The 10 Best in class ERP Solution Providers, 2019

2019 | Vol 09 | Issue 01

Sankar Ragavan CEO Virtual Future Virtual Assistants (VA) Professional Assistance, Virtual Guidance

Editor's Pick Migrating the Data Warehouses into the Cloud

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

MariApps Marine Solutions Delivering Leading Edge Maritime Application

E Transform your Business with ERP

T

he present time demands change, and change is inevitable. Change has made several businesses fail to transform and reach their goals. In such times, implementation of ERP systems help to improve the management of any organization and allows each team member to understand his/her role within the company. Many of its advantages include streamlining business processes, supporting the team’s daily operations, and promoting the growth of businesses.

Along with better visibility, better insight is also a great advantage of ERP. Enacting an ERP suite across business means your organization has a single, unified reporting system for every process. Secondly, ERP system also functions to assist your warehouse operations such as lot number and serial tracking, stock management, multi-location stock transfers, and tailored picking instructions.

As the business interests grow, the company’s supply chain and partnerships become more and more complex. Supplier information such as delivery lead times are stored within the system, and here ERP assists in production planning, and inventory management.

One of the significant advantages of an ERP system is data security. After all, at the heart of the ERP theory is data. Although there are plenty of advantages, it’s not a cakewalk; ERP has its disadvantages too. The cost of ERP software! If you decide to invest in a traditional ERP, you could easily end up spending 5 figures for a single license. For many, this is by far the biggest disadvantage to ERP software.

“

“

Big Businesses are successful with the implementation of ERP.

Sourabh More

So, here the question arises, is the ERP platform right for your business? For majority of the companies, the advantages of ERP systems often cancel out the disadvantages. Experts assess that the ERP system will give your business the most potential to improve. Hence, implementing ERP systems is a worthwhile investment of time and resources.

Since ERP determines the change in business software, supports the team, offers the best service and a unique, personalized experience for each customer, many companies are leveraging it to create reformative solutions for businesses and are taking them to the next level. With an intent to acknowledge the contributions of some companies into the ERP industry, Insight Success has curated a list of “The 10 best-in-Class ERP Solution Providers, 2019”. These companies are the leading trusted providers in ERP business solutions, for growing businesses worldwide.

Featuring as our Cover Story is MariApps Maritime Solutions, which is a pioneer in providing digital solutions to the marine industry. The first-of-its-kind app allows users to track vessels, fetch real time finance, performance and operational data to facilitate decision making processes easier, reduce operational risk and maximize uptime. Steering towards a digital future has never been easier.

Also while flipping the pages of the magazine don’t forget to go through the CXOs and the articles written by industry experts and our in-house editorial team respectively.

CONTENTS

Cover Story

10

MariApps

Marine Solutions Delivering Leading Edge Maritime Application

30

Maestro’s Insights Leverage Existing SAP Solutions with Cloud Procurement

50

Mentor’s Standpoint Beyond Automation AI powered Autonomous Factories of the Future

ARTICLES

18

Changing the Status Quo

Virtual Future

Virtual Assistants (VA) Professional Assistance, Virtual Guidance

44

36

Editor’s Pick

Migrating the Data Warehouses into the Cloud

Distruptive Technology and Changing Trends Inuencing Business

Acumatica Empowering Customers since Inception

20 22 AIM Computer Solutions Delivering Integrated Business Software for Manufacturers

24 Baseplan Software Group A Leader in ERP Software for the Rental and Hire Industry

28 BC Systems A Leading Provider of ERP Solutions

32

Big Bang ERP Helping Businesses Streamline their Processes

38 20

ePROMIS Solutions Transforming Businesses through UniďŹ ed ERP Solutions

40

ERP Success Partners Inc. Transforming Businesses through World-class Cloud Solutions

46

ProcessPro Understanding Industry Needs since Inception

48

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Kaustav Roy

Jenny Fernandes Sourabh More

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Amol Kamble

Sanket Zirpe

Co-designer Savita Pandav

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Peter Collins

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Kevin, Mark, Irfan Business Development Executives

Technical Head Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Alan, Sourabh

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Prashant Chevale

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com September, 2019

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Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.

COVER STORY

Sankar Ragavan CEO

MariApps Marine Solutions Delivering Leading Edge Maritime Applications

‘‘

We at MariApps aim to be the best at what we do.

MariApps is focused on offering the best solutions, supported by latest technology platforms, to its customers at the most competitive pricing.

A

member of Schulte Group, MariApps Marine Solutions is a pioneer in providing digital solutions to the marine industry. MariApps’ flagship product smartPAL is a complete maritime digital solution, that is fully web based, cloud supported and mobile compliant targeting ship managers and ship owners. smartPAL covers all ship management and ship owning functions including Crewing, Payroll, Planned Maintenance, Procurement, Finance, HSEQ, Catering, Voyage, Dry Dock, Document management, Commercial, and Insurance in a single integrated solution and comes with standard interfacing to leading banks, travel systems and major vendors.

MariApps is not only a solutions provider, but also comes as digital partner, sharing expertise in digital solutions, cloud, mobile apps gained with clients over several years in the maritime industry. The team brings in a variety of skilled resources, including business analysts, project managers, marine engineers, nautical officers, and strong technical leaders that are part of a 450+ team in India, Singapore, Cyprus, UAE, France and Germany to develop, implement, and support its software. The company offers customized maritime digital solutions development, project management consultancy, PMS data building, crewing data migration, organizational change management, communication planning, solution testing, implementation, and a lot more for the maritime digital needs.

The Pioneer in the Maritime Industry MariApps is committed to developing the best solutions for the maritime industry. The first-of-its-kind app allows users to track vessels, fetch real time finance, performance and operational data to facilitate decision making processes easier, reduce operational risk and maximize uptime.

Steering towards a digital future has never been easier.

The leading-edge maritime software from MariApps smartPAL, is vast and versatile. The flagship maritime ERP is the right choice for all the ship management and ship owning needs. Aiding maritime personnel systems, stakeholders and managers with resources management, automated procurement, finance modules and offering timely purchase to PO cycle, efficient invoice processing with automated bots, complete voyage performance analysis, commercial details, in depth intelligence and analytical reports on all the transactions, processes and day to day business.

smartPAL is a fully digitized, web based, mobile compliant, cloud supporting marine ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) providing end-to-end solutions to ship managers and ship owners. With smartPAL one can access all the critical data in one place.

MariApps’ flagship product smartPAL is a complete marine ERP plug and play suite which is fully web-based, cloud supported and mobile compliant. The company offers customized maritime application development, consultancy, data building, application testing and project management that can operate in all browsers like IE, Chrome, Fire Fox, Safari and on all platforms including mobile, tablet and desktop.

The Visionary Leader With his towering personality and with his greatest vision and enthusiasm for a world leading maritime ERP, Sankar Ragavan, CEO of MariApps, introduced smartPAL to the not so IT adaptive maritime domain. The launch of smartPAL to the industry was an opportunity to learn and identify the scope, compatibility and acceptance in the market. Currently running with the 4th version, the ERP has aesthetically improved user interface, dynamic workflow and automated functionalities, smartPAL has set the momentum for innovation by being the disruptive digital solutions technology.

Sankar with his 20 plus years of experience in IT and technology industry, the right knowledge and domain expertise understood that smartPAL has long way to go, the opportunities are huge and yet to be seized. With the expertise gained from the Bernhard Schulte legacy, smartPAL was successfully implemented on 600 vessels managed by BSM, for Crewing and Technical management.

Since its inception in 2014, MariApps has been focused on providing end-to-end digital ship owning and ship management solutions to the maritime industry. With offices in India, Germany, and Cyprus, MariApps is a Microsoft Gold Certified Development Partner and has also been certified by Deloitte with ISAE 3402 ¬ Type 2 certification for enterprise standard development and operating framework readiness to deliver systems. Thanks to its collaboration with more than 15 leading companies across the planet, MariApps deploys continuous R&D processes to cater to fully integrated marine solutions that are built on innovative technologies and hosted on mobile as well as web platforms. “MariApps has created history in this segment by being the first of its kind to introduce mobile applications for the shipping world,” affirms Sankar Ragavan, CEO, MariApps Marine Solutions. “Leveraging the technical expertise of our talented pool of mobile developers, we have built marine applications that can run on various mobile platforms such as Android, Windows and iOS, thereby equipping customers with the power to take decisions anywhere and anytime,” he goes on to elaborate.

