Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 29 | Page 47

INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE Cork Information Technology deploying ERP for Epicor Amel Gardner, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa and India (MEAI), Epicor UAE-based manufacturer drawn to manufacturing-centric and multi-region capabilities of marketleading solution. E picor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, has announced that Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries LLC has selected Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, Epicor ERP, to improve manufacturing and warehousing operations and streamline information flow across the company. Epicor partner, Cork Information Technology, will work with Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries’ stakeholders to bring the full power of the Epicor platform to the company and its employees. Dubai-based Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries produces aerosols, deodorants, air fresheners and cosmetics for markets all around the world-including its native UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman. “As we grew, our legacy system was not catering to our needs, especially in manufacturing, warehousing and sales,” said Abbas Hamid, Director at Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries. The company’s warehousing issues stemmed from a lack of real-time accuracy and visibility for on-hand stock levels from the front-end system. The necessity to implement manual workarounds was impacting productivity and inaccuracies were affecting stock valuation. In addition, stock retrieval was employee-driven, rather than system-driven, leading to further inaccuracies if goods were not correctly stored. Other complications existed based on the absence of a stock-taking module in the legacy ERP, requiring warehouse employees to perform an entirely manual reconciliation. “In addition, the manufacturing module within the legacy system only captured the cost of materials, so labour costs and direct costs were never captured. These had to be generated through manual calculations and estimations, which affected our financials,” said Hamid. Reporting was also cumbersome, with pending PO reports and shipment tracking requiring manual preparation, and the system offered no capability for real-time reporting. Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries decided it needed an ERP system that was tailored to their business operations, was easy to deploy and use, and would be flexible Digitisation is the key to agility. enough to allow the company to grow unimpeded. After considering four major ERP vendors, Hamid and his team selected Epicor ERP due to the manufacturing-centric focus and native functionality of the solution. “While we obviously needed some level of customisation, we were very clear that we wanted to adapt to a system and be in line with best industry practices, rather than the other way around-where the system has to adapt to us,” said Hamid. Implementation is expected to be completed by May 2020, and the company’s project team is currently working with regional Epicor partner, Cork Information Technology, to deploy the new solution to more than 40 users in the UAE. Supply chain, sales, CRM, manufacturing, finance and asset management will all be key areas of functionality that are expected to help enhance Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries’ operations. Amel Gardner, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa and India (MEAI), Epicor, said: “Processes that are overly manual impede growth, so digitisation is the key to agility. Epoch Cosmetics & Toiletries realised its legacy architecture was holding back the fulfilment of its regional ambitions. When you have the vision to shake off the old and embrace the new, extraordinary things can happen. We are confident that with Epicor ERP in place, the company will march quickly towards a new horizon.” • INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS Issue 29 47