IEM ERP Vendor Update

ERP VENDOR UPDATE

Industrial Equipment Manufacturing 10 Software Solutions

Insight on Today's Top ERP Providers

C O N S U L T A N T S

INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS FACE COMPLEX BUSINESS CHALLENGES. ESPECIALLY NOW.

It's always been difficult to effectively manage parts, production, people and products. And today, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's even harder. Supply chains continue to be unsettled. Distribution channels are disrupted. Costs are rising.

The solution – in good times and bad – is to become more efficient: Fix broken business processes. Eliminate workarounds and manual make-dos. Integrate core systems. Control inventory spend. Streamline the supply chain. Reduce overall costs and improve cashflow. Achieve transparency and visibility into every aspect of operations.

To do these things, you need the right ERP solution. But what is the best solution for your organization?

That's the challenge. Because answers can turn into more questions. Because every organization is different. And because no company handles any phase of operations – estimating, configuration, orders, changes, planning, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, inventory, distribution, shipping, sales and field service – the same way.

ABOUT THIS REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS ERP Vendor Update: Industrial Equipment Manufacturing is compiled by Ultra Consultants from 5 BEST PRACTICES FOR ERP interviews with software company product experts, VENDOR SELECTION .................................................. 1 product documentation and product briefings, Q&A: RAPIDLY CHANGING MARKETPLACE independent research and Ultra internal documents. REQUIRES NEW CAPABILITIES ................................ 3 Ultra's Insight is the opinion of our expert consultants, EPICOR ........................................................................... 5 is based on project experience, sales experience and IFS .................................................................................... 8 product knowledge, and is not intended to provide a complete review or comprehensive analysis of the INFOR LN ....................................................................... 11 products or companies described. DELMIAworks (IQMS) .................................................. 14 Note: This report covers selected ERP vendors, which MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 365 /ARBELA .................. 17 were chosen based on market presence, product ORACLE CLOUD/TERILLIUM ..................................... 20 capabilities and Ultra's recent project experience. PLEX ................................................................................ 23 Company and product information in this report has QAD ................................................................................. 26 been reviewed by the software vendors featured. ROOTSTOCK .................................................................. 29

SAP S4/HANA ............................................................... 32

HOW TO SELECT THE WRONG ERP SOLUTION ............................................................. 35

WHY ULTRA? ................................................................. 37

5 BEST PRACTICES FOR ERP VENDOR SELECTION

studies and success stories provided by the Whether your company is implementing vendor – they are a good source of insight an ERP system for the first time, or into how they build solutions for companies replacing a legacy implementation, it's like yours. Ask for the product roadmap for critically important to make the right your industry segment. choice.

An ERP solution is, at its foundation, a

Assess the Total Cost of Ownership

strategic choice. What new capabilities does your organization need and want? Establish a budget in terms of What problems are you trying to solve? implementation and total cost of What do you want your core processes to ownership (TCO), then ask your potential look like? How can new tools enable your vendors if your budget and their solution organization's digital transformation? are a fit. We asked our expert consultants to give A solution quote usually includes software, us their thoughts on best practices in first-year support and implementation ERP selection for Industrial Equipment consulting. (Additional sites and add-on Manufacturers, and this is what they told us: modules will be extra.) TCO, however, is broader, and takes into consideration per-

Emphasize Industry Experience

user license costs, training, maintenance, customizations, upgrades, internal costs Focus on IEM industry experience when and other fees. choosing an ERP vendor, including (and If the system is in the Cloud or software especially) your particular segment. as a service (SaaS), take a hard look at the Here's why this expertise is important: Service Level Agreement (SLA) for any An ERP vendor may have manufacturing hidden costs, such as system enhancements industry experience but may not have and upgrades. deep knowledge of the unique needs of your specialized segment. Look at its overall presence in your vertical, too. Is its toolset widely used by companies like yours? On average, companies spend 17 weeks selecting an ERP Ask your potential vendors to tell you how they plan to be a leading solution in your solution. marketspace. Evaluate its features and SOURCE: 2020 ERP Software Report, Software Path functions to see how well they align with the industry's challenges. Read the case

Speak with Real Customers

The scale and complexity of most ERP projects make it difficult to get, and Don't let your ERP vendor get away with stick to, a fixed price. Be aware that ERP giving you a list of hand-picked customer vendors that offer a fixed price might references in a variety of industries. exclude necessary work and training. Identify and note all inclusions and To get the best idea of how a solution exclusions. will perform for you, ask for references that have been on the solution for at least

Consider Technology Strategy

a year, are in the same industry as your company, are roughly the same size, and Know that an ERP solution must fit the have similar requirements. Then make overall IT strategy of your organization. the effort to speak with these customers And because the IT department plays a (particularly their ERP professionals) to primary role in determining whether an get their insight, opinion and feedback. ERP system is feasible, it should determine Choose one for an on-site visit. and provide any technology requirements at the outset. By applying these best practices, your company will better understand the If on-premises ERP systems are a strengths and weaknesses of potential consideration, the IT department will need ERP vendors. And it will be easier to to have the resources to maintain and narrow down the list and choose a upgrade the software, as well as be able software solution that will deliver greater to provide the necessary infrastructure, efficiency, improved visibility and a servers, databases and security. competitive advantage. If the company is going with a cloudbased 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 on-

Top 10 ERP Selection Criteria

premises systems.

