.com) provides real- time ERP software designed for repetitive, process and discrete manufacturing companies. IQMS was acquired in by Dassault Systèmes in December 2018, and its solutions were rebranded DELMIAWorks and incorporated into the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud platform. Headquartered in Paso Robles, Calif., USA, DELMIAWorks has 325 employees at locations around the world. of manufacturing capabilities that allow the definition of BOMs and routing within a single

Ultra's Insight: Powerful, Highly Capable Solution

user interface.

Metal fabrication is an area of strength for A good reason customers select Kinetic over its Epicor – and the company recently acquired competitors: Remnant tracking handled from KBMax, which is a next-generation configure/ advanced unit of measure that can track dual price/quote toolset with interactive 2D/3D units of measure/dimensional attributes. visualization and engineering automation. Continuing, Epicor says customers choose Epicor's customer targets are companies with Kinetic because of… annual revenue from $10 million to $500 million.

• Embedded workflow that ensures new

Epicor Kinetic's differentiators include its products are defined, and manages hand-offs advanced planning/scheduling capabilities, between departments. embedded MES, integrated back-end financials,

• Smart technology with wireless data

mobile CRM with integration APIs to top CRM warehouse data collection. solutions, CPQ capabilities, strong product

• Integrated Enterprise Content Management

management and integration with CAD/PLM

• Advanced Tier 1 QMS system integration

systems, and strong cost solutions.

• Advanced MES with integrated SPC

What does Kinetic offer that addresses the Epicor values input from its Customer Advisory unique needs of metal fabrication? Advanced Board and Product Advisory Board, and uses it units of measure with dimensional attribute to guide functionality. capabilities. A relationship with SecturaSOFT, Epicor Kinetic customers get significant value which sits on top of the estimating function for from its enhanced user interface and from its calculation of nested estimates in quotes. Nest user-agnostic and upgradeable configurations. Link API for CAD/CAM integration. Methods KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: Epicor

Order Configuration/CPQ Epicor CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping Truck, but not rail

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation Weight, but not cubing

EDI Epicor EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling NestLink by Qbuild

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling Bartender

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan SMART IP&O

Integrate S&OP SMART IP&O

PLC Integration Advanced MES

SPC Advanced MES

Deviation Tracking Reliance ETQ

Collaborative planning with suppliers Supplier Portal

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting Advanced MES

Heats/chemistry Reliance ETQ

FMEA Reliance ETQ

PPAP Reliance ETQ

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP CADLink by Qbuild

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

Other Metal Fabrication

Targeted Verticals

• Aerospace & Defense
• Automotive
• Furniture & Fixtures
• Industrial Machinery
• Medical Device
• Metal Fabrication
• Metal Service Centers
• Rubber & Plastics

Metal Fabrication Customers

• Anchor Fabrication
• Chandler Industries
• D&S Mfg. Inc.
• Dalsin Industries
• Metalworks Inc.
• Midwest Metal Products Co.
• Rev-A-Shelf
• Team Industries Bagley

Epicor's Pitch

Capture the true value of cloud ERP with Kinetic, a solution made with manufacturers, for manufacturers. An intuitive, configurable, and guided user experience with embedded learning helps you maximize your profitability with real-time business intelligence and built-in collaboration tools.

Kinetic has the functionality you need to run a modern, future-ready business poised to capitalize on data, transform digitally, and innovate without limits. All the features you need to scale, compete and attract top talent to your organization. Trust the manufacturing expertise of Epicor to gain the momentum and know-how you need to accelerate growth and innovation. This is the future-focused force in manufacturing.

