Industrial Manufacturing

What Does It Take to Win the Next Energy ERP Cycle? SAP, Oracle, IFS, Infor Offer Different Answers

Excerpt: SAP, Oracle, IFS, and Infor are offering different answers to the next energy ERP cycle as oil, gas, utilities, renewables, and energy services companies modernize around assets, field execution, AI, and changing operating models.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Epicor Takes Its ERP AI Bet to Europe’s Factory Floor

Epicor has launched Epicor Prism in the UK and parts of Europe, introducing embedded AI agents within its ERP system to facilitate easier data interpretation and decision-making for manufacturers, while also addressing ERP customization challenges.

Applied Materials finance transformation using SAP Taulia Dynamic Discounting for supplier payments

Business Process Management and Automation

Applied Materials Is Finding Finance Transformation in Faster Supplier Payments

Applied Materials is using SAP Taulia Dynamic Discounting as part of its Agile Finance program to accelerate supplier payments, improve supplier liquidity, and build a scalable, AI-first finance operating model. The initiative shows how enterprise working capital programs can evolve from transactional efficiency tools into strategic platforms that deliver both supplier value and measurable financial returns for large manufacturers.

ERP Strategy and Planning

WEINIG Group Unifies Global ERP on Dynamics 365

WEINIG Group, a leading manufacturer in the wood processing industry, partnered with Hitachi Solutions to consolidate a highly decentralised ERP landscape into one global Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution hosted on Azure. By moving from more than 80 separate ERP systems to a unified platform, WEINIG gained shared financial services, better inventory visibility, and common processes and data to support informed decision-making across its international operations

Financial Management

Linde Engineering Sharpens Project Financials with Dynamics 365

Linde Engineering partnered with Hitachi Solutions to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Project Operations, modernising how it manages project costs, billing, and revenue. By moving to a cloud-based, project-focused ERP, the engineering business gains clearer visibility into profitability across complex plant projects and a more controlled, consistent approach to financial management.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Marabu Builds a Global ERP and CRM Platform on Dynamics 365

Marabu, a leading manufacturer of printing and hobby inks, partnered with Hitachi Solutions to replace fragmented legacy systems with a unified Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform for ERP and CRM. Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Finance, and Supply Chain are being rolled out across multiple countries, harmonising processes, improving data quality, and creating a scalable foundation for Marabu’s international growth.

Analytics and AI

Honeywell Pushes Industrial AI into Control Rooms and OT Cybersecurity

Honeywell launched Experion Cognition, an AI-driven control system to enhance autonomous operations in industrial control rooms, while simultaneously expanding its OT Cybersecurity Suite to bolster defenses against advanced cyber threats, illustrating a strategic focus on integrating AI with operational resilience and security.

Financial Management

Plastic Energy’s Dynamics 365 Finance Transformation

Plastic Energy, a leader in advanced plastic recycling, partnered with Hitachi Solutions to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance as a cloud-based platform to support rapid global growth. Using Hitachi’s Essentials for Finance accelerator, the team delivered a multinational rollout across ten countries in nine months, enabling standardised processes, faster reporting, and better financial insight for its circular-economy operations.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Enabling The Royal Mint’s Sustainable Precious Metals Programme with Dynamics 365

The Royal Mint partnered with Hitachi Solutions to design and implement a new cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management platform to power its world-first Sustainable Precious Metals programme. The ERP solution tracks e-waste from intake through processing to finished products, supporting circular economy goals while improving agility, data management, and security.

Analytics and AI

AI and Automation in Invoice Processing

Hitachi Construction Machinery America used Microsoft Power Platform AI Builder and Power Automate to automate supplier invoice processing into Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, significantly reducing manual AP effort. By streamlining how invoices are received, read, validated, and posted, the organisation now automatically processes around two-thirds of invoices with near-perfect accuracy.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Rotork Transforms Global ERP and Customer Operations with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Hitachi Solutions has been recognised as the 2025 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance Partner of the Year, highlighting its leadership in delivering innovative ERP and finance transformations on the Microsoft cloud. This recognition showcases the company’s proven expertise in helping customers modernise financial operations, optimise business performance, and realise greater value from Dynamics 365 Finance.

Supply Chain Management

IFS Is Building the Operations Layer Around Industrial AI

IFS’s Softeon acquisition is only one part of a broader push to connect warehouse execution, logistics optimization, MRO, asset management, and ERP around Industrial AI.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Sage X3 Hopes to Help Manufacturers See Trouble Before It Hits

Sage announced enhancements to Sage X3, aimed at helping manufacturers and distributors improve operational visibility, reduce manual tasks, and expedite decision-making through embedded AI and operational intelligence.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Why Manufacturing AI Succeeds or Fails at the ERP Layer

Manufacturers' ambitions for AI are hampered by the lack of a coherent operational context within their ERP systems, as successful AI implementation requires reliable data governance and structured decision-making that connects insights to actionable outcomes.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Airbus Shows Why Aerospace ERP Innovation Starts with Data Integration

Aerospace ERP innovation hinges not only on advanced aircraft concepts but significantly on the integration and efficiency of enterprise systems like SAP, as demonstrated by Airbus, highlighting the crucial role of real-time data across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Acumatica’s Ratings Sweep: What Midmarket ERP Buyers Are Actually Rewarding

Acumatica has been recognized in seven industry reports for its exceptional usability, customer satisfaction, and product fit for small- and medium-sized businesses, notably achieving top rankings in Nucleus Research, G2, and TrustRadius, emphasizing the growing demand for ERP systems that combine modernity with user-friendliness.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Aluminium Industries Scales 250% with Syspro ERP

Aluminium Industries successfully utilized Syspro ERP to achieve 250% business growth without increasing administrative staff, effectively managing rising order volumes and production complexities across multiple divisions.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Syspro’s Nucleus Leader Ranking Puts Manufacturing ERP Back in Focus

Syspro’s move into the Leader quadrant of the 2026 Nucleus Research SMB ERP Technology Value Matrix signals a broader shift in midmarket ERP buying, where manufacturing depth, usability, embedded automation, and deployment flexibility are becoming central to value.

