FEATURE: ERP
MONZER TOHME, REGIONAL VP MIDDLE
EAST AND AFRICA, EPICOR SOFTWARE.
of the business. Thus allowing him or
her to make smart decisions around
the business.
What are the different types of
industries that can utilise tailored
ERP solutions?
From an Epicor perspective, we very
much focus on four industries which are
manufacturing, services, distribution and
hospitality. Within these industries, we’ll
drill down to the vertical body because
if we look at one industry for example,
such as manufacturing, we have more
than 2,000 verticals. We definitely won’t
cover the 2,000 but around 20 verticals
are a key focus for us and we build
specific functionalities for these. That
makes a big impact for these verticals
and the utilisation of the ERP because
that is their whole end-to-end business
requirement catered for.
Of those four main industries, how
do their needs differ?
How can a tailored ERP solution help
businesses plan the best ways to use
their most important resources?
Tailored ERPs are built specifically for
industry verticals and by providing
functionality for specific industries, you
minimise the effort of customisation.
Thus minimising the risk and ensuring
that the implementation and the project
will have high percentages of success.
What are the different aspects
of a business that a tailored ERP
approach can make more efficient?
The impact will be heavily on the
core business which could involve a
manufacturing space. You can have a
production environment that collects
information and provides it back to
the ERP.
An ERP can provide more accurate
information on the production
cycle, electricity consumption,
human utilisation and maintenance
requirements. It provides a more
intelligent mode of operation
providing the CEO, or even the CFO,
with online accurate data of all aspects
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Again, I go back to the core industry
requirement, because there is definitely
commonality around finance. Finance
becomes a consolidation engine for all
these industries. HR processing would
be similar across them and payroll
would be fairly standard, depending on
the country where the organisation is.
Then you have the local regulations to
take account of.
But in terms of the core of the
businesses manufacturing, for instance,
is very different from distribution and
again, very different from service and
very different from hospitality.
Even if you observe one industry
such as the manufacturing industry,
if you look at vertical solutions, the
manufacturer who produces food is
different from those who produce
drinks. Even on a drinks level, those who
make juice are different from those
who make milk and so on.
There’s a huge difference when it comes
to the core of different businesses.
Although, sometimes vendors say that
‘business is all very similar’ that’s very
unrealistic. There’s maybe common
ground from business standards, around
Finance and HR, but each business is
very unique when it comes to investing
in its core industry requirements. This is
where industry-focused ERPs give real
added value for its customers.
In what ways do ERPs need to
account for geographic diversity?
At Epicor when we build our solutions, as
we go through the journey of releasing
new updates, new versions, new
releases, we look at the global model.
We provide services across customers
and partners, collecting information to
capture what is unique about specific
companies. One aspect could definitely
be a localisation requirement for
specific geographies. For example, the
GCC is going through the process of
implementing VAT by January.
We look at the local requirements from
a geography perspective. We look at
UAE, we look at Saudi, we see what
commonality there is between the two
when it comes to VAT regulation and
ask what is the differentiation? Then
accordingly, we add new features to
accommodate local differences in
finance regulations and languages.
How can the ERP be used to improve
customer satisfaction?
The main objective today of any
ERP is to provide a consolidated view
of the organisation for the senior
management. If the ERP is fully utilised
across the organisation in the different
departments that definitely will increase
efficiency and productivity. When we
increase both, that will have a positive
impact on making the right decisions
and in retail this will see increasing
profitability, minimising risks, making
the right decision to accommodate
the current changes and the current
challenges companies face in these
tough economic times.
The other aspects when we look at
satisfaction is the usability. Ten years
back the ERP was, from a user interface
point of view, a bit rigid. It’s more
menu-driven today. Cultures have
changed around social media and
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