Deployment Options

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Profile

Epicor Software Corporation (epicor.com) provides flexible, industry-specific on-premises and cloud software solutions designed for manufacturing, distribution, retail and service industry organizations. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, the company has 27,000 customers in 150 countries, and more than 3,800 employees in offices around the world. In 2020, the Epicor generated $950 million in revenue. development objectives:

Ultra's Insight: New Interface, Strong Functionality

• To increase the depth of functionality with changes to existing processes and functions

IFS is a full-function, feature-rich top-tier system

• To broaden the IFS applications footprint with

that serves a multitude of industries that can be new capabilities that will deliver further value broken into these segments: A/D, Engineering,

• To extend the product with additional

Construction and Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities technologies and applications and Resources, Manufacturing and Service

• To increase automation capabilities

Management. The metal fabrication capabilities throughout the product exist in the Manufacturing segment of their

• To provide a positive user experience built on

business, which it breaks into five segments: modern open technology Automotive, Chemicals, Discrete, Food & When selecting IFS, businesses can opt for Beverage and Life Sciences. IFS supports ETO on-premises or cloud deployment. However, and MTO, and all types in between, including the cloud version is the way of the future. IFS mixed-mode manufacturing. offers direct implementation services (as they Based in Sweden, IFS has a strong presence in have almost exclusively in the past), but is North America, with a regional headquarters moving more and more to the use of a growing in Itasca, Ill. About 10% of its 4,500-plus network of implementation partners. When employees worldwide are based in the United implementing with such a partner, it still has States. a customer success manager assigned to the implementation project to ensure compliance Although there are plenty of examples of with IFS standards. smaller client success stories, IFS says that its sweet spot is companies with annual revenues One of the most interesting recent changes is a from $500 million and up. change in the user interface from one that was very difficult, complex and confusing to one IFS says its product's primary strengths to be: that is easy to use and navigate, and which is almost intuitive.

• A full suite of manufacturing functionality,

including field service capabilities With functionality such as Warehouse

• The ability to support complex manufacturing Management System (WMS) embedded in

environments and mixed-mode environments the software, customers do not need to worry

• Embedded (vs. integrated) functionality for about how the two sections of the business

WMS (manufacturing and warehousing) intersect in

• Successful linkage to multiple third-party the system.

CAD and nesting software products

• A robust rules-based configurator to support The service management functionality is viewed

sales for ETO and MTO situations as a best-of-breed solution, and it is frequently integrated with other ERP systems for large IFS's roadmap for the future is to increase corporate accounts. The system will track and its utilization of machine learning, heuristic maintain the as-designed, as-manufactured, optimization techniques and IOT capabilities. as-delivered and as-maintained bill-of-material, In our interviews, IFS product experts said repairs, and other tracked activities for each the company's focus for the manufacturing serialized asset. sector is to provide insight into five strategic KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: IFS

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration Crosser.IO

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers via Supplier Portals

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

IFS's Pitch

Built to meet the specific needs of your industry, IFS Cloud combines deep industry and functional strength with intelligent and autonomous capabilities that can be put to work from day one. Easy to use and tailored to Data not provided you, it connects to business applications easily. With an end-to-end integrated functionality, it provides higher performance, better security, uptime, lifecycle, advanced BI, not to mention scalability and adaptability. With its enhanced analytics, workflow simplification, and AI capabilities, you can step into a fully digital environment that offers better visibility and more control. Pull your core business activities

Targeted Verticals

together into something greater: moments of service that delight your customers.

• Aerospace & Defense
• Distribution
• Energy/Utilities/Resources
• Construction & Engineering

Deployment Options

• Manufacturing (including Metal Fabrication)

Metal Fabrication Customers

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

• Chief Industries

Profile

• Cleaver-Brooks
• Deublin IFS AB (ifs.com) is headquartered in Linköping,
• Durham Manufacturing Sweden. The company develops and delivers
• Tennsco enterprise software for manufacturing and distribution customers. The company is on track to generate $1 billion in revenue in 2021, has more than 4,500 employees, and 10,000 customers worldwide. The roadmap for Infor LN is broken into these areas:

Ultra's Insight: Built with Discrete Manufacturing in Mind

• Technology of the solution – zero-downtime in the cloud and incorporate new solutions,

