ERP in Manufacturing

About this issue

ERP in Manufacturing: Building a Connected Industrial Business

What does it take to turn manufacturing ERP into a platform for better decisions and dependable execution? ERP News Magazine Issue 53, June 2025, examines that question through implementation guidance, executive interviews, industrial technology analysis, and customer experience. The issue connects enterprise systems with shop-floor processes, financial information, quality management, and the partnerships that help manufacturers modernize.

Its central argument is practical: software creates value when organizations establish clear goals, reliable data, connected workflows, and user confidence. Across manufacturing, distribution, services, and aviation, the contributions explore how those foundations support innovation while preserving operational control.

Executive Perspectives: Partner Expertise and Accessible Financial Data

Brenda Nobleza, Vice President of Americas Channel at Epicor, discusses the shift from transactional software resale to strategic partnerships. Her interview examines industry specialization, role-based enablement, deal protection, recurring customer value, and alignment between vendor and partner teams. She also considers how AI, security, and connected ecosystems could change the capabilities partners need. The emphasis remains on trust and practical support that help specialists deliver lasting customer outcomes.

John Miller, Vice President of Product Management for ERP Reporting and BI at insightsoftware, explains Spreadsheet Server's integration with Infor M3 Cloud ERP. The discussion explores how finance teams can retain familiar Excel workflows while accessing live source data and reducing manual export and reconciliation risks. Connectivity, user experience, and incremental automation are central; potential agentic reporting capabilities remain part of the wider development direction rather than proven customer results.

Implementation, Investment, and the Shop-Floor Connection

Abby Jenkins, Product Marketing Manager for Oracle NetSuite supply chain products, provides a manufacturing ERP implementation guide. It covers requirements, vendor selection, total cost of ownership, process mapping, integration, data migration, testing, training, and continuous improvement. The article treats implementation as an organizational transition requiring participation from leadership and frontline users.

John Rivers, Managing Partner and Founder of IMKore, makes the case for involving experienced advisers early rather than relying on recovery work after a stalled project. Matthew Gordon-Box, Supply Chain Product Manager at SYSPRO, examines how manufacturing ERP supports smart factories through real-time information, integrated planning, traceability, and flexible production.

Therese Snow, DELMIA Digital Marketing Expert and editor of the DELMIA Blog at Dassault Systèmes, explores MES-ERP integration. Her article connects detailed production feedback with enterprise planning, inventory, costing, and compliance. It also considers phased integration, shared data formats, operator training, industrial IoT, and virtual twins.

Aptean's investment analysis connects manufacturing technology proposals with cost visibility, risk reduction, customer retention, and scalable deployment. Rather than focusing only on software acquisition, it encourages readers to identify where operational inefficiencies weaken margins and how targeted improvements could address them.

Industrial AI, Sustainability, and Quality Resilience

Lukasz Ostrowski, Development Manager in SAP Research & Innovation, examines collaboration between SAP, NEURA Robotics, and NVIDIA on physical AI. The article links enterprise context, simulation, and cognitive robotics to potential industrial workflows, illustrating how digital intelligence can connect with physical execution.

Andrew Burton, Global Industry Director for Manufacturing at IFS, explores remanufacturing as a way to preserve product value, reuse components, and manage resource consumption. He discusses the ERP requirements behind reverse logistics, inspection, costing, and traceability. Brian Brooks, Director of Product Management at QAD, examines how quality management can support controlled sourcing changes, knowledge retention, training, and risk management amid disruption and talent constraints.

Brooks Noonan of NTT DATA Business Solutions brings these themes together through unified data, smart technology, and scalable personalization. His analysis connects SAP-centered transformation with responsive production, operational visibility, and specialist delivery expertise.

Industry Developments: Modernization, Ownership, and Enterprise Finance

The news section considers SecurityBridge's perspective on extended SAP support and Rimini Street's separate third-party support announcement. These are distinct service propositions within the issue's 2025 context. Further coverage includes Dusty Alexander's 35-year milestone at Global Shop Solutions, Aptean's VLEX acquisition, Acumatica's agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners, and SAP's partnership with Alibaba Group.

Sage Future 2025 coverage examines finance automation, AI transparency, and partner initiatives. Capgemini's engagement with EDETEK addresses intended clinical-development innovation, while Unit4 research examines financial-system friction in professional services. Avalara's accountant confidence survey adds a perspective on SMB uncertainty. These announcements, research findings, and strategic intentions are not presented as universal outcomes or current market updates.

Customer Stories: Integration, Quality, and Operational Value

Structural Technologies' Rootstock announcement describes a completed go-live replacing a decades-old manufacturing system. Integration with its engineering application improves forecast, procurement, work-order, and inventory visibility. Additional work-order functionality, overhead tracking, and the Workday Financial Management connection remain part of a subsequent phase.

Active8 Managed Technologies uses ECI's e-automate, Printanista, MobileTech, and KnowledgeSync to support diversification beyond managed print. The case describes consolidated operational information, remote device monitoring, automation, and improved contract visibility. Reported benefits include staff time released for customer service and stronger business oversight, without a quantified financial ROI.

Argentina's grocery wholesaler Vital uses SAP S/4HANA and shared analytics to accelerate purchasing and pricing decisions. Its CIO reports analysis falling from several days to about two hours and approximately $35 million saved on perishables over the preceding year. These are customer-reported historical results; broader cloud migration and further AI use remain planned in the account.

Autokiniton builds on its longstanding QAD relationship to standardize FMEAs, control plans, and quality knowledge across facilities and acquired businesses. QAD EQMS supports common process libraries, tailored approval workflows, and better access to institutional expertise. The story describes qualitative efficiency and compliance gains rather than a quantified defect-reduction or ROI figure.

China Airlines' IFS story examines integrated maintenance, engineering, planning, and materials management. The case reports a US$3.5 million reduction in Engineering & Maintenance Organization operating costs within two years of site activation, alongside maintenance-process improvements. These historical results illustrate how aviation-specific workflows and connected information can support continuing operational and safety objectives.

Together, the issue presents manufacturing ERP as an evolving capability linking people, information, and execution. Its practical message is to modernize with clear priorities, measure value carefully, and strengthen the connections that make industrial systems useful in daily work.