Top 10 Manufacturing ERP Software Predictions For 2013

What can manufacturers expect in the new year?

An article on the Panorama Consulting Solutions website outlines the firm’s top 10 global ERP industry predictions for 2013.

1. Consolidation of top ERP vendors: With a shaky global economy and volatile business capital spending, ERP software revenue growth may not continue at such a feverish pace. Panorama Consulting Solutions expects high-growth SaaS and cloud ERP vendors to erode the market share of Tier 1 ERP vendors like SAP and Oracle.
2. Niche and best-of-breed ERP systems will dominate: More companies are moving away from big, single-system ERP deployments for their manufacturing ERP software. Look for niche and best-of-breed solutions to dominate the market, with even larger ERP vendors providing niche solutions to compete with smaller cloud providers.
3. Solution architecture and integration will be important: The increase in the above ERP systems will require better system integration and the elimination of data silos. Solution architecture and integration will support ERP implementations.
4. More adoption of mobile and BI solutions: With the increase in ERP software there should be a greater investment in mobile solutions and business intelligence software. Companies will realize this brings the greatest return on their existing ERP systems.
5. Hype will subside around SaaS and cloud: Some say that SaaS and the cloud killed traditional ERP. Yet still, large multi-national companies aren’t comfortable with the flexibility and security of SaaS ERP solutions. ERP vendors instead will naturally integrate SaaS and cloud options.
6. Leaders will be risk averse: Considering the uncertain economic environment, IT budgets will be tighter and ERP project teams will focus on high-value projects.
7. Chasm between ERP implementation successes and failures: There will be a growing dichotomy between smart ERP system implementations and losing scenarios. The biggest failures will be for those companies that try a do-it-yourself approach and start ERP implementation projects without independent help, the Panorama Consulting Solutions article explains.
8. Bigger ERP failures and lawsuits: With ERP’s growing popularity, there will be more ill-advised implementation strategies (see the above do-it-yourself crowd).
9. More companies will say no to ERP systems: Economic uncertainty and the fear of risk means that more companies won’t start large-scale ERP projects. Instead, they’ll focus on other improvement measures.
10. Focus on competitive edge, not on ERP best practices: Cost-cutting has been common in this economy and many organizations have ignored best practices because of it. Businesses will try to gain a competitive advantage by reengineering their business processes and changing their organization management.

Source: Panorama Consulting Solutions, November 2012

Top 10 ERP Software

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ERP software helps integrate management, staff, and equipment, combining all aspects of the business into one system in order to facilitate every element of the manufacturing process. ERP groups traditional company and management functions (such as accounting, human resources [HR], manufacturing management, and customer relationship management [CRM]) into a coherent whole. Manufacturing management also includes inventory, purchasing, and quality and sales management.

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Turkish Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software

Epicor Enterprise by Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor Enterprise is a comprehensive end-to-end suite of proven industry-specific solutions for the global midmarket enterprise. From CRM and enterprise service automation to financial and supply chain management, Epicor provides adaptable and agile solutions for real-time enterprises. Epicor solutions are complemented by a full range of services, providing a single point of accountability promoting rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership.

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Industry-leading technology makes it possible for midmarket enterprises and their trading partners to derive the benefits of real-time collaboration from Epicor Enterprise — the next generation of ERP. It is the foundation on which businesses execute their objectives, one that operates seamlessly and effectively in the background. It is architected to utilize Microsoft's leading platforms and technologies like the Microsoft® .NET
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 Oracle is the world's second largest business applications maker - and is clearly out to take the lead role from SAP. Bolstered by its acquisitions of PeopleSoft (with JD Edwards) and Siebel Systems, Oracle has collected an impressive customer list and portfolio of intellectual property. Now the real work to keep those customers and integrate those products (project Fusion) is underway with results expected very soon. Expect several more acquisition and integration project announcements from Oracle over the coming months.