MariApps’ expansive portfolio of offerings includes Marine Application Development, Mobile Application

Web based vendor platform enabling quicker procurement processes

Make instant actions with reports and interactive dashboards. An application exclusively designed for ship-owners to access all the vessel information in just a glance

Travelling made easy

‘‘

Development, Project Management and IT consulting, Business Intelligence and MariApps Innovation Hub.

leverages the opportunity to develop applications for the non-IT familiar shipping industry, to bring its flagship product – MariApps smartPAL. As a complete marine ERP suite that is targeted at ship managers and ship owners, MariApps smartPAL is a web-based, Cloud supported, Mobile compliant ERP framework that covers all functionalities of ship management operations including Crewing, Accounts, Purchase, Planned Maintenance, Payroll, Voyage, Insurance, Dry-dock and New Building.

With customizable dashboards, mobile applications, fleet management and well-integrated ship owning and ship management modules; MariApps smartPAL facilitates mobile ship owners and managers with critical data in realtime, thereby improving the efficiency, decision-making processes and the operational performance of their management teams’ worldwide operations.

Bringing Fresh Approach to the Table According to MariApps, today’s growing businesses demand solutions that are designed with a fresh approach to existing IT systems, in order to bring tangible operational efficiencies to their users. With cost savings and efficiency gains being the primary criteria while selecting a solution, organizations need technology partners that can understand their exact requirements and deliver quality systems with much more promptness. Meeting this need, MariApps

Furthermore, MariApps also caters to Fleet Management with Live Fleet, a module exclusively designed to help ship-owners access all the vessel information in real-time.

This module facilitates ship owners with all the key parameters associated with vessel tracking, such as voyage and performance information, tracking of vessel position, and the speed of the vessel at any moment, on mobile and web portals. Live fleet also acts as a single point of data access for the owners, allowing them to make faster

We develop and encourage an environment of mutual respect within the company and extend it further to our clients. We encourage commitment and personal learning of our workforce.

We are proud to be an organization built on the strong pillars of integrity, honesty, and passion.

decisions and eliminating the maintenance requirement of various spreadsheets, thereby saving time and money for its users.

MariApps has developed their own technology Innovation Hub, for development of newer technologies like Big data (using Power BI), IoT, Block Chain, Augmented Reality (AR) etc.

The Modern Cloud Based Digital Solution According to the company, smartPAL ERP from MariApps is the most modern cloud based digital solution available currently. This system automates all shipping process, end to end with real time decision making. MariApps also provides data migration facility and the user can migrate data to the system for any legacy systems.

MariApps develops a very efficient application for cyber security named MaxV, which basically protects the vessel systems and data from Digital attacks. Be it any malicious software or application aimed at interrupting the business process or destroying information, innovative and cybersafe solutions from MariApps help its clients to monitor all the information and data transfer in the system.

The best part is, MariApps Marine Solutions is a young and passionate company, committed to development of the best solutions for the industry. Follows leading project management standards (PMI) to execute projects and the dedicated Project Management Office (PMO) manage projects for various customers.

Testimonials “After opting smartPAL our company has benefitted greatly.

Our operations have become streamlined and follow the company’s strategy. We have established a great partnership with MariApps, and their dedication is evident in all the aspect of the ERP. Appreciate their attention to detail approach and integrity in ensuring quality and user friendliness of the system along with study on the functionalities we need daily.”

- Shoaib Seedat, Tomini Shipping “MariApps smartPAL covers functional areas of ship management. They innovate on the product and brings in stability to our products across global offices.”

- David Furnival, BSM

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Assistants (VA) Professional Assistance, Virtual Guidance

18 | September 2019

www.insightssuccess.com

Virtual Future

N

owadays, we all are becoming more engage and busy in our day-to-day life due to professional commitments or personal life. In such a situation, we always find ways to make our life simple and easy. Every human on this planet feels lazy at certain situations where he/she wants to make his/her work or task easier.

Thus, there are various innovations which are carried out with these technologies. Those are intensively working upon such tools which can execute to minimize human efficiency and saves time.

According to the well-known French author Jules Renard, “Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.”

To reduce this, there are some virtual inventions that create an easy way to implement our work. One such major device which is widely used is known as Virtual Assistant generally abbreviated as VA or Virtual Office Assistant. It is a unique self-employed device which provides assistance to clients remotely. It is a highly skilled device that recreates overall verbal communication stronger. VA helps its users to access data and information through voice assistance with its unique approach to signify various fundamental activities.

Hence, VA exclusively synchronizes human voice instructions to manage various human actions such as music playback via voice, emails, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal commands. Its invention has created a reforming approach for doing our day to day task easier. The qualities

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that make virtual assistant a power tool is its exceptional programming and strong process execution.

Various Forms of Virtual Assistants In the global market, there are many technology giants that have introduced their own virtual assistant (VA) devices are as follows, Amazon Alexa majorly known as Alexa is a virtual assistant device developed by Amazon. It has two devices which reflect its VA properties such as Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot Smart Speakers.

Alexa helps you to check the weather, latest news, connect to music and listen to your favorite song on command as its special features. Siri by Apple is one of the unique virtual assistant devices introduced in 2011. Siri answers all the questions and updates you with sports news as well. Siri also uses to set alarm, timer, and scheduling daily task manually. With voice request, Siri can help you to send text or place call just by voice. Siri is exclusively available on Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple watches etc.

Cortana is a Microsoft device, known as its digital assistant who is designed to learn from your command and respond to the queries.

It is very similar to Apple and other VA device which can track tasks, manage your calendar or follow your commands etc. Cortana works on following Microsoft devices, including Windows phones and operating systems. Google Assistant a product by Google which is highly

known for its accessibility. It is easily available on various devices like your phone, speaker, watch, TV, or in your car. It connects smoothly with any device and gives an active response. Google Assistant is available on Google Play Store and iTunes App store.

Last but not the least; we have Bixby a smart virtual assistant by Samsung.

It is one of the most featured and unique virtual assistant device used globally. It has a unique feature that represents your music choices and voice commands to identify landmarks and other visuals by taking a photo. Bixby can translate many foreign languages and transform them in an easy manner. It also recommends you about businesses, restaurants to create reminders and manage your schedule. Bixby is exclusively available on Samsung devices like Galaxy S series and Note 9.

Role of Virtual Assistants Followed with its overall introduction and functionalities, the core part that highly approachable about virtual assistant is its features and roles like, 1. Responsiveness: A virtual assistant is mainly known for its extreme responsive nature and fundamental structure. The ultimate role of any virtual assistant is to follow the commands and execute the process accordingly. In any organization, the basic role is to follow the commands and provide suitable information at the earliest like, quick response to the e-mails, requests, and voice commands.

September 2019 | 19

2. Discretion: Discretion is nothing but the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing confidential information. Hence, the virtual assistant helps individuals and organization to avoid conflict between confidential information and relieving information.

Planning and Organizing: Finally, planning and organizing is another topmost virtual assistant feature. It prominently works to track and analysis top-level view of daily tasks and helps to create effective plans and methods to meet business goals.

Promising Future

3. Accuracy: Accuracy is very important and essential.

Human make mistakes and it will happen but to avoid mistakes and false we need perfect and accurate work.

Hence, virtual assistant provides accuracy that plays a crucial role when commands are given to it for execution.

4. Multi-tasking: Probably one of the important feature of virtual assistant it its capability to do multiple jobs at the same time. A virtual assistant can hold many commands and actions with respect to multiple users and keep them moving correctly. It benefits organization with efficiency, good scheduling, and perfect duty.

As we mentioned earlier, how virtual assistant is important in our day-to-day life or in an organization process. In businesses, the virtual assistant helps organizations to grow fast and efficiently. Virtual Assistants are independent experts, who work for its users from a remote location. With specific skills, a virtual assistant can perform multiple tasks at the same time and work on various projects simultaneously.

Hence, a virtual assistant is becoming one of the major parts of organizations overall process and structure for opting better growth and their future endeavors. In addition, it signifies importance it in our day-to-day lives and helps us to make our daily task easier.

How Virtual Assistant aids Organizations Today, almost every organization is working on its core competencies to grow rapidly in the market with effective speed and market response. Hence, they are building its capabilities with the help of a virtual assistant which are as follows, Email Management: A good virtual assistant will always offer email or inbox management services.

Virtual assistant organizes various email skills such as managing emails into manageable folders, incoming emails notifications, prioritizing a list of senders etc.