• Functional fit

Put the Vendor Under a Microscope

• Industry experience

Where will the vendor be in the next five

• Software price, TCO and ROI

or 10 years? Many niche players have been

• Vendor viability

acquired or merged with other ERP vendors

• Implementation project
• with both positive and negative results. considerations

What's important to your company?

• Technology

The major ERP vendors offer big, broad

• Risk

solutions that will meet most of your

• Scalability

needs. Specialized vendors offer "smaller" solutions that will meet your industry-

• References

specific requirements but may not be as

• Post go-live support

strong in some core functions.

EXPERT Q&A:

RAPIDLY CHANGING MARKETPLACE REQUIRES NEW CAPABILITIES

So, the industry is seeing rapid As the IEM industry rumbles through the technologic change – and a corresponding remainder of a challenging 2021, headed rapid expansion of what is possible for for a potentially more successful 2022, products and services. What are the it's important to understand the ongoing challenges? evolution of the industry and its enterprise technologies. We asked one of Ultra's most DL: For many companies, it's a difficult experienced manufacturing consultants, transition from the traditional approach to a Dave Lechleitner, what IEM companies need new business model. We see organizations to know to thrive in today's fast-changing that are struggling to move into the future, marketplace. Here is an edited version of struggling to adapt their existing systems the conversation. and struggling to execute the service component efficiently and effectively. Let's start with the big picture: What are the most important trends in the A lot of IEM companies are just coming to industry? understand the impact of the shift from being a product business – where you Dave Lechleitner (DL): Today, a significant manufacture and sell the same product over trend is the development and deployment and over again – to being a product-andof new service models after the sale. In the service business. They don't have a service past, industrial equipment manufacturers team or service organization built. They were focused on manufacturing their may be contracting the service component products, but now, with the ability to to a third party, and are finding that they leverage machine data streams from need to bring it in-house. They need to embedded sensors, companies can offer create conduits to carry the product strong, data-driven predictive maintenance and part information to the service side, and service offerings. and to carry service insight back to the manufacturing side. Also, IEM organizations are getting creative with pricing models based on usage. We saw this with a client recently – a And some companies are pushing hard company that builds large, complex to engineer and produce smart machines products. Its field service people had no that require less human interaction and product information and no bill of materials, monitoring – or none at all – in order to so when they were doing an install, they enable lights-out factories. had no way to know if they had everything they needed or if the customer was getting Where should IEMs focus their attention everything they ordered. And they had no for the near future? structured way to communicate the issues and problems they found – information that DL: In addition to the development of could have been used to improve service service capabilities and implementation quality, product quality and customer of two-way data conduits, I think forwardsatisfaction. looking, smart organizations will focus on It's common to have this kind of siloed breaking down the silos of information that information. And it's a challenge to impede efficiency, impair decision-making manage, analyze and share it across the and prevent communication and connection. organization. To succeed in a rapidly changing marketplace, IEMs need reliable and complete information, accurate analysis and broad access to data How are IEM ERP solutions adapting to from every part of their organization. meet these challenges?

DL: Field services management is becoming core in IEM ERP solutions. It used to be a bolt-on, or third-party tool, or the solution Dave Lechleitner is Industry didn't do it very well. No more. Marketing Director for Ultra Consultants, with more Cloud connectivity is key now, too, because than 25 years of experience of the need for a real-time link to machine helping mid-market sensors, the need to convey the data streams manufacturing companies required to analyze and optimize production, leverage technology and the need to connect machines in the field to optimize processes, increase efficiency, with engineers in the office. maximize throughput and boost productivity.

The Best Solution May Not Be the Biggest Solution

Most manufacturing organizations start ERP selection with a list of the biggest names in the ERP software marketplace, research features, functionalities and total cost of ownership, and then schedule multiple rounds of sales presentations and demos.

Often overlooked in this process are other solution providers that may better support particular industries and their specialized needs.

There are ERP vendors with exceptionally strong experience and domain knowledge in your vertical — and that understand your business and processes at a deep level. They may offer important industry-specific features that bigger ERP solutions do not.

Many times, they may be the best choice for your organization and your unique requirements. You'll never know, however, if you don't include them in your evaluation, listen to their pitches and see how their software works. For businesses that need to manage product manufacturing using projects, Epicor offers project management capability that includes activities related to accounting, labor tracking, material consumption and payment milestone tracking.

Ultra's Insight: Flexibility for Mid-Market IEM Manufacturers

Epicor recently fully revamped their user Epicor has a well-developed portfolio of interface, and is investing in machine IEM customers that build low-volume, highly learning and IoT capability – and plans engineered equipment. Epicor works well for to provide solutions to manage rentals mid-market businesses looking to grow. (product-as-a-service models) in the future. Epicor's key differentiator is the ability to reduce part-number data clutter by When selecting Epicor, businesses can allowing "part-on-the-fly" manufacturing, opt for on-premises or cloud deployment. which provides the flexibility to build Epicor offers direct implementation limited-use engineered products. With services, as well as access to a growing that manufacturing flexibility comes network of implementation partners. strong cost control and revenuerecognition capability.

