Cites Integration Features and Highest “Lifetime Value” as Key

Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organisations, today announced that Elanders UK, a print and packaging production manufacturer, has selected the Epicor® next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to replace the five systems currently underpinning its operations.

Elanders UK had a turnover of £17m in 2010/11 and offers print services including books and magazines, photo products, packaging, information and marketing materials, as well as web-to-print (W2P), EDI, advanced premedia, fulfilment and logistics.

The Epicor solution will provide Elanders with a fully integrated workflow that incorporates the print and art systems, estimating, finance, production scheduling, customer relationship management (CRM), forecasting, EDI and web ordering. Elanders’ existing systems require a number of bespoke interfaces to transfer information, as well as having bottlenecks at points where manual intervention or rekeying of data is needed.

“The business has changed so much since we originally implemented our systems, and we need a system that will grow with us, and provide a full 360 degree view of our work,” said David Clark, IT director at Elanders. “Epicor will allow us to do this, and with Epicor’s Service Connect we believe that we can accommodate any changes, or new pieces of software needed in the future. It will bond our business processes together and remove all duplication.”

Elanders reviewed over ten MIS and ERP systems before selecting Epicor, citing its flexibility, automatic production scheduling, integration and workflow tools as key features. Integration was one of the most important criteria for Elanders, and the future of their business -- many solutions were discounted at this first hurdle. During this review Elanders utilised the services of Simon Reed from the MIS Zone to aid with the selection process, which was invaluable as this helped maintain focus throughout the review process.

“The lifetime value of Epicor is far beyond the other systems we assessed, with some possibly needing replacement in 10 years,” concluded David Clark. “We can see Epicor giving value to our business over the next 25 years, if not longer. The whole system is written with transparency, real-time information and seamless integration in mind. This combination means that we can be confident about the way it will evolve with our business.”

“The printing industry has struggled with integrating systems for decades,” said Malcolm Fox, director, product marketing for Epicor. “Epicor has taken its industry experience and worked with partners such as Kodak® to create the most versatile and transparent ERP systems available for the print and packaging industry. Customers can be confident that Epicor will integrate seamlessly with their art systems now, and be flexible enough to meet their business and software needs for many years to come.”