Infor LN is installed at more than 2,700 customers including artificial intelligence and predictive worldwide. A cloud-focused ERP provider, Infor's analytics. customer sweet spot is companies with revenues

• Globalization of the solution – continuously

of $500 million to $4 billion. keep up with tax and regulatory compliance. Some of Infor LN's strengths are its ability to

• Industry Specialization – focus on

provide genealogy tracking/lot tracing, handle aerospace & defense, automotive, industrial subcontracting in the manufacturing process and manufacturing and high-tech electronics. manage the art of the procurement and sourcing. And, Infor is investing heavily to radically In addition, its support of Kanban through the change the user experience and make it floor for replenishment is a big value-add. more like modern Internet search-based Infor LN's ability to capture costs is deep and engine applications. The company also is broad, particularly overhead assignment of working to reduce total cost of ownership and labor and/or materials. Its robust inter-company implementation, enhance data migration tools transaction management system can create and the ability to provide business processes and relationships between legal entities with specific workflows, and accelerate implementation. Infor costing and transfer pricing methodologies. is investing in customers that are moving from on-premises solutions to cloud – and provide the And Infor LN's enterprise structure and multiability to copy all settings and configurations to company/site capabilities allow for a rules-based the cloud with minimal cut-over delay. engine to simplify and automate traditionally complex intercompany transactions. It offers Infor provides every customer with a customer success manager and a subscription to Infor the ability to manage multiple modes of Campus, a subscription tool with a knowledge manufacturing for fabricated part, including base, simulated exercises, and educational support for ETO, configuration, custom metal content and training. parts and MTS. And finally, it provides the ability to integrate to machine PLCs in order to pass Infor says that customers see a significant information into the ERP system. benefit from LN's… The capabilities that differentiate Infor LN

• cloud application's monthly update vs. old-

from its competitors? To start, its functions school updates that required a large internal for planning, manufacturing and scheduling resource commitment. in complex manufacturing environments,

• testing-as-a-service capability, which enables

including management of the supply chain and automated capture of Intellectual property management of mixed-mode manufacturing. and allows customers to test new capabilities. Its project-based manufacturing toolset is

• ability to be redeployed in the organization.

extremely strong. It offers the incorporation

• layer of personalization that is not impacted

of industry-specific requirements. Its mobility by the monthly/quarterly updates capabilities enable the use of any hand-held

• dedicated space for extensibility to

mobile device for transaction reporting. accommodate complex logic – space that does not impede updates. KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: Infor LN

Order Configuration/CPQ Infor CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping Infor Nexus

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management Roadmap 2022

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP Infor S&OP

PLC Integration Infor Bridge

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting Infor Bridge

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP Infor Supplier Exchange

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

Infor's Pitch

Tailored for discrete manufacturers, including the specialized needs of metal fabricators, Industrial Infor LN is an advanced cloud ERP that is Manufacturing (including Metal smart, preconfigured and modern. The solution Fabrication) combines a state-of-the-art user experience Industrial Machinery & with robust industry-specific functionality, such Equipment as the ability to manage shop floor operations, High-Tech Electronics job site inspections, work in progress and Automotive Aerospace & Defense configured sales quoting. Available on an openOther source technology stack, Infor LN provides manufacturers with an end-to-end solution that is highly agile and able to scale as your organization grows. It helps metal fabricators keep pace with today's fast-changing business

Targeted Verticals

landscape and align with customers expecting a highly collaborative experience.