Better virtual assistant supports organization for superior productivity.

Marketing Responsibilities: One of the top feature of virtual assistant, in which it handles various marketing tasks easily, timely and precisely. There are some of the respective tasks on which virtual assistant works such as, website landing page, blog posts, graphic design, and social media marketing etc. It also helps the organization more effectively and precisely.

20 | September 2019

www.insightssuccess.com

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

Empowering Customers since Inception

H

eadquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Acumatica is a leading innovator in cloud ERP with customers located around the world. Through its worldwide network of partners, Acumatica provides the full suite of integrated business management applications, including Financials, Distribution, Manufacturing, Project Accounting, Field Service, Commerce Edition, Construction Edition, and CRM. In an interview with Insights Success, Jon Roskill, CEO of Acumatica shares his journey and details about his contribution to the organization.

Below are highlights of the interview between Jon and Acumatica: Give a brief overview of the company, its uniqueness and its vision Acumatica Cloud ERP works to deliver adaptable cloud and mobile technology with a unique, all-inclusive user licensing model. This enables customers to have a real time view of their business at any time and wherever they are.

Through Acumatica’s technology, functionality, and growth-friendly business practices, the company delivers exceptional value to small and midmarket organizations, spanning the full suite of business management applications.

What are the cutting-edge ERP solutions offered by Acumatica?

The company is built on a future-proof platform and designed for the way modern businesses operate. The platform includes open architecture for scalability, ease of use, rapid integrations, and is built on a modular and adaptable platform with Open APIs, allowing for low code or no-code customization.

We fully recognize digital transformation is about enabling customer success, and how this success looks different for every customer. This is why Acumatica offers flexible deployment, open integrations and full data transparency.

This allows companies to easily adapt when their definition of success changes.

22 | September 2019

What are the new approaches adopted by Acumatica to advance its ERP solutions?

In every release, Acumatica improves the underlying system to evolve usability and create more efficient customer experiences. This year we announced the official launch of Acumatica 2019 R1 with continued focus on usability and customer satisfaction, as well as Help search with natural language and machine learning that assists users in finding the right information more rapidly while growing “smarter” over time.

The R1 update also provides features and usability enhancements in three areas including the platform, which has been advanced with features such as highlighting inquiries based on conditions, side panel enhancements, and multifactor authentication, among others; general business applications which include updates to both financial management and the project accounting sides; and industryspecific enhancements which include new features to order and inventory management, field services, commerce, and manufacturing and construction.

What challenges has the company faced while providing best-In-Class ERP solutions and how is Acumatica serving to tackle them?

As an unknown entrant in the crowded ERP field, we have battled a lack of brand awareness since inception in 2008.

Continuous success in the marketplace and industry-leading customer satisfaction scores have helped us in addressing this issue. However, we are in many ways, a dark horse and challenger to the legacy players such as NetSuite, SageIntacct, and Microsoft Dynamics.

What are the dynamic factors that enable Acumatica to stay ahead of its competitors?

Acumatica views our customers as business partners, and we are committed to their success. Acumatica’s licensing model, data policies, and support mechanisms are designed to meet the needs of end-users, not shareholders, and are unrivaled in the industry. We are the only business management solution designed for the unique and evolving needs of growing midmarket businesses, enabling us to put customers success at the heart of all operations.

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“

We provide the best business management solution for transforming your company to thrive in the new digital economy.

—Jon Roskill CEO Acumatica

Some of these factors include modern, consumption-based licensing, which operates on a pay-as-you go basis that can grow and shrink with business or seasonal needs. There’s no per-seat premium, so technology can scale features.

Additionally, with data ownership, Acumatica’s solution allows customers to decide where to host data whether it’s on the public cloud, in a private cloud, or on-premise. This way customer data is always secure and accessible.

Customers are also able to complete a full relational database export at any time —even if the intention is to take the data somewhere else. Comparatively, other vendors lock customers into their datacenters.

With dual layers of support, Acumatica has a vast global value-added reseller (VAR) network focused on delivering the best service in the industry, so the company never competes against channel partners. We match customers with a local implementation partner who knows the industry and their unique business needs; this way customers and partners always have access to dedicated support, as issues and challenges inevitably arise. As a result, Acumatica has the industry’s highest customer satisfaction rating.

What according to you could be the potential future of the Acumatica and how does the company envision sustaining its competency?

With our recent acquisition by EQT Partners, Acumatica’s goal is to form a “powerhouse” of enterprise resource planning companies with our partner company IFS that will eventually generate $1 billion a year in revenues and compete with the biggest players in the ERP business. We expect to increase our workforce by 40 to 50 percent each year.

EQT acquired Acumatica through the same investment vehicle that holds IFS (Fund VII, IGT Holdings). While Acumatica and IFS are well-aligned on customer ethos and focus industries, Acumatica’s sweet spot is small and medium-sized business customers with $20M - $250M USD in revenue; IFS is optimized to serve companies with $250M USD and above.

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Provide a quote that best describes the company and its vision.

Acumatica Cloud ERP provides the best business management solution for transforming companies to thrive in the new digital economy. Built on a future-proof platform with open architecture for rapid integrations, scalability, and ease of use, Acumatica delivers unparalleled value to more than 5,000 small and midmarket organizations through a team of 275 worldwide employees and 300 channel partners.

About the Leader Acumatica’s CEO, Jon Roskill has 25 years of leadership experience in the software business. He joined Acumatica in 2014 after a 20-year career at Microsoft where he led efforts in many areas including product development for developer tools, the business operations, strategy, and marketing for all of Microsoft U.S., and serving as Corporate Vice President for the Worldwide Partner Group – a particularly relevant experience as Acumatica is 100% channel-driven and sells only through partners.

As a long-time channel builder, Jon prioritizes Acumatica’s 100-percent commitment to sell with and through partners as a foundational business strategy and values the importance of diversifying the cloud ERP space.

September 2019 | 23

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

Delivering Integrated Business Software for Manufacturers

n an interview with Insights Success, Jeffrey Sawka, Manufacturing Professional at AIM Computer Solutions shares key insights into the organization’s journey and how its specialized ERP solutions and services are continually growing to meet the dynamic needs of an evolving global market.

I

Ÿ

Below are the highlights of interview between Jeffrey and Insights Success:

Manufacturing happens on the plant floor and modern automotive manufacturers need the ability to input information using the latest hardware. AIM Mobility Apps provide a real-time method to input transactions into the AIM Vision ERP suite through an Android tablet and barcode scanner directly from the plant floor or hi-lo. The AIM Mobility App suite includes: Ÿ Mobility MES: Easily track and report out on various execution systems, from time clock and work centre tracking to load materials and printing directly to a Wi-Fi-enabled printer within the plant. Ÿ Shipping: Gain direct insight into the shipping floor for paperwork and direct shipping actions, all from the tablet. Ÿ Receiving: Manage both physical receiving and container movement from within the app. Ÿ Clipboard: Keep track of operator efficiencies, work center efficiencies and other critical information digitally, replacing paper production tags. Ÿ Physical Inventory: Reduce the time it takes to perform physical or cycle counts using bar code labelled tags.

Real-time access to missed tags and inventory variances so analysis can be started. Ÿ Container Move: Achieve production posting of material, best used at quality inspection operations or when part number changes frequently. Ÿ Warehouse Transfers: Works in conjunction with inventory to transfer lotted material from one warehouse to another. Ÿ Consumption: Remove remnant material lot quantities from inventory. Ÿ Location Tracking: Track the storage location of

Give a brief overview of the company, its uniqueness, and its vision.

AIM Computer Solutions, Inc., offers ERP business solutions and consultancy for automotive production part suppliers and other manufacturers. Since 1991, we have designed and developed software to meet the EDI, barcode, inventory control, shipping, receiving and production needs of repetitive and discrete manufacturers.

What are the cutting-edge ERP solutions offered by AIM Computer Solutions?

At the heart of AIM Vision®, our primary modularbased ERP software solution for automotive suppliers, are EDI and barcode labeling applications. They include embedded business logic for more than 450 trading partners with more than 1,800 trading partner-specific barcode label formats. AIM Vision provides seamless business processes with no mapping required.

