Digital transformation and AI have been at the core of Epicor’s busy third quarter. From new product releases and appointments to acquisitions, the ERP provider is now getting set for the next phase of its growth.
Steve Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Epicor is confident in the company’s vision of “Cognitive ERP”, a symbiosis between AI and ERP that aims to redefine processes and operations in the supply chain for its manufacturing-heavy customer base. Moreover, in our recent cover story, he emphasized Epicor’s AI strengths as serving users in manufacturing, distribution, retail and automotive industries who are searching for actions, not just answers. This can often mean a worker on the shop or factory floor using an AI agent for inventory, this agent being able to flag an item that a customer is willing to pay a premium on to receive sooner compared to other clients’ timescales.
Without AI, Murphy argues, this agility may not be as feasible. “The biggest difference now is the information is available from the point of demand, where someone wants it and they’re willing to pay for it as it’s important to them,” as he told ERP Today.
Vaibhav Vohra, whose role as Chief Product & Technology Officer was expanded in October to include responsibilities as the President of Epicor, illustrated Murphy’s point of AI empowering the human worker: “[AI is] empowering workers so they can make more valuable decisions” in their day to day – the frontline staff in the manufacturing and distribution industries which Epicor tailors to.
Vohra also underlined the Epicor ethos that decent AI is only made possible by the power of having an ERP system. During an ERP Today webinar, Arturo Buzzalino, Chief Innovation Officer and Group Vice President, highlighted the importance of implementing or modernizing ERP systems to get additional value from AI. “ERP is at the core of many of these businesses and needs to be implemented correctly. Additional value can come only once the right data is in place,” he said.
The firm recently promoted Buzzalino to his current position, where he drives the company’s AI-focused product developments. This quarter it also appointed Scott Morgan as Chief Revenue Officer to lead Americas sales, global services, and recurring revenue teams. Prior to joining Epicor, Morgan held senior sales and management roles with Zebra Technologies, LevaData and vendor competitor Infor.
New products and acquisitions
Although ERP giants like SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle are considered top competitors for ERP vendors, these players mainly cater to large organizations. However, ERP vendors targeting mid-sized to small businesses mainly in manufacturing, such as QAD, SYSPRO, Infor, and Sage, are considered key competitors for Epicor, which has operated in this space for over 50 years and experienced first-hand the system’s evolution from an on-premises product to a cloud-based solution.
Still, the fact that all these companies are also focusing on arming their ERP systems with the latest AI solutions has provided some stiff competition for Epicor, which explains all its recent innovations.
Rich Murr, Chief Customer Officer and Chief Information Officer, emphasized the next phase during an ERP Today webinar, saying, “We want to deliver something that is very practical for AI users [in the sectors we serve]. We cover the entire supply chain in detail and then leverage AI on top of that to gain insights not just around a specific vertical but across the supply chain.”
In May, Epicor strengthened its AI focus by launching the Epicor Grow portfolio, an integrated suite with AI and Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities designed specifically for its customer base. This was followed by Epicor Prism, a patent-pending generative AI service that is embedded across the Epicor Industry ERP Cloud.
Additionally, the company made two acquisitions in October to expand its portfolio of solutions for the industries it serves. Epicor acquired Solenium Group and its sister company Visual SKUs at the beginning of October to offer Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions for the automotive aftermarket, a large segment for the vendor in which Epicor first made its name. Its acquisition of Acadia Software, later in the same month, is hoped to enhance Epicor’s offerings for frontline worker solutions.
As 2024 draws to a close, the vendor has integrated Epicor Catalog for Automotive in Epicor Vision, allowing more users to access Epicor Catalog for Automotive within their existing workflows. The company showcased all its new solutions at AAPEX 2024 in Las Vegas from November 5-7, 2024.