• Aerospace & Defense
• Automotive
• High-Tech Electronics
• Engineering & Construction

Deployment Options

• Industrial Machinery
• Industrial Manufacturing/Metal Fabrication ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Metal Fabrication Customers

Profile

• Bray International, Inc.
• Flexible Steel Lacing Company Infor (infor.com), headquartered in New York,
• Inglass S.p.A. N.Y., USA, brought in $3.2 billion in revenue in
• Kongsberg Defence & Aerospacee 2019 and, with 67,000 customer organizations
• Mokveld worldwide, is a leader in industry-specific cloud
• Oberg Industries, LLC software products. The company has 140 offices
• Velan Inc. across 44 countries and 17,000 employees. In
• VZ Industries BV 2020, Infor was acquired by Koch Industries.
• Out-of-the-box nesting for coil-slitting, linear cutting and plate cutting

Ultra's Insight: Focus on Metal Fab's Unique Needs

• Ability to integrate with plate nesting software such as Sigmanest

When talking about capabilities in the metal

• Attribute-based inventory tracking

fabrication industry for Microsoft Dynamics

• Attribute-based material planning

365, it's important to consider the Crowe Metals

• Capacity planning

Accelerator (CMA) developed and implemented

• Metal fabrication-specific analytics and

by Crowe LLP. By providing a solid base for reporting metrics development, Microsoft allows partners like

• Complete customer view across quotes,

Crowe to go deep in vertical development orders, payments and quality concerns such that the developed logic seems as if it is

• Material utilization

embedded in the Dynamics 365 system. In this

• A scalable solution which supports organic

case, Crowe has developed a metals specific growth and large acquisition growth extension of Dynamics 365 that satisfies many of the needs of the metals industry. The future roadmap is focused on systems with IoT and PLC integration. Crowe also plans to dig Crowe has more than 10 years in the metals deeper into the specifics of machine learning, as industry, with 300 employees devoted to the well as getting even more specific relative to: product, many of whom have spent time in the industry as users. It caters to companies with

• Tube manufacturing

annual revenues from $75 million $1 billion, but

• Primary metals producer

it considers its sweet spot to be $100 million to

• Wire/cable

$250 million.

• Metal building products

Crowe claims its "secret sauce" is in dealing Deployment options include all that Microsoft with the complex details of the metals industry has to offer, including on-premise and SaaS. with capabilities that include: With implementation, again, in order to get the metals expertise, Crowe will need to be the

• OOTB nesting for coil slitting and linear implementor of choice who will implement the

cutting entire suite of Dynamics 365 along with CMA. KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: Microsoft Dynamics 365/Crowe

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation TrueCommerce, DiCentral, SPS EDI Commerce, and others LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP BlueStar PLM

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

Deployment Options

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Microsoft Profile

Data not provided Microsoft (microsoft.com) is headquartered in Redmond, Wash., USA, and was founded in 1975. In FY 2020, the company had $143.0 billion in revenue and 175,500 employees worldwide. It is the world's largest software company. Its Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise resource planning (ERP) product line contains a long list of applications.

Targeted Verticals

• Commercial Metal Fabrication
• Industrial Metal Fabrication

Crowe Profile

• Structural Metal Fabrication Crowe LLP (crowe.com) is an accounting, consulting and technology firm with 40 offices

Metal Fabrication Customers

around the world – and industry expertise in banking, financial services, healthcare, Data not provided insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, metals and tech/media/telecom. Crowe has more than 4,000 employees across its 40 locations. It

Crowe's Microsoft Pitch

offers a broad range of ERP solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Oracle NetSuite. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Crowe Metals Accelerator allows the modern business application platform to stay in front of the evolving manufacturing requirements and the unique needs of a metal fabricator. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management provides the flexible platform to excel in a rapidly changing business environment.

Metal Fabrication companies manage complex customer requirements, an evolving workforce, and uncertainty in the supply chain. The combination of a leading business application solution from Microsoft with the industryfocused implementation team from Crowe provides metal fabrication companies the tools they need to thrive.

• Best-of-breed S&OP
• Order management with complex promising

Ultra's Insight: Capabilities for Today and Tomorrow

between order lines

• SCM projects – SCM (ETO/MTO) project-

The current version of the Oracle RP solution, driven industry called Fusion Cloud, is a SAS-based, full-

• Constraint-based, drag/drop production

featured ERP system that supports all aspects scheduling of the business. Oracle utilizes third-party

• Lot tracking genealogy including heat

implementors, including Terrilium, which has tracking more than 27 years of experience with Oracle,

• Attribute-based pricing

more than 200 employees across the United

• Mixed-mode manufacturing

States, and a headquarters in Cincinnati Ohio.