Manufacturers gain operational efficiency with MRP, CRP and MES integrated into AIM Vision ERP software solution. Ÿ For companies brokering products from overseas, AIM delivers ERP with a purchasing module that offers tracking and brokering solutions. It offers EDI and supply chain logic to manage the import of goods, schedule the arrival and account for their delivery against multiple customer releases. Ÿ

24 | September 2019

We collaborate on financial software development with the experts at Microsoft and have certified integration of financial reporting with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

What are the new approaches adopted by AIM Computer Solutions to advance its ERP solutions?

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“

AIM provides software and expertise to help automotive part suppliers operate more efciently.

— Jeffrey Sawka Manufacturing Professional

AIM Computer Solutions

anything from your inventory to your assets – not the “perfect” science of warehousing, but rather a way to track “where’s my stuff.”

What challenges the company faces while providing Class ERP solutions and how is AIM Computer Solutions serving to tackle them? Ÿ

Ÿ

An ERP implementation has a significant impact on a company, introducing best-in-class processes across multiple departments, and offering new ways to capture and share information for the overall benefit of the entire organization. Yet, when it comes to pre-launch testing of a new ERP system, we often see gaps in both the process and stakeholder participation. These voids create disappointing results, and in some cases, a failure of the entire implementation.

One way to reduce the risk and uncertainty associated with an ERP implementation is to use a Conference Room Pilot (CRP) to get out process or data barriers in a test environment and address them before the new system is launched. The notion of CRP is not new to manufacturing – it parallels the use of preproduction or prototype runs.

What are the dynamic factors that enable AIM Computer Solutions to stay ahead of its competitors?

AIM Computer Solutions was founded to offer technology solutions specifically for automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, decades prior to Industry 4.0. This company has a legacy of understanding the unique business operations of each of the trading partners in the supply chain.

What according to you could be the potential future of the AIM Computer Solutions and how does the company envision sustaining its competency?

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AIM Computer Solutions will continue to provide leadership to AIAG, MMOGLE & Supply Chain committees, so we stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends in the industry. Our 30-year footprint in the Automotive Industry will continue to guide suppliers to comply with OEM/Tier 1, Tier 2 and Sub-tier requirements, including IATF 16949:2016 requirements, for EDI, shipping, and barcode labelling.

About the Leader Jeffrey Sawka specializes in analysing operational processes and making recommendations that improve processes and increase profits. He has nearly 20 years lean manufacturing and management experience and a proven track record of successful project implementations to achieve the desired results as a plant manager, materials manager and software consultant. He holds both a Bachelor of Science – Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science – Engineering in Manufacturing from the University of Michigan.

Clientele Testimonials “While there are many great things about the AIM family and software, I feel the user group meetings are a great way that I can get current and upcoming info on the use of the software, changes and other software solutions that we can use to support our operations.” - Ellen M. Lee, Controller, Eclipse Mold, Inc.

September 2019 | 25

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

A Leader in ERP Software for the Rental and Hire Industry

I

ntegrated ERP solutions provide companies the opportunity to streamline and improve their processes, drive efficiencies, improve customer service and adapt to an ever evolving business world. One such leading ERP solution provider is Baseplan Software Group.

From mobile field solutions to rental management, Baseplan offers reliable business intelligence software designed to keep its clients one step ahead of their competition. It provides clients with world-class technologies that harness the importance of asset, service and parts and streamlined rental management. Baseplan’s software delivers scalable, tightly integrated and modulebased systems, including an integrated financial module, to offer a solution that embraces industry best practices with customized solutions.

Since its inception in 1986, Baseplan Software has, and continues to evolve. It has developed and launched, for example, POS integration, Baseplan gateway, Software as a Service (SaaS), Mobile CRM App, Field Service App and a Transport App. Its primary goal was and is to provide a software solution that helps its clients to deliver increased value and service to their customers.

Key Features of Baseplan ERP Software The ultimate goal of an ERP system is to update business processes and gain real-time data and business insights that can be used to drive improved business decisions.

Baseplan offers ERP Software Solutions designed specifically for the Rental, Fleet and Construction industries. It develops, sells, and implements its own

28 | September 2019

systems, ensuring industries get the highest level of competency and professionalism. Baseplan ERP system includes essential functions like: Ÿ

Equipment Management: Baseplan Software specializes in equipment and asset management solutions. It provides equipment maintenance software for business with the tools to effectively manage rental or fleet items. Its benefits include keeping track of equipment, applying integrated operations management, preventative maintenance systems, bar coding, and stock control.

Ÿ

Financial Management: Baseplan ERP software aims to simplify financial reporting and effective allocation of resources. A fully integrated financial management software solution provides considerable advantages, including the creation of invoices, automatic accrual processes, monitoring live access to profit and loss statement, and cycle billing – all contributing to the effective and efficient management of a business.

Ÿ

Customer Management: Baseplan Software gives businesses the tools to manage customers before, during, and after the sales cycle with integrated customer relationship management software. The software does this by managing leads, existing and potential customers, an integrated sales quote module and efficient contract creation all supported by extensive reporting capability.

Managing Customer Relationship Baseplan provides the most advanced and integrated

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“

Baseplan is focused on being the software and consulting partner of choice to the rental and hire industry.

— Joe Westhuizen CEO & General Manager

Baseplan Software Group

business management solution available for customers that sell, service, and rent inventory and equipment. The company focuses on providing customers with best practice advice & process-improvement recommendations to gain greater visibility of their business activities, increase efficiency, and vastly improve business performance. The entire team at Baseplan is instrumental in supporting customers with world class solutions. BMA (Baseplan Mobile Application) eliminates complex manual and paper-orientated procedures, allowing staff to engage more productively with customers, on the move and in the field. It also allows customers to access their business information anytime, anywhere.

A Glimpse of the Future With rapidly expanding business operations, workplaces are not limited to workstations anymore. Mobility is driving smarter businesses with a future-ready approach.

Baseplan has recognized the need for enterprise flexibility and has developed a suite of intuitive mobile solutions for the hire and rental industry. In response to the increasing demand for on-the-go software, the organization has developed a state-of-the-art mobility application platform – BMA (Baseplan Mobility Application).

The biggest challenge companies in the hire and rental industries face is to find an ERP that meets and addresses their unique requirements. Baseplan, through its three decades of experience in hire and rental, understands the specific needs of this industry and is able to offer a fully integrated ERP that addresses the unique requirements of this industry. By focusing on a market-specific segment, and by not trying to be everything to everyone, the

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software group is able to stay ahead of its competitors in the hire and rental industry. Baseplan will continue to enhance its position as the leading provider of software for the hire and rental industry by providing the core ERP solution around which companies build their unique ecosystems of information solutions.

“Success is something you have to go and earn,” says Joe Westhuizen, the CEO and General Manager at Baseplan. Joe has spent over two decades in and around the ERP ecosystem. He has worked with and for companies implementing large and mid-tier technology solutions, in both the Public and Private Sector. He has thrived on building and leading teams, creating and crafting the right teams, with the right vision to grow and prosper. From the USA to Europe and Australasia he has supported organizations going through a significant change driven by technology implementations.

Testimonials: “Baseplan allows us to accurately measure our business, to set up KPIs in terms of efficiency, and in the end, that really helps us to improve out support to our customers.”

-General Manager, JLG Industries

September 2019 | 29

Leverage Existing

SAP Solutions with Cloud Procurement

C

ompanies that have already invested in SAP find that they can achieve even better results from their existing investment with cloud technology and eProcurement. After the initial investment, companies find certain roadblocks preventing mass user adoption and diminishing cost savings. Issues such as inability to stay connected, lack of insight into data, and complex and fragmented business rules stop businesses from using the full power of SAP. As cloud application technologies advance, companies gain the benefits of rapid deployment cycles, increased self-service tools, and faster performance. Vroozi delivers on the promise and power of eProcurement in the Cloud with seamless integration into SAP. SAP users looking to the cloud generally face a few questions, including: Ÿ How can I benefit from using cloud procurement?

30 | September 2019

Will my transition to the cloud be cost-effective? Ÿ How will my business processes be affected by cloud technology?

Ÿ

To understand the benefits of cloud technology to existing SAP users, let’s evaluate three procurement strategies that highlight the power of cloud procurement.

Value Realization Return on Investment (ROI) is a central factor in any procurement strategy. Buyers and trading partners of cloud procurement solutions need to feel confident that solutions will lead to cost savings and higher productivity and efficiency. Users quickly see returns by focusing on user adoption, compliance, and spend management. Spend Management allows companies to visualize purchasing spending patterns and usage and drives employees to leverage preferred pricing with contract suppliers. To increase user

adoption and compliance, the cloud empowers a mobile workforce with the right resources and experience so everyone stays connected and available so that business is not disrupted. As user adoption and compliance frameworks increase with cloud-based systems, organizations gain immediate cost savings in procurement by decreasing transaction costs and preventing spend leakage with your supply chain.