Reports and Queries Pre-defined Dashboards and Scorecards Configure/Price/Quote (CPQ) Front End Product Configurator Back-End Product Configurator CRM CRM - Funnel Management CRM CRM - Opportunity Management CRM Customer Proposals Customer Case Management Customer Portal Field Service Mobile App Field Service Management Demand Management Qualitative Forecasting CAD to ERP Integration ECO Management Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) Execution of Transfer Orders Product Costing - Financial Product Costing - Managerial System Security System Reliability Integrated Project Management & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Planning MRP for MTS Products MRP for MTO Products Integrated Project Mgmt./MRP Subcontract Order Planning Lean Functionality Capacity Planning - Infinite Capacity Management - Space Basic Scheduling Board Available to Promise (ATP) Shop Floor Control (SFC) Tracking & Priority Management Bar Code Scanning Real-Time Labor/Order Reporting Remote Data Capture Supplier Pricing Direct Material Purchasing - Discrete POs Direct Material Purchasing - Blanket POs Customer Supplied Inventory (CSI) Integrated Project Management/ MRP Integrated Project Accounting Project-Integrated Sales Orders Repair Order Management Serial Control Track-and-Trace Lot Track-and-Trace Quality Compliance Quality Specifications Measure of Non-Conformance

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order Customers by Industry

63% Manufacturing 22% Retail 15% Distribution

Targeted Verticals

• Aerospace & Defense
• Automotive
• Chemical
• Consumer Goods
• Electronics
• Energy
• Fabricated Products
• Furniture
• Industrial
• Medical Devices
• Metals
• Plastics

IEM Customers

• Ogi Process Equipment
• Puck Custom Enterprises
• Logic Controls Inc.
• Forum Energy Technologies Inc.
• Kadant Inc.
• Elliott Company
• Drallim Industries Ltd.
• Electopar
• Tieman Industries Pty Ltd.

Strategy

Epicor solutions are developed for the cloud first, and focus on configure-toorder and engineer-to-order capabilities. Its solutions are modular and able to adapt to unique customer needs using incremental add-ons and integration with more than 1,600 services. Epicor's Pitch

Epicor understands the ever-changing, daily set of challenges manufacturers face: Increasing price pressure with expanding raw material cost, constrained labor availability and a commitment to satisfying customers, globally.

To manage change while distinguishing your business from local and global competition, businesses are streamlining and adopting new technology to automate processes.

In this increasingly competitive market, manufacturers have options. Epicor for Industrial Machinery gives manufacturers the tools to compete with a full range of functionality built specifically for companies like yours, providing more competitive lead times and reduced organizational waste. From the initial customer contact to support, Epicor helps manage every step along the way.

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 20,000 customers in 150 countries, and more than 4,100 employees in offices around the world. In 2020, the Epicor generated $950 million in revenue. IFS considers the project-centric nature

of its solution a differentiator, and that approach is what many engineer-toorder businesses require. Most business planning and execution functions are tightly integrated with the project, enabling project management, material requirements planning and financials all to be performed within a single solution.

Ultra's Insight: Built for IEM's Complex Requirements

Another key feature is the ability to support complex product-costing calculations with IFS supports all manufacturing variants, "multi-layered overheads." This capability from simple make-to-stock to more often is required to calculate the cost for complex make-to-order and highlyprojects that sell into highly regulated complex configure-to-order and engineermarkets, the field installation activity of to-order businesses. Manufacturers prefabricated manufactured modules, and of complex industrial equipment and specific contracted service deliverables. machinery with low- to high-volume/highcomplexity production are well-supported The service management functionality is by IFS. viewed as a best-of-breed solution, and it is frequently integrated with other ERP systems The typical IFS customer has between for large corporate accounts. The system $250 million and $1 billion in annual sales, will track and maintain the as-designed, with 400 to 500 users, but the company as-manufactured, as-delivered and asis steadily moving toward customers with maintained bill-of-material, repairs, and other sales above $1 billion. tracked activities for each serialized asset.

Reports and Queries Pre-defined Dashboards and Scorecards Configure/Price/Quote (CPQ) Front End Product Configurator Back-End Product Configurator

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Customer Case Management Customer Portal Field Service Mobile App Field Service Management Demand Management Qualitative Forecasting CAD to ERP Integration ECO Management Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) Execution of Transfer Orders Product Costing - Financial Product Costing - Managerial System Security System Reliability Integrated Project Management & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Planning MRP for MTS Products MRP for MTO Products Integrated Project Mgmt./MRP Subcontract Order Planning Lean Functionality Capacity Planning - Infinite Capacity Management - Space Basic Scheduling Board Available to Promise (ATP) Shop Floor Control (SFC) Tracking & Priority Management Bar Code Scanning Real-Time Labor/Order Reporting Remote Data Capture Supplier Pricing Direct Material Purchasing - Discrete POs Direct Material Purchasing - Blanket POs Customer Supplied Inventory (CSI) Integrated Project Management/MRP Integrated Project Accounting Project-Integrated Sales Orders Repair Order Management Serial Control Track-and-Trace Lot Track-and-Trace Quality Compliance Quality Specifications Measure of Non-Conformance

75% Manufacturing 15% Aerospace & Defense 5% Energy 3% Construction 3% Service

Targeted Verticals

• Automotive
• Defense
• High Tech
• Industrial Manufacturing

IEM Customers

• Valmont Industries
• Chief Industries
• Linamar Corporation
• Shawcor Limited
• Gables Engineering
• Vigor Industrial

Strategy

IFS deploys a hybrid model when it comes to sales. Its direct sales team services customers over $150 million in annual revenue, and resellers and system integrators service the under-$150 million customer base. The company touts its focus on specific industries, which includes manufacturing, aerospace/defense and construction. IFS's Pitch

IFS Cloud is a single platform that delivers class-leading solutions to manufacturers. The IFS Cloud platform is agile and integrated to allow manufacturers to manage their end-to-end supply chain. Our ready to use, out-of-the-box ERP solutions deliver individualized offerings with best-in-class functionality across finance, human capital management, customer relationship management, supply chain management and more.