• Remnant management
• Attribute-based inventory tracking and

Although the Oracle family of products includes planning JD Edwards (JDE), E-Business Suite (EBS) and NetSuite, the Fusion Cloud software is one of Oracle's roadmap for the future? More machine the flagship products of Oracle. Supporting learning and stronger IOT capabilities. The focus four major industries – Automotive, Food & for metal products manufacturing includes: Beverage, Hospitality and Oil & Gas – the metals fabrication segment lies within the automotive

• IOT, SPC including predefined API interfaces

industry focus.

• Increased integration with MES automation
• Production scheduling

For Oracle, the ideal metal fabrication customer

• Demand planning

is companies with annual revenues from $200

• Broaden in vertical

million to more than $1 billion, and Oracle is able to scale the product to the needs of the client. Deployment options are limited in that all are on the cloud, mostly via single tenant Oracle's keys to success within the metals configurations. Implementation services are fabrication industry include: primarily via third-party providers like Terrilium, but these parties are not resellers of the system.

• Integrated PLM
• Product configurator (CPQ) KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: Oracle Fusion Cloud/Terillium DEMONSTRATED

CATEGORY FUNCTIONALITY CLASSIFICATION INTEGRATIONS

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling Interface

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting Custom Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

Terillium's Oracle Pitch

The Oracle Manufacturing Cloud makes it possible to view all parts of your business for better management decision-making. Metalfabrication specific functions like production scheduling, serialized inventory and tooling Data not provided management give you the broad and deep functionality you need for success.

Gain full traceability of materials used in each step of the metal-fabrication manufacturing process to better manage your inventory investment. Connect all the way to the shop floor with connectivity to equipment, industrial automation and sensors. Keep a full history

Targeted Metal Fabrication Verticals

of inventory, heats, production activities, test results and more. Keep equipment operating

• Fabricated Metal Products efficiently for increased effectiveness. Avoid
• Fabricated Pipe and Pipe Fittings unplanned downtime with predictive and
• Fabricated Structural Metal preventive maintenance.
• Machine Tools
• Metal Cans
• Metal Stampings

Deployment Options

• Metalworking Machinery

Metal Fabrication Customers

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT Data not provided

Oracle Profile

Oracle (oracle.com) is headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, and was founded in 1977. In 2020, the company had $39.1 billion in revenue, 430,000 customers, 133,000 employees and 20,000 partners around the world. Oracle claims that it offers the broadest and deepest suite of cloud applications. In 2020, Oracle was the second-largest software company by revenue and market capitalization.

Terillium Profile

Terillium (terillium.com) is an ERP consulting company and Oracle Platinum Partner specializing in the implementation of Oracle ERP Cloud, Oracle NetSuite, Oracle JD Edwards and E-Business Suite solutions. With more than 200 employees at locations across the United States and its Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, headquarters.

• Quality management, which is Integrated with the operation including full genealogy

Ultra's Insight: Big Solution With Broad Capabilities

tracking

SAP is an ERP system with a full suite of While S/4HANA does not have nesting products to support all areas of the business optimization algorithms, it does have the ability in many different industries. With innovative to group and execute nested orders. technologies in play, SAP connects all parts of a Recent development added machine learning, a business into an intelligent suite on a fully digital new/improved user interface, and reporting that platform. SAP has more than 7,000 customers in comes direct from the transactional database. the metals industry, 50% in North America. Future plans include: While SAP is well-known for serving large enterprise customers, it claims S/4HANA to

• Integrated Business Platform (IBP)

be well-suited for any business, and that 80%

• integrated planning with customer

of their installations are small to mid-sized collaboration and what-if capabilities companies. S/4HANA is geared for companies

• Logistics Business Network (LBN), including

with annual revenues north of $500 million, SAP container tracking before receipt also offers solutions for companies with annual