Efficiencies Process efficiency is key for a successful, healthy business. Cloud technology enables better processes by keeping everyone connected through a mobile experience and automating transaction tasks through the use of machine learning and pattern matching. With a centralized, unified system, cloud automation can yield immediate benefits in requisition to invoice and payment business processes and reduced

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Maestro’s Insights

About the Author

Brad Hill Director of Global Sales & Marketing Vroozi

errors and issues leading to higher productivity and decreased processing costs. Further, by allowing employees to interact with cloud procurement via smart Phones and tablets, business can continue to move with efficiency and speed.

implementation time companies once faced with traditional software solutions. Cloud technology relieves the user of hidden costs such as hardware, consultants, infrastructure, maintenance, and costly upgrade cycles, providing lower risk and lower total cost of ownership.

IT Cost Savings Conclusion Perhaps no determinant is more important in realizing the benefits of cloud technologies versus traditional on premise software is in IT Cost Savings. Systems and applications which required large physical infrastructure and monetary investments can now provide inexpensive and scalable solutions through the Cloud and cloud infrastructure providers. A procurement solution that integrates with SAP is easier to access, less expensive, and takes a fraction of the

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The cloud offers little upfront expense, automatic upgrades, and pre-integrated best practices which allow organizations to focus on business growth and improved operating margins. Vroozi’s eProcurement solution that takes SAP solutions to the cloud empower users with better returns, better processes and higher savings, so their overall SAP investment’s ROI is accelerated.

Brad Hill, Director of Global Sales & Marketing of Vroozi is a passionate leader and is responsible for expanding the Vroozi Product Suite, Brand Adoption, Partnership Network & ensuring our customers receive an unparalleled experience with Vroozi. Brad spent the last 20 years building Enterprise Sales and Product strategies with leading IT Services organizations. His entrepreneurial strategies have served a vast number of Fortune 500 industries and verticals. He is also an aspiring mechanic and frustrated golfer, two good reminders to keep his day job.

According to IDC, spending on Cloud computing is growing at 4.5 times the rate of IT spending since 2009 and is expected to continue growing at more than 6 times the rate of IT spending from 2015 through 2020 (via Forbes). This massive growth is easily understood when businesses understand the power and value of cloud solutions. With the Vroozi Platform, companies can take advantage of robust eProcurement technology delivered in the Cloud and integrated seamlessly with SAP.

September 2019 | 31

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

BC Systems A Leading Provider of ERP Solutions

S

ince its inception, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) has been the backbone of many large businesses and public entities, so these larger enterprises have dominated ERP usage. Until recently, there have not been many ERP options available for the small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) or public entities, as they did not have the funds or technical proficiency to adopt complicated and very expensive ERP solutions. Today, no business is too small for an ERP solution that is easy to use, powerful and yet affordable. ERP helps any business, whether it is a manufacturer, distributor, service-based, or public entity to measure and control all aspects of their operations from personnel, materials, inventory and accounting. It combines great usability with vertical market functionality.

Understanding Small and Medium Businesses and Public Entities

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Founded in 1984 as BC Computers, Inc., BC Systems specializes in browser-based ERP solutions and progressive technology for SMBs and public entities. Its team helped pioneer the use of cloud-based solutions, recognizing early on the affordability and flexibility of these systems. BC researches and determines the daily needs of each company, learns what works for them and what does not, and provides solutions to both old and new business problems with a high degree of functionality and success. The company’s expertise is in designing and implementing highlyconfigured, integrated business management solutions.

Today, BC is helping companies and public entities to better manage their internal resources to maximize productivity and to revamp their operational processes with ERP solutions to be more forward-thinking, scalable, manageable, and cost-effective. As a result, profits and efficiencies increase through the use of properly applied technology.

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“

BC Systems leverages your knowledge base, as a business stack-holder, down through the organization in order to facilitate productivity, decrease costs, and increase prots through the use of technology. We do this by using tools that are easy to use, costeffective, and will grow as you grow.

— Don Waters Co-founder & President BC Systems

Right Choice to Solve Problems Priority® is a true ERP platform that will allow SMB and public entities to stay ahead of the change curve. It is a fully HMTL5 product, so it can run within any browser, whether the server is on premise or in the cloud. It is purpose-built to handle rapidly changing and dynamic business needs.

Flexibility and expandability are the core features of this platform. BC’s approach is always to apply the right pieces of the platform in the right way to solve the given problem in a simple, straight-forward manner. By creating highly configured mobile apps for just about any function in Priority® we can help those working remotely or at customer sites quickly and cost effectively. BC is proud to provide innovative and affordable web-based technology and practical business management solutions based on Priority® ERP. Future Plans with ERP Businesses are now seeing changes at the speed of light in a highly dynamic global economy. Customers expect and demand more from their suppliers, and citizens expect and demand more from their local governments. The key is to have a solution with the proper attributes and tool-sets for flexible change. BC Systems works very closely with its clients, to fully understand not only their needs today, but where they see changes heading in the near future. BC looks to provide continuous management consulting services to its clients, beyond the standard services needed to install, implement and use an ERP on a daily basis. BC is always looking at new and innovative ways to use Priority® and its deep functionality to enhance the work environment of its clients, and to reduce friction in running their business or public entity.

BioPharma manufacturing, and other high-tech environments. He has also used his expertise in many distribution, service companies, as well as with public entities, to meet very specific and unique needs.

Understanding workflow processes, and applying business rules to that flow, is one of the key areas of his expertise.

BC is a unique solution provider, as a result of these experiences that Don and his team bring to their clients. BC is all about creating long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with its clients.

Testimonials “Very few companies get what we do in its full scope, of creating cradle to grave instrumentation for air flow calibration. BC not only gets it, but has helped us improve on our processes and our response times to our customers in a significant way.” – HP – Bios International “Looking back, I could not have predicted the positive impact Priority has had on our business.”

- EB Biothane, USA

About the Leader Don Waters is a Co-founder, and has been President of BC Systems since its foundation in 1984 as BC Computers, Inc. As a chemist, he put his technical capabilities to good use in deploying Priority in some highly technical environments such as for Analytical Chemical Testing,

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September 2019 | 33

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Changing the Status Quo

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September 2019 | 37

Best-In-Class

The

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

Big Bang ERP Helping Businesses Streamline their Processes

W

ith a vision to allow all people, in every organization to have a direct access to the information that enables them to do their best work, from anywhere, every day, Big Bang ERP was formed. Big Bang is a boutique consulting firm that helps businesses optimize and streamline their processes by implementing cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Information Technology System Management (ITSM) systems and other cloud applications. The company aims at becoming the most trusted independent consultant team specializing in business management, collaboration and automation solutions.

Their highly skilled team of experts works hand in hand with organizations to achieve exceptional business improvements for every department in the enterprise so that companies can focus on what they do best rather than on repetitive manual processes, spreadsheet management and other non-value-added activities.

Big Bang’s team of consultants is dedicated to helping businesses achieve their goals with smart, effective, scalable and high-quality cutting-edge cloud solutions that are delivered on time and within scope. Acting as trusted advisors, they contribute their diverse experiences and in-depth expertise to the success of organizations around the world.

Cutting-Edge Solutions Big Bang offers a variety of cutting-edge solutions that cover all types of systems. Their extensive portfolio of products allow them to offer services that would help businesses solve all their management needs. With the idea

38 | September 2019

of becoming a one-stop shop for all business needs, Big Bang offers professional services related to several cloud systems by being brand agnostic and focusing on a tailored solution for their clients. The company analyzes its clients' operational needs, recommends the best solution and implements it through their proprietary methodology The Big Bang Experience®, optimizing and streamlining processes to support business growth and success.

Stellar Leadership The team at Big Bang ERP is led by Gabriel Tupula, Eng. PMP, CEO. Gabriel pushes a work culture that is very interesting. It’s a modern take on traditional methods to achieve the company vision in a fast-paced environment.

What that means is that every single person within the company is aware of their role and how they contribute to the overall vision. He strongly encourages his team members to pick up the phone and to act responsively.

