Irvine, CA February 3, 2003 Epicor Software today released the latest upgrade to its Vista manufacturing software solution, adding inventory management and customer relationship management functionality, among other new features.
Epicor said that Vista 6.0, which is available immediately, provides a solution for managing scheduling, job tracking and integrating accounting functions to increase efficiency and productivity.
The solution is intended to automate operations and improve workflow for small job shops and make-to-order departments of large enterprises, and it offers support for both Microsoft SQL Server and Progress RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), according to Epicor.
"Providing our customers the ability to choose the technology that is the best match for their business will help ensure that a manufacturer remains competitive in today's ever-changing economy," said Paul Farrell, senior director of product marketing for Epicor's Manufacturing Solutions Group.
The solution provider is highlighting Vista's new Advanced Inventory Management module, designed to help small and midsize manufactures to meet customers' increased tracking needs. With features such as serial tracking, dimensional inventory and the ability to review substitute parts when making key buying decisions, this module is intended to give a manufacturer's purchasing and inventory management employees real-time visibility of inventory to help them make better buying decisions.
The solution includes a "dashboard" intended to put this and other critical business information at the fingertips of a manufacturer's employees. The dashboard provides real-time exception-driven indicator flags to users, like late jobs or expiring quotes, alerting them to business issues as they arise so adjustments can be made on the fly.
Vista's Advanced Bill of Materials (BOM) module offers complex multi-level assemblies that can be created, maintained and used for quotes or jobs, which the provider said could result in time savings for engineering and production departments. The BOM module also enables multiple revisions tracking with effectivity dates and approvals for improved process documentation and tighter engineering control.
The Quality Assurance module streamlines the quality process across the manufacturing operation, Epicor asserts, with an "Inspectors' Queue" giving inspection teams a bird's-eye view into a shop's various quality processes. The QA module is integrated with other Vista modules to provide an audit trail of shop processes.
The solution also provides some basic customer relationship management functionality with a new Contact Management module, which allows for documenting and sharing customer communication within an organization. Contact Management also combines user task control intended to improve a manufacturer's overall responsiveness to customer inquiries.