• Production Planning

revenues under $500 million. Implementation services include direct from In our interview with SAP's product experts, SAP, third-party implementors, or a hybrid they told us that S/4HANA's strengths are: between the two. With implementation time frames from six months to two years, SAP will

• Whole-order entry, including pricing and innovate with customers to provide customized

costing models solutions as needed, but supplies a broad base

• Native integration between sales and ops of standard modules that will serve most, if not
• Dimensional attributes as part of planning all, of business needs.

engine

• Inclusion of scrap across multiple orders KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: SAP S/4HANA DEMONSTRATED

CATEGORY FUNCTIONALITY CLASSIFICATION INTEGRATIONS

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping

Freight rate shopping SAP, Non-SAP TMS applications

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs

Total order weight/cubing calculation

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling

Setup optimization With embedded PP/DS

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration

SPC

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry

FMEA

PPAP

Quality Standards Compliance

QC testing control plans

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP

Corrective Action Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Metals Customers by Segment

SAP's Pitch

With SAP solutions and technology, you can bring data-driven customer devotion and operational flexibility to your entire business. You can build intelligent, individualized Primary Metals products by connecting each customer's voice Fabricated Metals to everything from product planning to delivery. Building Materials You can create the kind of production process Mining that adapts dynamically to different demands, setups, and workflows, while using intelligence and networks to integrate every machine, partner and employee.

With SAP, you can connect your entire company

• bringing together logistics, sales and service –

Targeted Verticals

so every step is orchestrated and you avoid the gaps or delays that keep you from delivering 28 targeted verticals, including Mill Products/ the best-possible experience. Metal Fabrication

Deployment Options

Metal Fabrication Customers

• ArcelorMittal
• Kohler ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT
• Nibco
• Rexam

Profile

• Ryerson
• Sloan Valve SAP (sap.com) is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, and was founded in 1972. The company had $32.2 billion in revenue in FY2020, and in July 2021 it had 440,000 customers, regional offices in 140 countries, 103,876 employees and 21,000 partners around the world. The company says that more than three-quarters of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system, and that approximately 80% of SAP customers are small and medium-sized enterprises. Its S/4 HANA product is best suited for larger companies or fast-growing middle-market companies.
• Quality control/quality management through a third-party tool called Unipoint

Ultra's Insight: Scalable, Highly Configurable Solution

• Automation and PLC integration

Headquartered in South Africa and with U.S. SYSPRO'S future roadmap includes improved offices in Tustin, Calif., SYSPRO is a privately organizational controls via data governance and held provider of ERP software. Established cyber security, and the use of AI to access all in 1978 by CEO Phil Duff, the company has connected data for business analysis. It also plans 12 major offices around the world, and over to improve WMS and QC functionality within the 15,000 licensed customers in 62 countries. core package so that third-party software is not The company offers a robust feature set that needed except for customers with extreme needs. focuses on the manufacturing and distribution The company also intends to focus on improving industries. For organizations that like the ability its supply chain functionality through the use of to customize their ERP solution, SYSPRO portals for both customer and suppliers. allows for this approach by providing modular SYSPRO offers a choice of deployment options functionality. that include a hosted environment (Azure) SYSPRO says its sweet spot is companies or on-premises, with either a smart client or with annual revenues from $10 million to browser-based UI. A SaaS option currently $200 million, or organizations with 50 to is being developed for the near future. While 500 employees. But the largest part of their the majority of SYSPRO implementations are customer base is under $100 million in revenue. delivered through certified channel partners, SYSPRO services four primary industries: Metal the company also offers direct implementation Fabrication, Food & Beverage, Electronics and and consulting services. Either way, SYSPRO's Industrial Equipment. focus is on having a team that builds a strong relationship with the customer. In the metal fabrication segment, SYSPRO says its strengths are: The company feels its real strength is in providing a scalable, configurable solution that

