Epicor Archives - Page 19 of 20

Oct 2016

Epicor Presents Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner Award

Earlier this week, Epicor presented Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner Award recognition at the annual Epicor Partner Awards

Epicor Presents Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner Award

Encompass Solutions Award, Encompass, Epicor, Epicor Partner, Ignite, Platinum Partner soniah

Earlier this week, Epicor presented Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner Award recognition at the annual Epicor Partner Awards ceremony, presided over by Epicor Software Corp. We were honored to receive this distinction once again and strive to continue delivering the highest level of service in partnership with Epicor.

Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner

Greensboro, NC, 25 October 2016 – Encompass Solutions, Inc., has achieved Platinum Partner Status in the Epicor Channel Partner Program. Members are selected by Epicor Software Corporation based on contributions to customers, revenue generated to Epicor as well as other considerations that showcased the partners’ abilities in transforming customers to position them to grow by leveraging Epicor solutions.

“We are honored to be recognized by Epicor as a Platinum Partner for another consecutive year as we continue to deliver excellence throughout the implementation, technical support, and training of Epicor ERP,” said Sonia Haslam, managing partner, Encompass Solutions, Inc.

Encompass has provided ERP consulting and industry-leading development of mission-critical enterprise solutions for over 15 years. The company’s focus is to be an advocate to customers facing the challenges of the market’s fierce competition and is often chosen as experts in this field to help enterprises achieve a technological advantage. Encompass’ customer base has expanded to sectors beyond standard manufacturing and distribution to include pharmaceuticals, life sciences and more.

“Congratulations to our Platinum Partner Program member, Encompass Solutions, for enabling business growth by implementing Epicor solutions for another year,” said Joe Cowan, president and chief executive officer, Epicor Software Corporation. “Our partners are an extension of our sales force and we are fortunate to have an elite group of IT professionals aligned with us to support customers to focus on business growth, innovation, and enhanced customer experience.”

Epicor Partner Program Awards

The Epicor Partner Program Awards are designed to reward Epicor Channel Partner Program members who have demonstrated their ability to serve as an extension of Epicor’s own salesforce to help businesses worldwide grow and transform. There are several different categories across different geographies in which partners are awarded, ranging from Global Partner of the Year to specific recognitions such as Customer Advocacy and Marketing Excellence.

About Encompass Solutions, Inc.

Our mission at Encompass is to provide a professional services practice skilled in business consulting, project management, and software implementation that offers clients a complete business solution focused on high levels of customer service, industry expertise, and value available to the North American manufacturing industry and beyond. Encompass Solutions, Inc. is a privately held company. Visit us at encompass-inc.com.

About Encompass Solutions

Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.

Jul 2016

Barcodes: How To Increase Efficiency And Better Utilize Systems

Encompass and Bezlio partner on many projects aimed at enhancing performance through better utilization of barcode systems. For

Barcodes: How To Increase Efficiency And Better Utilize Systems

Epicor Barcodes, Barcoding, Epicor, ERP, Inventory Management, Scanners, Technology bellis

Encompass and Bezlio partner on many projects aimed at enhancing performance through better utilization of barcode systems. For years the gold standard on the shop floor has been to use dedicated barcode scanners to replace time-consuming and error-prone manual keyed entry. Unfortunately, many mobile applications require the user to verify that they are in the correct field prior to scanning a barcode and then re-checking after the scan to ensure that the correct data was entered into the correct field. This removes some of the efficiency of the system because it requires the user to be constantly going between the handheld unit and the task that they are performing.

Adding Field Qualifiers For Barcodes’ Labels

The first efficiency that you can add is by adding field qualifiers to your barcode labels. These can then be interpreted and the data can be automatically filled into the correct data fields instead of relying on the user to have the correct fields selected. Most customers benefit from adding an automated process in their purchase order receipt process to print off an internal label which can be added onto any raw material received. This process ensures a consistent label format for all internal transactions.

The below carton label is printed by the customer as a finished good label, they have listed their part number, job number that produced it, and the quantity in the carton. By having this information to perform inventory movements, pick for shipping or assign a product to a shipment the user can simply scan the three barcodes, have it entered into the correct fields automatically, and complete whatever transaction they are performing.

singleBox

Adding Non-Visual, Dynamic Feedback

The next efficiency that can be added is providing non-visual feedback to the user. When the user has scanned the necessary data to perform the transaction, you can add an audio or vibration cue for them so that they can focus more on the task than providing constant visual verification of the process.