With IFS Cloud, you can quickly benefit from advanced technologies like IoT, augmented and mixed reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning, so you can optimize, automate, predict and interact better across your business. Our industry expertise helps us drive real value to manufacturers and their business.

Deployment Options

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Profile

IFS AB (ifs.com) is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden. The company develops and delivers enterprise software for manufacturing and distribution customers. The company generates more than $668 million in annual revenue, has more than 4,000 employees, and 10,000 customers worldwide. information capabilities to improve their constraint-based functionality.

Be aware that Infor's acquisition of Birst and its inclusion in the Infor LN Industry CloudSuites has improved LN's reporting and analytics capabilities.

Infor LN is available as an on-premises solution, but Infor is moving LN to a multitenant cloud solution with an annual subscription fee licensing model. The cloud

Ultra's Insight: IEM-Focused Right from the Start

platform will make it easier and faster to deploy, minimize customer involvement Infor LN is best suited for mid-market or in upgrades, and significantly reduce large companies, or companies that are hardware needs. growing. And, as a top-tier product, it is not Infor has an international presence, and one that companies will need to move on support is 24x7 globally with Infor offices from in five years. throughout the world. Infor started as a product for IEM and projectInfor LN implementations typically based manufacturing companies. Shop floor require an integration or implementation and project management are areas where partner, or Infor Consulting Services. Infor Infor shines. And built-in time and material maintains partner training standards and capture features support project billing certifications to ensure the quality of client and cost accounting. In the future, Infor is implementations. looking at enhancing collection of machine

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order Customers by Industry Infor's Pitch

Infor's product suite is designed to meet the unique challenges of the industrial manufacturing micro-verticals where we maintain deep domain experience. Our CloudSuite solutions deliver industryspecific cloud applications to support your mission critical business operations.

Combining all the advantages of multitenant cloud, with pre-build industry 75% Other Industries specific functionality, means, we are 25% Industrial uniquely positioned to deliver faster Equipment Manufacturing time to value, continual innovation (with no upgrades), complete continuity for mission critical operations and a lower Targeted Verticals total cost of ownership.

• Heavy Machinery
• Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Deployment Options
• Industrial Machinery
• Industrial Power
• Material Handling ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

IEM Customers Profile

• Bray International Infor (infor.com) is headquartered in New
• JBT Corporation York, N.Y., USA, brought in $3.2 billion
• Progress Rail Services Corp. in revenue in 2019 and, with 67,000
• Velan Inc. customer organizations worldwide, is a leader in industry-specific cloud

Strategy software products. The company has 140 offices across 44 countries and 17,000 Infor offers end-to-end, cloud-enabled employees. In 2020, Infor was acquired by solutions for manufacturers of highly Koch Industries. configurable products. And its ERP, WMS, EAM, CPQ and supply-chain products are designed to meet the unique challenges of these companies. Infor LN and other products are deployed on Amazon's AWS infrastructure, and are able to scale with customers and enable digital transformation. Deployments can leverage a catalog of Implementation Accelerators. basic project accounting functionality that provides effective management of reproducible projects and allows for analysis of standard costs.

Since IQMS' 2018 acquisition by Dassault Systèmes, DELMIAworks is a vendor to watch for companies making low-volume, highly engineered products.

Ultra's Insight: High Performance for High-Volume IEMs

DELMIAworks has existing localization in North America, China, U.K. and India, and DELMIAworks performs well for is working to build more of a presence in manufacturers of high-volume industrial Europe. equipment such as machinery components, sensors and standardized material handling Most DELMIAworks customers manage systems. Customers often leverage the their system on-premises. But about a software's renowned MES and leading batchthird of new customers, especially smaller oriented manufacturing functionality that organizations, are deploying its single-tenant offers finite scheduling and real-time data hosted managed service, which allows system monitoring. upgrades at the customer's discretion. DELMIAworks supports highly repeatable When it comes to implementation and manufacturing processes by providing customer support, DELMIAworks offers excellent workflow and quality assurance consistency with its experienced technical features, along with an effective rulessupport and implementation staff. Postbased configurator to support CTO implementation, the help desk staff has a production requirements. For lower-volume healthy number of employees who receive manufacturing, DELMIAworks offers high customer service ratings.

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order Customers by Industry DELMIAworks' Pitch

Data not provided by DELMIAworks DELMIAworks is a leading manufacturing software and ERP software system for repetitive, process and discrete Targeted Verticals manufacturing industries. As part of the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE

• Aerospace & Defense platform, DELMIAworks provides real-
• Automotive time ERP, manufacturing, and production
• Food & Beverage monitoring, quality control, supply chain,
• Industrial Equipment Manufacturing CRM and eBusiness solutions to the
• Medical device manufacturing automotive, medical, packaging and other
• Packaging manufacturing markets. An integral part
• Plastics of the 3DExperience Works portfolio,
• Stamping & Metals DELMIAworks provides manufacturers with an affordable system that improves

IEM Customers the collaboration, manufacturing efficiency and business agility needed for serving

• Accessible Technologies customers successfully. DELMIAworks is a
• Blue-White Industries proven end-to-end ERP and MES software
• Load Trail solution that provides manufacturers
• Lamar Trailers complete functionality in a scalable system that supports their growth.