• Good support for mixed mode operations – is specific to the needs of the customer, rather

ETO/MTO and MTS than a one-size-fits-all solution. Being able to

• Quoting and estimating support complex environments with industry
• Demand planning and forecasting specific talent in their organization allows
• Capacity planning and labor tracking and SYSPRO to develop the solution quickly and

analysis effectively in a way that supports the growing needs of the customer. KEY ERP SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES: SYSPRO

Order Configuration/CPQ

cost based pricing, margin analysis

Over/under quantity adjustments

Truck/rail shipping Multiple shipping & WMS ISV options

Freight rate shopping Multiple shipping & WMS ISV options

Load creation/load building

Packaging/shipping specs Multiple shipping & WMS ISV options

Total order weight/cubing calculation Multiple shipping & WMS ISV options

EDI

LPN

Material reservation

Capacity planning

Order consolidation, reporting

Resources detail scheduling: finite, infinite

Plate nesting during detail scheduling Future roadmap

Setup optimization

UOM conversion

Sub-contracting, outside processing

Inventory management

Product labeling

Remnant management

Develop Material Plan

Scrap Planning/Tracking

Tooling management/planning

MRO - Maint management

Bins/Container tracking

Kitting

Develop Demand Plan

Develop Operations Plan

Integrate S&OP

PLC Integration

SPC UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

Deviation Tracking

Collaborative planning with suppliers

Kanban Management

OEE Reporting

Heats/chemistry UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

FMEA UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

PPAP UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

Quality Standards Compliance UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

QC testing control plans UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

Serial Tracking, genealogy tracking

Lot Tracking, genealogy tracking

CAD Design integrated with ERP Multiple CAD Design ISV solutions

Corrective Action Management UniPoint Advanced Quality Management

Material Scrap Factor

Surcharges

Alternate uses of RM, material substitution

Inbound container tracking

Variable lead times

Pricing agreements/blanket orders and tracking

Consignment inventories: customer

Customers by Industry

SYSPRO's Pitch

SYSPRO is a leading, global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software provider specializing in 19.6% Industrial Machinery & Equipment key manufacturing and distribution industries. 17.2% Fabricated Metals With a customer retention rate of 98%, 16.9% Electronics SYSPRO's team of specialists have continued 10.4% Food & Beverage 5.8% Plastics & Rubber to address unique industry needs and enable 5.7% Automotive Parts & customers to easily adapt and grow. The Accessories solution is scalable and can be deployed in the 5.1% Furniture 5.1% Packaging cloud, on-premise, or both, and accessed via Other a browser on any device to provide customers with choice and flexibility.

With more than 15,000 licensed companies in over 60 countries across six continents –

Targeted Verticals

SYSPRO offers guidance and support every step of the way as a trusted advisor.

• Automotive Parts & Accessories
• Electronics
• Fabricated Metal

Deployment Options

• Food & Beverage
• Industrial Machinery & Equipment
• Packaging
• Plastics & Rubber ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Metal Fabrication Customers

Profile

• 360 Sheet Metal Products Headquartered in South Africa, with a U.S. office
• American Wood Dryers, LLC in Tustin, California, SYSPRO (syspro.com) is
• Belden Inc. a privately held provider of ERP software for
• Benchmade Knife Co., USA manufacturers and distributors. Established
• CHS Acquisition Corp. in 1978 by CEO Phil Duff, the company has 12
• Crown Packaging Barbados LTD major offices around the world, and over 15,000
• Crown Packaging Trinidad Ltd. licensed customers in 62 countries.
• Gaylord Industries
• Nordco, Inc.
• Pick Heaters, Inc.
• Pocahontas Aluminum Company
• Raphael Industries, Inc.
• Retail Space Solutions, LLC
• Spectro Alloys Corp.
• Strong Forge & Fabrication, LLC
• Structural & Steel Products Mfg., Ltd.
• Supercon, Inc.
• Whip Industries, Inc.

