Challenges
Encompix,
Inc. (www.encompix.com),
a privately-held North American provider of enterprise resource planning
(ERP) solutions helps mid-size engineer-to-order (ETO) and project-based
manufacturers improve their business is a stellar example of a focused niche
vendor. To illustrate, seven US-based ETO companies recently selected the Encompix
ERP system within a -days a time frame of thirty days.
While the company's focus allows it to keep pace with trends in technology and customer requirements in its target niche, too narrow a focus comes with its liabilities as well. Namely, in addition to its small size, which may imply a negative viability perception these days when many believe "the bigger is the better," limited financial resources, low visibility and brand recognition, and the product's limited global capabilities are the challenges that the company has yet to overcome. Encompix admits losing some deals because of its inability to support prospects outside North America and in languages other than English (except for a French because of its partner in Quebec, Canada). It remains a good practice for manufacturers that are selecting solutions to factor in costs, the financial viability of the vendor, local support, and many other criteria, which might not go to Encompix' favor.
Also,
many ETO prospects still have notable mix-mode manufacturing environments, which
handle a significant deal of "widgets" and require certain repetitive manufacturing
and inventory management functionalities, where Encompix may not be nearly as
competitive as in clear-cut ETO environments. Having to deliver a number of
functionalities through third-party solutions, which are natively offered by
many larger competitors as a matter of course, may also deter some interface-wary
customers. Thus, Encompix should try to provide as many third-party solutions
as possible as a standard configuration, which should make customers oblivious
to the origin of the module. Encompix also has to beef up and better advertise
its product's interconnectivity and e-collaboration and product lifecycle
management (PLM) offering. While a comprehensive PLM strategy (see The
Many Faces of PLM) might be a tall order for Encompix to deliver on
its own, some sporadic projects of integrating Encompix ERP with the project
portfolio solution provider Primavera and with the product data management (PDM)
provider SmartTeam should be parlayed into more strategic alliances.
To
that end, Encompix has postponed its .NET rewriting effort in 2002 until Microsoft
fully clarifies its Business Framework vision and security issues. At this stage,
2006 seems as a more realistic timeframe for Encompix to adopt .NET technology
within its application. In the meantime the vendor is taking interim steps to
prepare its application for a Microsoft UI and multi-database support. (i.e.,
Progress, SQL Server, and Oracle), which apparently means it
is trailing current Epicor and QAD's endeavors. Although the vendor already
boasts twelve Web-enabled modules, its presentation (UI) remains "boxy" as opposed
to a Windows XP metaphor of the solutions that have already
embraced a Microsoft .NET UI.
Potential Encompix customers are primarily North America based companies and their divisions with less than $100 million (USD) in revenues per location and within the following discrete manufacturing industries: machinery, conveyors, tools, dies, molds, automation equipment, oil and gas equipment, custom woodworking, boat builders, satellite communication systems, custom cign-makers, custom greenhouses, etc. These customers should certainly consider the offered product line, bearing in mind what the competitors have to offer. At least, Encompix should be evaluated to raise the bar for other vendors' offerings in the contest in terms of demonstrating how their solutions would manage all aspects of complex projects, deliver on-time and on-budget, generate early warning of project problems (such as, exceeded estimate's time/cost), manage cash flow, provide confidence in estimates, incorporate aspects of e-business, shorten project cycle times, assess which projects are profitable or not, and so on. Prospective customers that typically have materials go straight to the WIP instead of receiving critical materials into inventory that are later issued to the shop floor, may find Encompix as quite accommodating. The same would hold for the customers that prefer not to have to post finished goods to inventory before sending them to the installation site straight from the WIP.
On a more general note, companies who are project manufacturers, ETO, build to order, jobbing shops or contract manufacturers should think carefully when selecting an ERP system. Given the maturity of the ERP market, its ongoing consolidation, and that fact that the competitive advantage is hard enough for manufacturers to find, they should not compromise on their requirements. Small and mid-size enterprises should Especially ask hard questions about the scope of an ERP system, and how it supports project-based idiosyncrasies. After all, a new system should always be about improving the business and not a mere technology initiative.
The vendor that listens to your needs instead of telling you what "cool things" its software can or cannot do, one which speaks your language and uses your terminology and vernacular is a good candidate as a vendor that will understand your business. Still, as a sort of a litmus test, prod each vendor to tell you what percentage of its sales would belong to your industry. Vertical focus indicates that software contains industry-specific features and that ERP vendors have certain industry expertise. Also, in implementing an industry-specific application, it is important to ensure that the application provider's implementation team includes members with in-depth knowledge and experience in that industry. Vendors geared toward certain industries should have solid integration skills or strong relationships with systems integrators that have industry-related expertise. This should significantly streamline implementation time by eliminating a lengthy vendor or integrator learning curve.
Often,
buying a completely integrated solution is not an option when companies have
either an accounting or project-management system in place, which they will
not want to simply rip-and-replace. Thus, prospects should assess the contesting
vendors' flexibility to integrate to legacy and other third-party applications,
and keep up with new versions or upgrades to both solutions. Built in interfaces
to commonly used third-party products like MS Project, MS
Office, AutoCAD, Crystal Reports,
etc., should be questioned, possibly during software demonstrations.