Analytics and AI

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Brings Agentic ERP Workflows into Copilot Cowork

Microsoft introduces Copilot Cowork as an innovative interface for Dynamics 365 ERP, aiming to streamline workflow by integrating ERP data and processes into a collaborative environment, allowing employees to coordinate actions without the need for cumbersome manual processes.

Data and Data Management

‘AI Is a Business Challenge, Not an IT One; Data Is the IT Problem,’ Q&A with Armstrong World Industries

Armstrong World Industries is proactively developing a strong data foundation to effectively scale AI across the enterprise, driven by the complexity of their data environment due to mergers and acquisitions, emphasizing that AI is a business challenge requiring strategic integration rather than merely an IT fix.

ERP Strategy and Planning

South Korea’s Harim Group Standardizes 18 Affiliates on Samsung SDS One ERP

Harim Group, South Korea's largest agribusiness, improved operational visibility and efficiency by consolidating 18 affiliates onto a single cloud-based SAP S/4HANA ERP platform, reducing financial closing from over 12 days to 5 and paving the way for real-time data management and AI integration.

Analytics and AI

inecta Adds AI Agents to Food ERP for Workflow Automation

Inecta launched AI Agents on June 3, a configurable automation platform for food and beverage companies using inecta Food ERP, enabling rapid deployment of production-ready agents to automate workflows like invoice intake and order processing directly within the ERP system, thus enhancing operational efficiency and compliance.

Analytics and AI

Epicor Names Rachel Barger Chief Revenue Officer

Epicor has appointed Rachel Barger as Chief Revenue Officer to enhance global sales and recurring revenue strategies, focusing on customer relationships and partner ecosystem expansion, as the company continues its shift towards industry-specific ERP solutions.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Lwart Extends SAP ECC 6 as Factory Expansion Raises ERP Migration Risk

Lwart Environmental Solutions has opted to maintain its SAP ECC 6 system amid a significant factory expansion, prioritizing stability and operational continuity over immediate ERP modernization.

Analytics and AI

Interview: Nominal CMO on Why Finance AI Agents Need to Execute, Not Just Explain

At Sage Future, Nominal CMO Stephanie Montelius discussed why finance teams are moving beyond chatbots toward agentic AI that can execute ERP-adjacent accounting work with human oversight. The interview explores trust, deterministic agents, multi-entity complexity, intercompany transactions, manufacturing use cases, and the role of ERP-agnostic AI platforms in finance operations.

Analytics and AI

IBM Positioned as Leader in Oracle Supply Chain Services as Enterprises Prioritize Resilience and AI

IBM is recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Oracle Ecosystem Services (2025–2026) for its comprehensive capabilities and strategic approach, emphasizing the necessity of integrated, end-to-end supply chain transformation amid increasing investment and complexity in the industry.

Supply Chain Management

‘Midmarket manufacturers should avoid treating automation and ERP as separate initiatives:’ Chris Brumett

Over the past decade, ERP systems have evolved from merely tracking transactions to becoming integral to the operational backbone of global supply chains, necessitating dynamic orchestration, real-time data integration and a focus on adaptability to support manufacturers.

Security

Sage-IDC Research Reveals SMB Cybersecurity Gaps in the AI Era

A Sage-IDC study reveals that while small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are significantly increasing their cybersecurity investments, a disconnect exists between spending intentions and actual implementation, exposing many to cyber threats due to a lack of governance and preparedness, particularly in the face of accelerating AI adoption.

Cloud Platform and Technology

Epicor Insights 2026 Makes Cloud Migration a Trust Test, and It Is Not Alone

At Epicor Insights 2026, the company faces its most consequential conference yet: with on-premises Kinetic development ending at the 2028.1 release, the pressure is on to demonstrate that cloud ERP migration is not just necessary for manufacturers and distributors — but genuinely worth it. This analysis examines how Epicor is addressing the trust gap through security governance, data architecture strategy, and change management, and what still needs to be proven on the conference floor.

Manufacturing Systems and Automation

SAP and Cyberwave Deploy Fully Autonomous Warehouse Robots

SAP and Cyberwave have successfully implemented fully autonomous AI-powered robots at SAP's logistics warehouse, emphasizing the integration of Physical AI into supply chain processes.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Automating SAP Batch Genealogy, Material Certificates Through EDI Integration

Manufacturing organizations face challenges in managing material certification documents and batch genealogy across multiple plants, leading to delays and errors; however, by automating these processes one global manufacturer significantly improved operational efficiency, reducing manual effort by 4,000 hours annually and enhancing compliance response times.