Strategy

DELMIAworks is an end-to-end solution Deployment Options for industrial equipment manufacturers built on an integrated ERP and MES applications suite. The solution delivers ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT compliance, production and quality data flows using real-time production and Profile manufacturing process monitoring. And it offers 28 pre-built manufacturing types to DELMIAworks (IQMS.com) provides realgive IEMs the ability to transition from one time ERP software designed for repetitive, manufacturing strategy to another. 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 Waltham, Mass., USA, DELMIAworks has locations around the world. time, procurement, subcontracting, manufacturing, inventory, resource assignments and project milestones.

Key capabilities include design/CAD integration, advanced data analytics, and enhanced quality assurance, management and control.

MS Dynamics also is considered strong in CRM, giving Salesforce a competitor for the management of sales and marketing activities. This functionality is essential because IEM

Ultra's Insight: Robust Tools for Everyone

opportunities can take one or two years to sell, manufacture and install complex engineer-toMicrosoft Dynamics 365 is a cloudorder capital equipment. based, single-tenant solution that provides in-depth support for global The solution has robust tools to support finance, operations, customer relationship post-sale case management and field management (CRM), field service and other service activities such as automatic corporate-level activities. The software is recording of cases and source, case and primarily implemented through a network warranty management status updates, of service providers, including Arbela. automatic routing of service activities based on previous actions, management Support for IEM companies begins with of workflow rules, customer entitlements, project integration: The project is the knowledgebase management and servicecenter point for tracking engineering level agreements (SLAs).

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

63% Industrial Equipment Manufacturing 37% Other Industries

Targeted Verticals

• Aerospace
• Building Materials and Supply
• Consumer Goods
• Food & Beverage
• High Tech
• Industrial Products
• Medical Devices
• Pharmaceuticals

IEM Customers

• Axon
• Cooper State
• Anaergia
• JMP
• FBM (Foundation Building Materials)
• McWane
• Magpul
• Nexgrill

Strategy

Arbela specializes in global implementations of Microsoft Dynamics 365. Its close relationship with Microsoft ensures up-to-date knowledge and an in-depth understanding of Microsoft products and solutions. And an array of custom tools and applications offer the ability to extend and improve analytics, workflow optimization, security and compliance capabilities.

Arbela's Microsoft Pitch

Arbela Technologies combines industry expertise, best practices, and a proven, outcome-driven approach to ignite business growth for industrial manufacturers worldwide. Through strategic alignment of people, processes, data and technology, we enable our clients to accelerate their business by building a more resilient supply chain, optimizing operations and improving the customer experience.

As a global consulting firm and top 1% Microsoft partner, our team of experienced consultants provides strategic guidance, implementation services, support and managed services. We deliver industry solutions that help our clients innovate by leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365, ERP, CRM, business intelligence and advanced analytics, Microsoft Power Platform, and related cloud services.

Deployment Options

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT

Profile

Arbela Technologies (arbelatech.com) is a global consulting firm, a top-rated Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, and an experienced Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementor. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., USA, the firm has U.S. offices in Atlanta and Dallas, as well as offices in the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Denmark. ability to tailor existing products based on individual customer requirements also

is supported, with the ability to integrate

CAD tools to support the creation and engineering change process of items, BOMs and routings.

The system supports the full forward and backward traceability of quality and related warranties for critical equipment components and subassemblies through

Ultra's Insight: Flexibility and Broad Capabilities

the service of the product in the field.

Oracle Cloud is one of the few ERPs to Oracle Cloud provides a single-tenant, support diverse manufacturing strategies hosted solution with a full range of such as engineer-to-order, configure-toservices to support the industrial machine order, assemble-to-order make-to-order manufacturing industry – everything from products – all within the same framework. management of an engineer-to-order project to service of the final product. Recently, Oracle Cloud has improved the integrations of in-depth project Oracle Cloud also provides product lifecycle management functionality with the overall management (PLM) functionality – from ERP system. This integration can help drive detailed engineering change management project managers and project accountants to performing rapid configurations at the to work together within the same ERP time of order capture (creation of variants system without using any disconnected based on existing designs) and capturing project management software. costs at any point in the process. The

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order Customers by Industry With the industry's largest cloud footprint, Oracle enables you to have a digital Data not provided by Oracle/Terillium thread to tie together your operational and management information systems so you can maximize the benefit of the Targeted Verticals digitally connected enterprise. BuiltData not provided by Oracle/Terillium in and pre-configured analytics deliver immediate returns at implementation and help you make smarter decisions about IEM Customers your business. Data not provided by Oracle/Terillium Deployment Options Strategy

Oracle Cloud applications are

ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT exceptionally broad, and built to digitize MULTI-TENANT and manage virtually every aspect of industrial manufacturing – and leverage Profile SCM tools to integrate manufacturing and supply chains. At the manufacturedTerillium (terillium.com) is an ERP product level, Oracle Cloud covers the consulting company and Oracle Platinum process from end to end, from research, Partner specializing in the implementation design and development, to fabrication of Oracle ERP Cloud, Oracle NetSuite and and manufacturing, to customer service Oracle JD Edwards solutions. With more and field service. than 200 employees at locations across the United States and its Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, headquarters. Terillium's Oracle Pitch

Oracle's industry-leading cloud solutions provide a comprehensive platform to manage your business requirements and address the unique needs of industrial equipment manufacturers. Leveraging advanced digital and analytical technologies, Oracle Cloud drives operational excellence across all areas of supply chain management, engineering and PLM, configuration management and PDM, production and asset management, and service and repair. selling point and differentiator, and Plex continues to invest in its functionality by leveraging IoT and improving their predictive analytics.