HOW TO SELECT THE WRONG ERP SOLUTION

Assuming that all ERP solutions

The enterprise software selection process are the same. can be long and complicated – for several good reasons. The solution you If you've ever bought a new car, you know choose will affect the way you conduct that every model is different, even those business for years to come. It will impact built on the same platform. Each includes virtually every function. It's a significant various features and benefits, including investment. And with as much as half of subtle differences in appearance. It's the ERP implementations failing to achieve their same with ERP software. At first glance, goals, it's critical to find a solution suited to it may seem like two solutions are exactly your business and its unique needs. alike. But once you look under the hood, you may learn that one is more powerful. But many organizations get off-track right As you test drive it with a demo, you may at the start when they go into the selection find that one is more comfortable. The process believing in some common myths differences often may seem small, but about the process – misconceptions that can looking critically at them is the key to result in the wrong choice for your business. finding software that fits your business. Here are the five mistakes and misconceptions that will – inevitably – result

Believing that a highly detailed RFP

in the selection of the wrong ERP solution: is required.

Thinking that technology is the most

Many companies think they need to create important consideration. lengthy RFPs, which often amount to hundreds of pages. But since most vendor Many companies replace their enterprise offerings address core pain points, such software because it's outdated or no longer as automating reports, these documents supported by the vendor. While these are don't need to be nearly as long. Instead, valid reasons to make the move to a new you should look at the business problems system, they shouldn't be the only ones. you want to solve and processes you want The software selection process is the to improve with the new software, not core perfect time to evaluate business goals functionalities that typically are the same and map them to your new solution. For across multiple vendors. example, you may want to reduce operating costs, increase productivity and streamline business processes. If you have these goals in mind, you're better able to narrow down your choices and request relevant demos from vendors.

Thinking that an ERP project

IBM." And that mindset persists today. is an IT project. Many organizations start their ERP selection with a list of the biggest and While the IT department provides critical best-known companies in the ERP input, companies need to get various software marketplace. And the bigviewpoints from across the organization name vendors offer excellent choices when they gather requirements in the for small, medium and large enterprises software selection process. All too often, in a variety of deployment models. But important stakeholders are left out of the their powerful products may not be conversation. Before looking at different right for your organization. Extensive systems, assemble a team with employees customization may be necessary to meet who work with and manage core processes, the requirements of your segment and particularly those who use workstreams company. Or you may have to purchase that span functions and departments. specialized industry add-ons to get it Whether it's accounting, sales, marketing, to function the way you want. Instead, shop floor, warehouse, logistics, operations consider all the options available. or any other department, it's important to know the challenges they have and what There are many ERP vendors that offer they need to do their jobs better. broad manufacturing expertise. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The functionalities and capabilities required

Assuming that big-name solutions are

are unique to each subvertical. And always the best solutions. finding the best fit starts with evaluating Corporate executives used to say, software solutions and functions based "No one ever got fired for buying on your industry's unique needs.

Ultra Consultants is an independent ERP consulting firm serving the manufacturing and distribution industries. Since 1994, we've helped hundreds of clients streamline their business processes, select ERP software, and implement a complete ERP solution that meets the unique needs of their industry, specialty and organization.

Why Ultra?

It's critically important to choose an ERP consulting partner with deep experience in your industry, expertise in your ERP solution, and experts who have worked in businesses like yours. And you will want to work with a firm that is independent, flexible and able to help you find the right solution for your organization.

For more than 27 years, Ultra Consultants has utilized its proven methodology, ERP knowledge and industry intelligence to deliver measurable business performance improvements to manufacturers and distributors in virtually every vertical.

• Our services are built for your industry. We understand your processes and requirements.
• Our solutions leverage our expertise. We help you choose software to meet your unique needs.
• Our results reflect our ERP experience. We maximize benefits, minimize risk and deliver success. Regional Offices Midwest West 939 W. North Avenue 1980 Festival Plaza Drive Suite 750 Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60642 Las Vegas, NV 89135 © 2021 Ultra Consultants