Establishing a human connection is extremely important and by doing so, along with several other daily activities, reminders and insights, the team is able to provide exceptional service to clients and contribute to the development of the ERP industry through professional services and business advice that help businesses grow and succeed.

Ensuring Seamless Work Big Bang ERP is constantly looking for new products it can add to its portfolio that will allow it to respond to all of its clients’ requirements as efficiently as possible. The company wants to build partnerships it can be proud of and long-term client relationships. Its focus is always on the customer and continuous improvement on top of being upto-date with the latest technological advancement so it is

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“

Trusted Business Advisors propelling your growth through elegant and best-inbreed cloud solutions.

— Gabriel Tupula CEO Big Bang ERP

able to give its expert advice to its customers confidently and earn their trust. This is how it came to implement a new approach (GAB’S pyramid™). This approach consists of looking at business systems in a pyramid view to tackle every single department and make sure it is contribution to the success of the entire organization. They look at the clients’ business from every aspect and make sure to recommend the right solutions, so their clients are capitalizing on every process within the organization. The company also verifies that all the different systems implemented work seamlessly or suggests ways to improve.

businesses and will keep on improving its service to build and maintain long lasting partnerships with its clients.

Personalizing Experiences

Testimonials

Big Bang’s competitive edge is its ability to offer a unique experience to its customers based on their business needs and being able to give them a choice. The variety in its portfolio is its most unique offering because it is brandagnostic. What matters to the company is its customer’s business success leading it to recommend the best solution for organizations based on their business needs, not the brand they are trying to sell.

“BBE’s team is flexible, knowledgeable and provide solid functional and technical assistance with NetSuite’s ERP.” - Walter Merkas, Senior Manager at WithumSmith+Brown “We were very happy with Big Bang ERP. They brought this project back to life and helped us put our priorities in line and allocate our resources efficiently. We know we can always count on them for support.” - Allison Roelofs, CFO, Gerotech Inc.

Expanding Global Footprints Big Bang ERP is striving to make its vision a reality. Its aim is to be a one-stop shop for all its clients’ needs and build long lasting partnerships with them to contribute to their business growth and success. It also wants to expand on an international level and increase its global footprint. Thus, it constantly looks for new solutions to add to its portfolio in order to serve all business needs, and opening offices as it grows around the world to serve customers worldwide in the best way possible. To sustain its competency, the company will stay up to date with best-in-class cloud solutions to offer its customers the best systems for their

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September 2019 | 39

Best-In-Class

The

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

ePROMIS Solutions Transforming Businesses through Unied ERP Solutions

I

n today’s industrial era, with the significant ERP solution organizations are facilitating the following benefits such as, increasing effective communication between departments and allowing employees to access their data more efficiently. An effective ERP solution also allows streamline access to various departments. Hence, ePROMIS Solutions Inc is one such multinational software corporation offering industry-specific ERP software solutions for construction, oil & gas, MEP, trading, and manufacturing industries. It has over a million ERP users across the globe and has offices in 15 countries, including the USA, Canada, UK, UAE, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

With the vision to become ‘No. 1’ in innovative business solutions and ERP solutions, ePROMIS established technology leadership as the first to deliver innovative business software solutions time and time again. ePROMIS’ current investments in cloud computing, blockchain technology, big data, and enterprise mobility are based on vision 2025, that welcomes the age of Industry 4.0.

Providing advanced ERP Solutions ePROMIS ERP has many useful built-in applications and functionalities such as real-time information, electronic approvals, business intelligence and analytics, enterprise mobility, document management system, document attachment system, and audit trail system. Being a leader in enterprise mobility, its ERP solutions run on smartphones and tablets with dedicated applications and even on web browsers. ePROMIS’ globally acclaimed ERP solutions are available across industries in three editions, 1. ePROMIS Lite, which is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model solution for small and growing organizations, 2. ePROMIS Innovate, cloud-ready ERP solution for medium-sized organizations, 40 | September 2019

3. ePROMIS Enterprise ERP, ePROMIS’ flagship ERP software designed for larger organizations.

An Idealistic Leader ePROMIS was founded in 1981 by Mathews Mathew, the current CEO and MD to provide computer software and networking services to local Texas businesses. ePROMIS entered the software business when only a few of the companies understood the need for automating business processes.

The computer software of the 80s remained hardwarespecific, the book-keeping programs were written for a particular brand of computer and tailored to each client’s needs. On top of that, overcoming the resistance to technology adoption was the biggest challenge. “In the early day’s hardware were expensive and employees were comfortable with manual business processes. The initial challenges included educating businesses the need for automating businesses processes,” states Mathews. ePROMIS’ turning point came with the introduction of ERP system featuring a truly modular concept. Soon ePROMIS was attracting large-scale customers predominately from the construction, manufacturing, and trading sectors.

Over the years, Mathew’s innovation-led strategy for ePROMIS has resulted in global business expansion, increases in customers, effective strategic partnerships, and profitable growth. While sharing about company’s vision he asserts that, “From making corporate decisions, driving innovation, managing the overall operations, to running the board of directors, I enjoy being immersed in the day-today operation of the business; and to this day, I believe I must keep proving myself.

Our success secret is we never settle for ‘just getting the job done’. Constant innovation is the key to growth when

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“

Together with our customers and partners, to create an inclusive environment that drives innovation forward for all.

—Mathews Mathew CEO and MD ePROMIS

people or companies start to feel entitled they stop pushing they start losing their grip. We do celebrate achievements, but I always tell my people that we’re never done.”

Modernizing ERP Solutions At ePROMIS, the product development and innovation strategies include internal development, customer and partner co-innovation, and acquisitions. Currently, it is at the test phase of next-generation cloud ERP system with increased emphasis on mobility, analytics and social. This one-of-a-kind enterprise system is designed and developed as per ePROMIS’ vision 2025 of creating technologies that open up entirely new possibilities. ePROMIS’s innovation lab is also working on the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence in business, i.e., AI-enabled ERP solutions, which will reshape the entire ERP software ecosystem and transform business processes and productivity benchmarks. ePROMIS’ current investments in cloud computing, IoT, blockchain technologies, machine learning, big data and enterprise mobility are based on vision 2025.

Reaching New Heights Being a customer-centric organization, ePROMIS’ product development and innovations are based on real-life scenarios standing at a customer’s side.

“With decades of experience serving various industries, we know the issues that companies face while running the business. By integrating business processes and eliminating silos, our solutions are enabling organizations to be more competitive and responsive to customer needs,” adds Mathews further.

The company has achieved an excellent report for its topquality products and outstanding service. Over the years ePROMIS ERP received numerous awards and recognition including winning the top position in the Gartner-company Software Advice’s FrontRunners for ERP report three times consecutively.

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Stepping into Future As a pioneer in the business software industry with corporate headquarters in Houston, TX, USA., ePROMIS maintains a strong worldwide channel partner network and regional offices around the globe. Currently, the firm values its partnerships and collaboration and also looking forward to working on the innovative and unique opportunities that can be created through more successful partnerships.

Clientele Testimonials “When choosing the most suitable resource planning software, we looked at several prominent software. ePROMIS ERP was the solution that all our stakeholders agreed would produce the best result. While our competitors use typical off-the-shelf business software solutions, we have a simple, customizable, and industryspecific ERP software environment.” - Austin Hill, COO, Texas Roofing Supply “The market is dynamic and unique challenges to be faced every day; it was inevitable to choose an industry-specific ERP software from a reputed software company that understands the construction and contracting industry. ePROMIS was selected due to the strength of its projectbased ERP system, and its reputation as a leading ERP consulting and systems integration company.” - V. V. Vaidyanathan, Group Finance Manager of ABM

September 2019 | 41

Migrating the

Data

Warehouses into the

Cloud T

he cloud has now become a well-established deployment option for business applications. It provides an exceptional ground for grounding the business intelligence systems, as it provides business agility, scalability, and lowers the total cost of ownership.

So, it is a little uncharacteristic that although most applications have migrated to the cloud, data warehouses the fundamental of any business intelligence structures - are still mostly on proposition.

There could be multiple business users and business units who are using the data. We can also ease out the migration process by prioritizing and breaking down the whole data warehouse into significant business process subject areas.

Select the right cloud vendor for your warehouse

Of course, that’s not entirely surprising given that businesses have invested heavily in an on-premise data warehouse technology, with strong concerns about protecting sensitive data. Being seamless, migration of the data warehouse to the cloud must ensure that additional cloud security measures are addressed.