For highly engineered, project-based manufacturing, Plex offers base-level project management functionality to track project costs. To manage detailed

Ultra's Insight: Management Tools Offer Valuable Edge

project tasks, including work breakdown structures and milestones, Plex can Plex ERP was developed for the integrate with a third-party solution. requirements of the automotive industry Plex connects information across all parts

• with a focus on efficiency, quality of the supply chain, including customer

assurance and collaboration. Over the and supplier portals, that allow easy years, Plex Systems has gained dozens access to real-time data. of IEM customers. Current IEM customers make large equipment and machinery Throughout the implementation, for the oil & gas, aerospace and material businesses can expect Plex's delivery molding industries. team to effectively deploy supply chain best practices that will allow for increased Plex invested heavily in their MES as it production efficiency and business relates to the shop floor user interface, growth. production quality control and realtime machine metrics. The MES is a key

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Customer Case Management Customer Portal Field Service Mobile App Field Service Management Demand Management Qualitative Forecasting CAD to ERP Integration ECO Management Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) Execution of Transfer Orders Product Costing - Financial Product Costing - Managerial System Security System Reliability Integrated Project Management & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Planning MRP for MTS Products MRP for MTO Products Integrated Project Mgmt./MRP Subcontract Order Planning Lean Functionality Capacity Planning - Infinite Capacity Management - Space Basic Scheduling Board Available to Promise (ATP) Shop Floor Control (SFC) Tracking & Priority Management Bar Code Scanning Real-Time Labor/Order Reporting Remote Data Capture Supplier Pricing Direct Material Purchasing Discrete POs Direct Material Purchasing Blanket POs Customer Supplied Inventory (CSI) Integrated Project Management/ MRP Integrated Project Accounting Project-Integrated Sales Orders Repair Order Management Serial Control Track-and-Trace Lot Track-and-Trace Quality Compliance Quality Specifications Measure of Non-Conformance

33% Metals (primary and fabricated) 23% General Discrete (machinery, construction, factory equipment) 22% Repetitive Flow (automotive parts, components) 9% Chemicals (bulk and specialty) 7% Food & Beverage 5% Other (aerospace, electronics, semiconductors, life science)

Targeted Verticals

• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Food & Beverage
• High Tech & Electronics
• Industrial Manufacturing
• Plastics & Rubber
• Precision Metalforming

IEM Customers

• Kamco Industries
• Jagemann Stamping Company
• HK Metalcraft
• G&W Products
• Fluid Routing Solutions
• FloraCraft
• Cast Aluminum Solutions
• Wisco Industries Strategy Focused solely on manufacturing (process and discrete), the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform includes MES, ERP, supply chain planning, quality management, Industrial IoT and analytics. The company goes to market with a direct- sales model (plus referral partners) and boasts of a 96% subscription renewal rate. Plex's Pitch The Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform is a single digital system that gives you control over every aspect of your manufacturing operations – with total traceability and integrated quality control. Plus, it enables the elimination of paper processes and makes it easy to keep product safety a priority. The Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform includes MES, ERP, supply chain planning, quality management, Industrial IoT and analytics to connect people, systems, machines and supply chains, enabling you to lead with precision, efficiency and agility, and gain unmatched visibility, quality and control. Deployment Options ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT Profile Based in Troy, Mich., USA, Plex Systems (plex.com) began in 1989 as an internal IT project at an automotive parts manufacturer. Known as the first provider of a complete cloud solution for manufacturing companies, the company reports that 675 manufacturers and 1200 facilities in 37 countries currently use Plex solutions. In March 2020, the privately held company reported 11 consecutive years of double-digit revenue growth. QAD also offers support for capital expenditure projects, for both purchased and manufactured assets, that is fully integrated within the system, including project management and accounting. Within the core system, it has embedded quality management and advanced demand planning. And, for companies with complex requirements, QAD offers

Ultra's Insight: Powerful Capabilities and Scalability

advanced, add-on products to manage supply chain and demand planning. QAD's roots are in manufacturing. In fact, it's a manufacturing product that expanded into QAD started offering ERP in the cloud financials, instead of the other way around. in 2007, and today nearly all net new customers use the QAD Cloud or a partner One of its big advantages is that is cloud. highly scalable, allowing companies to grow their QAD solution as they grow. In the United States, QAD solutions Another advantage is that it can handle are largely implemented by QAD's discrete (design-to-order) and repetitive implementation services team. QAD also manufacturing with the same depth of has a global implementation partner functionality. It utilizes a rules-based network and a training and certification configurator to support configure-toprogram. order, as well as the ability to configure on features and options.

