Epicor Showcases Vantage 8.0, The Industry’s First Manufacturing Software Solution Based On A 100% Service-Oriented Architecture
N/A (September 14, 2004) – Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies, today introduced Vantage 8.0, the industry’s first manufacturing solution based on a 100-percent service-oriented architecture. Currently in beta and expected to be generally available to customers in the fall of 2004, Vantage 8.0 is a complete end-to-end manufacturing system that addresses the core business needs of make-to-order (MTO) and mixed-mode manufacturers with built-in workflows managing the entire order cycle: from Marketing and Sales through Production and Planning, Sourcing and Procurement, Installation and Service, through to Financial recognition.
Featuring an n-tier architecture built with Microsoft .NET and Web services technology, Vantage 8.0 has been completely architected from the ground up to support growing market requirements for Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs), a new application development paradigm that enables businesses to leverage best-in-class software services through open industry standards, simplifying application development and integration. The new architecture exposes all functionality as Web services, offering new levels of application reliability, scalability, system interoperability and flexibility, combined with a rich user experience and low total cost of ownership.
Designed to support collaboration from the shop, plant, warehouse and across the enterprise, Vantage 8.0 is the culmination of Epicor’s two-year development effort to provide its manufacturing customers with a single services-based business framework that supports multiple workflows, tailored to a manufacturers needs based on size of business or industries served. Ultimately, the solution adapts to a manufacturers changing needs, driving improved operating efficiency as a business grows.
“With Vantage 8.0, Epicor has once again shown the type of innovation that is made possible by building on Microsoft .NET technologies,” said Mark Young, General Manager of Developer and Platform Evangelism at Microsoft Corp. “Through its innovative use of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the .NET Framework, Epicor has delivered an enterprise solution that utilizes powerful and productive smart client architecture, is optimized for SQL Server and is designed specifically to fit the requirements of midmarket manufacturers – from job shops to multi-site companies to global multinational organizations.”
“When we embarked on the development of our Web services-based manufacturing solutions, the primary focus was to empower our customers to leverage new technology at a pace that would minimize risk and maximize value,” said George Klaus, chairman, CEO and president of Epicor. “With Vantage 8.0, we’re proud to bring our expertise and heritage to bear, delivering a solution uniquely tailored to the needs of the midmarket manufacturer, leveraging the latest technology, and offering enterprise level functionality at a lower total cost of ownership.”
New Embedded Capabilities, New Standards for Ease of Use and Easy Upgrade
Vantage 8.0 offers new capabilities including embedded advanced planning and scheduling, help desk management complementing Vantage’s embedded CRM, enterprise purchasing management and advanced multi-plant management, which enables companies to sync their manufacturing operations globally, by deploying and consolidating enterprise information across multiple companies, multiple servers, multiple databases and multiple countries.
Vantage 8.0 provides maximum ease-of-use with drag and drop capabilities that enable users to personalize their desktop to gain insight and visibility into specific operations of interest. Additionally, Vantage 8.0 provides a whole new level of platform-independent connectivity and interoperability and support. The solution is operating system and database independent to accommodate virtually any technology environment and any size manufacturing operation, offering customers new capabilities and new levels of application reliability, scalability, system interoperability and flexibility, combined with a rich user experience and low cost of ownership.
According to industry analysts Robert Anderson and Whit Andrews of Gartner Inc., “the potential payoffs of using Web services are compelling, including increased agility, faster and less-expensive integration, and the ability to focus on business processes instead of how to integrate and manage the functionality enabled by established IT assets.”
Vantage 8.0 delivers unrivalled flexibility and performance for both developers and customers, and offers development of applications based on Web services that have either a smart client or browser-based user interface. The solution enables Epicor’s manufacturing customers to leverage Web services technology for maximum ease of use, integration, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO), without complex or costly upgrade headaches.
Customers Take a First Look at Vantage 8.0
Ferguson Perforating (www.fergusonperf.com), a Providence, R.I.-based manufacturer of perforated materials used in such diverse applications as clothes dryers, jet engine nacelles, acoustical panels, food processing equipment, and covers for audio, electronic and telecommunications equipment is a Vantage 8.0 beta program participant. “The new service-oriented architecture is a huge step forward for Vantage 8.0, and manufacturing software in general,” said Keith Mailloux, manager of technical services for Ferguson Perforating. “We anticipate the new open architecture will simplify integration to the back office, and will give us more control over the look and feel of our Vantage system. We’re also looking forward to the new levels of flexibility and enhanced user experience that Vantage 8.0 will afford, such as the ability to quickly navigate the system and personalize views.”
Among the first customers scheduled to deploy Vantage 8.0 is St. Paul, Minn.-based Synovis Interventional Solutions, a division of Synovis Life Technologies (www.synovislife.com), a diversified medical products company that develops devices for the surgical and interventional treatment of disease.
Source: Epicor