There are numerous cloud providers out there in the market.

Amazon, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azureare some of the market leaders in among cloud solution provider’s industry.

Based on the outcome of the classification of the existing warehouse, we must create a matrix of the functionalities required vs. existing features in respective cloud provider’s environment and then make the final choice. Of course, the monetary expenses also play a vital role in making this decision.

Steps required to be supervised while migration of the Data Warehouses

Identify technology choices depending on there siliency of concept projects

Characterize the current data warehouse along multiple dimensions

Choosing the appropriate database technology for hosting the warehouse is the most important technology decision to be made. You are required to identify the queries symbolizing the typical workload based on performance tests. The factors needed to be considered while making this decision are:

Detailed analysis should be carried out to cover the sensitive data aspects very carefully. It should be taken under consideration on what options are provided by the cloud vendor, and what are the organizational needs for the confidentiality. Thorough analysis of the regulatory standards must be carried out.

44 | September 2019

Data types needed by the application Ÿ Ÿ

Database technologies available from the cloud provider Database features required www.insightssuccess.com

Editor’s Pick

The compute and the storage necessities will decide the infrastructure needed for hosting the data warehouse.

is desirable to run the modeled data migration project in parallel with the legacy system so that it is easier to test and determine the success of the migration. The migration and extraction needs to be setup in a repeated manner so that in case there are some concerns with the migration, it can be re-processed.

Preparing a surefire migration plan

Test the success of migration

Preparing a well thought out project plan is certainly crucial for a successful migration. You must primarily involve business users in the entire decision making and project plan. They should be fully aware of the migration strategy and in fact they must contribute in testing the new system.

In the primary stage of the data migration, we typically test and compare one or several sample queries and data sets. In addition, we would like to commend comparison of row counts of objects, min and max values as well as sample data row assessments. Outlining the success criteria for the migration and testing is of greatest importance to ensure long term success of the cloud data warehouse. You also need to reassure that incremental data loads work correctly throughout.

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Real-time data processing needs Number of concurrent users Performance needs etc.

Infrastructure readiness Most data warehouse projects on the cloud are required to set up a VPC. A VPC houses the entire production warehouse setup. It is very important to create corresponding environments for development, UAT and QA to ensure smooth operations of the systems. Set up access control and security on each of the environments. Also lay out the complete architecture beforehand.

Complete the migration Migration embroils initial movement of the old data followed by the incremental tug of the data from the various sources. A thorough description needs to be in place that plots the source data elements to the target data elements. It www.insightssuccess.com

Conclusion Nowadays, there has been a lot of support for data warehouses in the cloud. Moving data warehouses to the cloud is yielding real business benefits, since many vendors are expanding the breadth and depth of services for warehousing and analysis of the data. However, migration is not exempted of challenges. Make sure you think through all the different aspects of data warehouse migration and then come up with an infallible plan to address those challenges.

September 2019 | 45

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

ERP Success Partners Inc. Transforming Businesses through World-class Cloud Solutions

I

n an interview with Insights Success, Mark Rhyman, Partner at ERP Success Partners, shares the journey of ERP Success Partners Inc. and about its contribution to the businesses through cloud solutions. The organization is committed to successfully optimize, transform and scale businesses through the Number One Leading Cloud CRM/ERP. Below are the highlights of the interview between Mark Rhyman and Insights Success.

Give a brief overview of the company, its uniqueness, and its vision.

ERP Success Partners is a NetSuite Solution Provider in North America and a NetSuite Alliance Partner in EMEA. We do provide NetSuite CRM/ERP business consulting in order to transform, optimize and support businesses around the globe. Our Vision is to become the most trusted business partner when it comes to the selection and support of your Enterprise Resource Planning Solution.

What are the cutting-edge ERP solutions offered by ERP Success Partners?

ERP Success Partners offers Oracle+NetSuite ERP as its cloud-based solution. We have been NetSuite Experts for the past 10 years and we highly believe in the future of the product. There are multiple NetSuite Solution Providers, SDN Providers and Alliance Partners nowadays and they all have their strengths and industry focus. With our 10+ years of NetSuite experience, we aim at helping every customer navigating in that ecosystem, choosing the right solution and ensuring that they select the best NetSuite configuration for the long run while ensuring their business processes meets industry’s best practice.

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Give a detailed description of the featured personnel’s influence over the company and contribution in developing the best ERP solutions.

The Management of ERP Success Partners is composed of very highly skilled NetSuite Experts where we have all been exposed in multiple ERP Sales, Scoping and Implementations. That’s one of our unique differentiators as when we talk to our customers or prospective customers, we are putting our expertise to the customer’s benefit right away. This fast-tracks both the solution architecture design and the long-term support.

What are the new approaches adopted by ERP Success Partners to advance its ERP solutions?

Over the past decade we have learnt many strategies and always responded to the customer’s demand. As opposed to being a Multi-Solution company with no clear definition of what solution to propose to what customer, we focus on what is the Number 1 Cloud Solution worldwide. Recently we have also adopted an implementation methodology where we do work in Fixed Fee. Time and Material is not what we feel is the most advantageous approach for our customers. We are Experts and when we give an estimate, we know that we are going to deliver the solution and the customer knows the cost without any unpleasant surprises or budget overrun.

What challenges company face while providing Class ERP solutions and how is ERP Success Partners serving to tackle them?

One of the challenges we have seen and heard is that customers often realize that they are being overbilled and taken for granted. When operating in the traditional Time and Material mode, most of the customers will face

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“

ERP Success Partners aims at being the most trusted NetSuite Business Partner.

“

Mark Rhyman Partner at ERP Success Partners

themselves having bills that exceed the initial proposal. This creates friction.

Pair that with the Professional Industry pressure of having the “Billable”, “Utilization” and “Productive” metrics where employees MUST Track their time to Bill Customers, one can clearly see that the more time the employee can track will show better revenue to their managers and in the end the customers ends up paying more until the relationship breaks. For us it’s pretty simple. We scope a project, provide an estimate and once agreed we invoice that amount. Our Employees have no Time Tracking Pressure and our customers are extremely happy. Our objective is to capitalize on Long Term Engagement as Business Partners.

What are the dynamic factors that enable ERP Success Partners to stay ahead of its competitors?

It’s definitively our team members that makes the day to day a success. Our

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NetSuite Certified team is always on top of the new features and for every major upgrade we remain educated on what functionality would benefit our customer base. Competition is also evolving, and it is important to also educate our team on market trends.

Understanding properly what competing products offers also helps us ensure that our value proposition makes sense for each prospective customer. We have grown on Honesty and Transparency. If our product is not going to be a good fit, we simply have to be realistic about it.

What according to you could be the potential future of the ERP Success Partners and how does the company envision sustaining its competency?

ERP Success Partners has the ambition of providing high end business class NetSuite Consulting Services. It’s a small ecosystem and yet a huge potential for growth with worldwide customers. We ensure that there is a

great collaboration between us and other NetSuite Partners. In the end it is always about putting Customers First.

We are nowhere close as being individualists and pretending we are the best of the best. We have our expertise and knowledge. As being fully bilingual (French and English) we are also going to expand in French speaking territories such as France and West Africa.

About the Leader By understanding the needs of each client and business processes, Mark Rhyman helps enterprises find the most sustainable solutions through NetSuite - Oracle ERP and CRM configuration by considering their needs and budget.

His specialties include NetSuite, Information Systems (ERP, CRM, PSA, WMS), eCommerce, SaaS Business Solutions.

September 2019 | 47

The

Best-In-Class

ERP

Solution Providers 2019

ProcessPro Understanding Industry Needs since Inception

W

ith roots in custom software programing that dates back to 1985, ProcessPro has grown to be a leading mid-market ERP software solution for the process manufacturing industry. Designed specifically for manufacturers that combine batches of mixtures, ProcessPro’s ERP solution seamlessly integrates all aspects of plant operation, from beginning order entry through inventory, manufacturing, packaging, shipping and accounting. ProcessPro has been serving the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, chemical and cannabis industries for over 30 years.

In early 2016, ProcessPro joined Open Systems, Inc., a leading provider of business software, which allowed the company to access new markets and remain at the forefront of technology. ProcessPro focuses 100% of all efforts on a well-defined vertical market and dedicates its resources into delivering industry-leading solutions. No other ERP provider devotes 100% of their resources to providing business management solutions strictly to regulated batch process manufacturing markets.