Reports and Queries Pre-defined Dashboards and Scorecards Configure/Price/Quote (CPQ) Front End Product Configurator Back-End Product Configurator CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

29 % Industrial 25% Automotive 12% Life Sciences 11% Electronics 10% Consumer Products 9% Food & Beverage 3% Other

Targeted Verticals

• IM&E - Commercial
• IM&E - Packaging
• IM&E - Oil & Gas Field Machinery
• IM&E - Mining
• IM&E - Construction
• IM&E - Farm/Agricultural
• IM&E - Food production
• IM&E - Metal Fabrication &

Metalworking

IEM Customers

• Caterpillar
• Welbilt
• ANCA
• Mueller Industries
• CoorsTek
• Anritsu Strategy QAD focuses on the automotive, life sciences, consumer products, food and beverage, high technology and industrial products industries. The company's Next Generation ERP product portfolio is headlined by QAD Adaptive ERP and enhanced with tools for demand, supply chain, transportation and quality management. QAD's Pitch QAD is a leading provider of adaptive, cloud-based enterprise software and services for global manufacturing companies. Global manufacturers face disruption caused by technology-driven innovation and changing consumer preferences. QAD solutions help customers in the automotive, life sciences, consumer products, food and beverage, high tech and industrial manufacturing industries adapt to change and innovate for competitive advantage. More than 2,000 manufacturing companies have deployed QAD solutions, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), digital supply chain planning (DSCP), global trade and transportation execution (GTTE), quality management system (EQMS) and strategic sourcing / supplier management. Deployment Options ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT Profile A manufacturing-focused enterprise software company, QAD Inc. (QAD.com) is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif., USA, has 30 offices in 19 countries, 1,900 employees, and more than 300,000 users at 4,000 customer sites. different manufacturing strategies, some of which may be controlled through a project, and some non-project-based, all using one integrated process. Rootstock is built within the Salesforce cloud platform. This enables Rootstock to instantly leverage the world-class CRM, ecommerce, case management and field service functionality offered by the Salesforce

Ultra's Insight: A Different Approach to IEM ERP

platform. It also can take advantage of Salesforce's foundational technology and Rootstock supports multiple modes functionality, including system security, of manufacturing that may exist browser-based environment, analytics, IoT, simultaneously within a single ERP AI and database management. environment. Specifically, Rootstock supports companies that may deploy a Other toolsets integrated with Salesforce wide variety of production processes such also work with Rootstock, including as make-to-stock, make-to-order, configureapplications for project management, to-order, engineer-to-order, project-based, forecasting, transportation and shipping or non-project-based and share resources management, quality management, to meet specific customer requirements. compliance, tax and accounting. Rootstock can perform a configure-priceRootstock plans to continue to take quote (CPQ) unique to a customer but advantage of the functionality that already execute the order as a make-to-stock exists within Salesforce, such as Slack and assembly. Various levels throughout the chatbots. bill-of-material can be executed using

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Customer Case Management Customer Portal Field Service Mobile App Field Service Management Demand Management Qualitative Forecasting CAD to ERP Integration ECO Management Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) This model of building a broad ERP integrated infrastructure through several developers is unique, and could provide a Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) good solution for many small-to-mid-size IEM companies committed to the Salesforce Execution of Transfer Orders platform. Product Costing - Financial Product Costing - Managerial System Security System Reliability Integrated Project Management & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Planning MRP for MTS Products MRP for MTO Products Integrated Project Mgmt./MRP Subcontract Order Planning Lean Functionality Capacity Planning - Infinite Capacity Management - Space Basic Scheduling Board Available to Promise (ATP) Shop Floor Control (SFC) Tracking & Priority Management Bar Code Scanning Real-Time Labor/Order Reporting Remote Data Capture Supplier Pricing Direct Material Purchasing - Discrete POs Direct Material Purchasing - Blanket POs Customer Supplied Inventory (CSI) Integrated Project Management/ MRP Integrated Project Accounting Project-Integrated Sales Orders Repair Order Management Serial Control Track-and-Trace Lot Track-and-Trace Quality Compliance Quality Specifications Measure of Non-Conformance

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order Customers by Industry Strategy

Rootstock targets companies that are evaluating next-generation, cloud ERP replacement initiatives, with an additional focus on organizations that are existing Salesforce clients (or evaluating ERP with CRM). IEM clients chose Rootstock primarily because of its robust features, because it is deployed on the modern Salesforce cloud platform, and because it enables a 360° view of their customers – from sales to service and everything in-between. 25% General Discrete Manufacturing 20% Medical Device 15% Industrial Manufacturing Rootstock's Pitch 10% Project Manufacturing, ETO, Aerospace in Defense Rootstock is a modern, flexible, 10% High Tech connected ERP. Rootstock enables 10% Cannabis digital transformation for manufacturing, 10% Distribution distribution and supply chain businesses. 5% Batch/Process Manufacturing Our differentiation is that Rootstock is built on 40-plus years of legacy ERP industry expertise, which results in robust Targeted Verticals functionality perfectly mapped to the business processes of our clients. But,

• Batch Process Manufacturing unlike so many of the "old guard" legacy
• Cannabis ERP systems, Rootstock is built from the
• Distribution ground up in a modern, multi-tenant, true
• General Discrete Manufacturing cloud platform. Rootstock is built inside
• High Tech salesforce.com, which finally delivers on
• Industrial Manufacturing the promise of surrounding your clients with the power of ERP connected to
• Medical Device your customer system of engagement,
• Project Manufacturing, ETO, Aerospace salesforce.

in Defense

Deployment Options IEM Customers

• Gerotech
• Boston Dynamics ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT
• DICA
• Mark Andy Print Products Profile
• Protech
• Summit Body Works Launched in 2008, Rootstock Software
• Whiting Systems (rootstock.com) is a global provider of cloud ERP solutions for manufacturing, distribution and supply chain built on the Salesforce Cloud Platform. The privately held company is headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., USA, and has six offices worldwide. is dated and less appealing to work with. However, the manufacturing functionality features a refreshed user interface and very rich functionality. There are many third-party solutions that integrate with their system. SAP is advancing S/4HANA by incorporating