Helping Customers with a Unique Platform ProcessPro not only provides the most functionally rich solution to regulate batch process manufacturers, but it does so on a unique platform. This platform allows its customers to build capability and functionality that is specific to their business while allowing them to absorb ongoing product releases to the core platform. ProcessPro maintains a technology forward stance with its core platform which eventually allows clients to add their unique personalization to meet their business needs in order to get the most ROI out their ERP investment.

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A Client Oriented Leader Dr. Michael Bertini, the CEO of ProcessPro, strongly believes in a culture that puts the clients first. This philosophy is demonstrated throughout the company’s endeavors in order to help customers succeed, become more successful and transform their organizations. The organization’s ERP solution ensures that clients have access to the right information at the time to make informed business decisions.

Michael takes a strong personal interest in the success of ProcessPro’s customers. He also believes ProcessPro’s products offer its clients not only one of the best returns on investment in the marketplace, but they also deliver a framework in which any investment made today in adapting the solution to your business is retained with future upgrades.

The process manufacturing industry can change quickly from customer trends and regulations, and Open Systems has developed solutions to be able to adapt quickly. Its team works hard to understand customers’ specific needs and prides themselves on providing value to clients.

Tackling Competition and Staying Ahead As ProcessPro serves in highly regulated markets (FDA, OSHA, USDA, etc.), which makes it mandatory to be constantly aware of changes in the regulations that its customers must comply with. So, to manage this, ProcessPro employs a staff dedicated to monitoring regulations and compliance requirements across the verticals it serves that provide constant feedback to the company’s development and implementation teams to ensure that ProcessPro helps those customers stay current with their regulations.

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“

Our products must evolve to meet the needs of the customers and the established and emerging industries they serve.

—Dr. Michael Bertini CEO ProcessPro

With its ongoing focus on a specific and well-defined market, continuous improvements and enhancement of its software’s functionality and technology, and a relentless pursuit of a sense of urgency in everything, ProcessPro does in order to stay ahead of the market demands and its client’s needs.

Satisfied Clients “In my experience, being a consultant in the past, the one thing that makes a difference – going from good to great – is really the people behind the software. That makes all the difference in the world. I’ve found the people from top to bottom – from the owner of the company, the directors, the staff, programmers, customer service, all of the support people behind the scenes are really what makes the difference in terms of making a great, great software package work for your company. It’s the people behind the scenes that make that difference and make the difference between a good package and a great package. I’ve never been disappointed with the decision that I made back in 2003 and I look forward to the tremendous opportunities coming down the road.” -Jim Jumpeter, (Retired) Chief Financial Officer, 21st Century® HealthCare, Inc.

“It was extremely important for us to find an ERP company we would not only purchase software from but also form a positive ongoing working relationship. We like that ProcessPro Software provides us with a two-party relationship from development to implementation and training to ongoing service and maintenance. In addition to this, we are pleased with ProcessPro Software’s customer centric approach to updates and modifications.”- Sheri McKinney, Accounting Manager, Nova-Tech, Inc. “We chose their ERP solution based upon their strengths in the process manufacturing industry and their strong scheduling, purchasing, warehousing, and inventory management solutions.”-Mark Davitt, Vermont Smoke & Cure VP of Finance.

“They have a food background, they speak our language.

When we brought in other ERP vendors, they were manufacturing software vendors, but they didn’t speak the language of food. They didn’t have that background in the food industry, talking about yields and finished goods. We didn’t have to have a discussion on how our industry was focused. We brought ProcessPro in and with that background in the food industry it was a seamless conversation.”-Ed Crockett IT Director, Ready Foods

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BEYOND AUTOMATION

AI powered Autonomous Factories of the Future

R

ise of the industrial robots in 1980s led to a major evolution of Henry Ford’s assembly line concept. Routine tasks that were being handled by factory workers started to be performed by robots with greater accuracy and efficiency. With the spread of device-to-device communication and IoT protocols, robots started taking a serious amount of responsibility from factory workers. This movement was initially led by German high tech firms that branded this shift as the 4th industrial revolution. On the opposite side, there was China, taking advantage of their access to low cost human labour as an alternative to automation. Very recently, a few years ago, China flipped their strategy 180 degrees, becoming the biggest advocate of automation by starting to invest aggressively on buying robots and developing their own robotics know-how led by government initiatives. So the technology won. There is no question about the need for automation anymore and major manufacturing companies, including the ones in China, Germany and rest of the world are racing to automate their industrial processes to increase productivity.

Daghan Cam Co-founder & CEO Ai Build

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Everything that can be automated will be automated, according to Zuboff’s law.

However, some things are more difficult to be automated than other things.

Those are non-repetitive tasks which require higher level of cognition and ability to adapt into unknown conditions. These tasks can be defined as the last mile in factory automation. Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, was recently criticized by analysts for automating their assembly line more than necessary. The reason of the criticism was the fact that the cost of automation exceeded the cost of a human led assembly

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Mentor’s Standpoint

line. This may be a valid argument for today but the solution should be found in increasing the bar for commercially viable automation and not by going back to lower levels of automation.

So if we are moving towards full automation and lights-out manufacturing, how can the last mile in factories be automated without overspending and over engineering?

Autonomy seems to be the answer, therefore Artificial Intelligence…

There is a slight but important difference between Automation and Autonomy. Autonomy is the state of being able to make independent decisions in situations that were not experienced before. By definition, autonomous systems are always automated, but the other way around is not always the case. A system may be fully automated but not autonomous.

“Blind Automation” is the term we use for this category.

Systems that are blindly automated are based on hard coded rules, as in expert systems, and they tend to be very difficult to be reconfigured if the conditions or requirements change over time. Autonomous systems, in contrast, generalize the rules for decision making in different scenarios by allowing a higher level of abstraction in their programming.

For example, in the blind automation scenario, a robot may be programmed to go to coordinates x, y, z in order to pick up an object. This will work without problems as long as the object is found precisely at coordinates x, y, z.

However, if for any reason the object is positioned at a slightly different location, the robot will still go to x, y, z, fail to pick the object up and continue executing the rest of its commands without noticing this problem. Eventually every step subsequent to this failure will also fail.

A better strategy for performing the same task, is using a robot with vision

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sensors, and programming it to go to the object’s position (as a variable) to pick it up. Regardless of where the object is positioned, robot will localize it using its sensors and successfully pick it up. This difference between the two programming paradigms; “go to x, y, z” and “go to an object’s position” makes a big difference in making the system less prone to making mistakes in unexpected conditions which is crucial for last mile factory automation.

About the Author Daghan Cam is the Co-founder and CEO of Ai Build, a London based startup developing Artificial Intelligence and Robotics technologies for the construction industry. He is also a visiting lecturer at University College London doing research on robotic fabrication, large scale 3d printing and parallel algorithms with GPU computing.

His work focuses on developing intelligence for automating complex tasks in design and manufacturing by using computer vision and machine learning techniques.

In this scenario where robots make autonomous decisions by using realtime sensor data, a feedback loop is established between physical and digital environments. The constant flow of information from physical to digital and vice versa create immense amounts of structured data which is the fuel for AI powered autonomous factories of the future. Such actionmeasurement-action strategies allow the systems to self-improve over time, creating a data network effect in manufacturing. The more one process is executed, the more efficient it will get. This allows super-human performance in almost every domain given enough data.

Robots making hundreds of decisions every second and receiving hundreds of measurements from the environment and from other devices also require massive computation and storage capabilities. Despite the popularity of cloud computing in most applications today, a decentralized compute power is necessary for most robotic applications and for IoT devices in general. The throughput between the edge and the cloud through internet connectivity is simply not enough to process all data generated by sensors and make sensible decisions in realtime. So edge computing, or fog computing - dedicated servers on premise as a layer between individual devices and the cloud - will likely be the norm in autonomous factories of the future unless we experience a breakthrough in science that leads to infinitely fast and reliable internet connectivity. However unlike compute power, storage of important data, that is filtered on the edge, should be centralized in order to achieve the best decision making models at every location.

As a summary, a few conclusions and predictions about the future are: Ÿ

We are moving towards an autonomous black-box factory model where the factory robots are operated by themselves without human intervention.

Ÿ

These factories will be powered by the data that is generated by themselves and their productivity will increase over time exceeding human performance in every process involved in manufacturing.

Ÿ

Factories will compute on-premise / on-edge and they will push important data to cloud for benefiting from a shared pool of data with other factories.

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