Ultra's Insight: Big Solution, Serious Technology

artificial intelligence to support predictive supply network planning and simulation. SAP S/4HANA is a major global player in It also is leveraging IoT to support remote the ERP arena. It is best suited for larger monitoring of shop floor machinery and companies or fast-growing middle-market to minimize production outages. For companies. One of the advantages of SAP companies needing automation and is its strong technical architecture. The predictability of your shop floor production, database structure is truly integrated across S/4HANA is a product to consider. all the applications, providing solid data integrity for business analytics. A cloud It is likely that you will need an integration application, it offers both a multi- and or implementation partner. SAP has single-tenant option. thousands of partners in the United States and around the world, and maintains S/4HANA started as a full-featured ERP training standards and certifications to system. While this provides strong financial ensure implementation quality. application functionality, the user interface

CRM - Funnel Management

CRM - Opportunity Management

Customer Proposals

Remote Inventory Data Capture Inventory Accuracy Management Inventory Value Reporting Management of CMI Inventory Cross-Docking Issue Material to an Order

Customers by Industry SAP's Pitch

SAP's Industrial manufacturing software Data not provided by SAP supports digitalization and new business models. Targeted Verticals SAP software can help industrial manufacturers become market leaders

• Automation and Control Solutions by providing customized, smart
• Energy and Power equipment products and solutions, memorable
• Heavy Equipment and Material customer experiences, and aftermarket

Handling and outcome-based services.

• Industrial and Commercial Machinery &

Equipment SAP believes that best-run business

• Transportation Equipment are Intelligent Enterprises. These businesses apply advanced technologies and best practices within agile,

IEM Customers integrated business processes. The Intelligent Enterprise solution portfolio Data not provided by SAP is made up of the Business Network, Experience Management, Intelligent ERP Suite, Industry Cloud, Sustainability Strategy Management, and the Business Technology Platform. Long known for its ERP software, SAP has evolved to become a leader in end-to-end enterprise application software, database, Deployment Options analytics, intelligent technologies and experience management. It is a top cloud software company with 200 million users worldwide. SAP targets businesses of all ON-PREMISES SINGLE-TENANT MULTI-TENANT sizes and in all industries. And its open partner strategy gives customers the choice of whom they work with to design Profile the business models of the future. SAP (sap.com) is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, and has regional offices in 180 countries. Founded in 1972, the $29.2 billion company has 440,000 customers, 101,450 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.

HOW TO SELECT THE WRONG ERP SOLUTION

Assuming that all ERP solutions are

The enterprise software selection process the same. is a long and complicated process – 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, and it will built on the same platform. Each includes impact virtually every function. It's a various features and benefits, including significant investment, too. And with as subtle differences in appearance. It's the much as 50% ERP implementations failing same with ERP software. At first glance, to achieve their goals, it's critical to find it may seem like two solutions are exactly a solution suited to your business and its alike. But once you look under the hood, unique needs. you may learn that one is more powerful. As you test drive it with a demo, you may But many organizations get off-track right find that one is more comfortable. The at the start when they go into the selection differences often may seem small, but process believing in some common myths looking critically at them is the key to about the process – misconceptions that can finding software that fits your business. result in the wrong choice for your business.

Here are the top five misconceptions that

Believing that a highly detailed RFP is

derail the enterprise software selection required. process:

Many companies think they need to spend

Thinking that technology is the most

hours creating lengthy RFPs, which often important consideration. amount to hundreds of pages. But since most vendor offerings address core pain Many companies replace their enterprise points, such as automating reports, these software because it's outdated or no documents don't need to be nearly as longer supported by the vendor. While long. Instead, you should look at the these are valid reasons to make the move business problems you want to solve with to a new system, they shouldn't be the the new software, not core functionalities only ones. The software selection process that typically are the same across multiple is the perfect time to evaluate business vendors. It is more beneficial to create a goals and map them to your new solution. shorter RFP that includes specific problem For example, you may want to reduce areas you need to address. operating costs or improve order accuracy. 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 is an

medium and large enterprises in a IT project. variety of deployment models. Their powerful products may not be right for While the IT department provides critical your organization, however. Extensive input, companies need to get various customization may be necessary to meet viewpoints from across the organization the requirements of your segment and when they gather requirements in the company. Or you may have to purchase software selection process. All too often, specialized industry add-ons to get it important stakeholders are left out of the to function the way you want. Instead, conversation. Before looking at different consider all the options available. systems, assemble a team with employees from every department that uses, or will There are many ERP vendors that offer use, your ERP. Whether it's accounting, industrial equipment manufacturing-specific sales, marketing, shop floor, warehouse, toolsets and broad industry expertise. But logistics, operations or any other there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The department, it's important to know the functionalities and capabilities required challenges they have and what they need are unique to each subvertical. And finding to do their jobs better. the best fit starts with evaluating software solutions and functions based on your

Assuming that big-name solutions are

organization's unique needs. always the best solutions. When considering an ERP project, consult Ultra experts for valuable insight into which Many organizations start ERP selection ERP software solution will help you reduce with a list of the biggest and bestcosts, improve efficiency and achieve your known companies in the ERP software business goals. marketplace. The big-name vendors offer excellent choices for small,

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 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