These simple changes can provide a dramatic improvement of data integrity and employee efficiency for shop floor operations, but to quote Steve Jobs “one more thing…”

Most modern handheld devices including smartphones or the latest generation of mobile computers for shop floor applications such as the Zebra TC7x and TC5x series include a camera. Now while shop floor selfies may not have a use yet, the camera can still add substantial value to shop floor processing efficiency.

Many of us have used the barcode scanning applications on a smartphone, the problem is that they are much slower than a traditional barcode scanner, they are unwieldy to use, and are not appropriate for the most part in a shop floor environment due to these issues. But that is for scanning one barcode, instead of using the camera you can scan all of the barcodes at once. Using our customer barcode at the top, let’s say to add that box to a picking process the user would need to scan the 3 individual barcodes to pick that box as they put it into a cart. Using that exact image above, we can extract all 3 barcodes our simultaneously and then by using either their data qualifiers or by using their relative locations on the label we can pick with a single operation.

Now scanning efficiency with data qualifiers and a quality feedback mechanism to the user means that often times scanning a single box with a dedicated barcode scanner will be quicker than taking a picture, but there is nothing that limits the transaction to a single box. Take for instance the illustration below:

Scanning each of those barcodes although efficient would mean that you would have to perform a transaction for each box. By using the camera we could either choose to perform that transaction on all of them simultaneously, or provide the user with a touch based interface where we present all of the data that we gathered from the image (each box) and allow them to select the boxes that they would like to perform the transaction on. This increases process efficiency dramatically by having a single step to perform many complex operations.

In this case, working from our photo we’ve extracted all of the labels that were visible. From there we’ve created a mobile UI in the Ionic framework allowing the user to select the cartons they would like to pick and pick all of them in a single operation.

Hopefully, this inspires some of you out there to look at what else mobile devices can do to increase employee efficiency for shop floor operations. If you have any thoughts or questions please feel free to reach out and we’ll help however we can!

About Encompass Solutions

Jun 2016

Save on Credit Card Transactions: An Enhancement to Epicor

What business wouldn’t want to save on credit card transactions? Well, we’ve developed a process that will allow

Save on Credit Card Transactions: An Enhancement to Epicor

Epicor Credit Card, Epicor, Transactions bellis

What business wouldn’t want to save on credit card transactions? Well, we’ve developed a process that will allow you to do just that. We have developed a solution as an enhancement to the base credit card processing module that Epicor provides. With the Epicor credit card transaction enhancement, we replace a DLL with an updated one that looks for events involving capturing of funds or sales (where it is an authorization and capture all in one).

The Epicor Credit Card Transaction Enhancement

When we receive that transaction event, we query the Epicor database for additional information and add that to the request. This resides at level 3 details, which includes everything for level 2. The nice thing about credit card processors is they will only use the amount of information they need. If it is a consumer credit card, the additional data will be discarded. However, for B2B customers, the enhancement will automatically select the right level and provide those cost savings.

The standard Epicor credit card handling system only provides level 1 information. This is essentially the total and information to identify the customer in terms of fraud protection. Now some of these fees and savings are individually negotiated. The default fees for PayPal Website Payments (which is technically what is used) is 2.9% + $.30/transaction.

Now level 2 will be the level that helps our customers the most. This requires additional details on the purchase. Details can include the amount of the tax, a customer code, postal codes, and tax identification number. For customers that are using corporate cards (B2B customers), you get a lower fee if you provide this information as well. I had seen the most often quoted numbers as .5% savings for level 2 customers.

Level 3 is the next iteration of that offering something around 1% total savings. This is for business to business (tend to be larger corporations) and business to government purchases. For this, we are sending a lot of additional data in terms of the line-level details about the purchase.

The Epicor Credit Card Transaction Enhancement Level 1, 2, and 3 Comparison

Looking at only level 2 savings (.5%), $400,000 in credit card sales would result in an annual savings of $2,000.

Bezlio is a professional services firm. They provide custom development services and support for Infor ERP Visual (Visual Enterprise/Visual Manufacturing) and Epicor Vantage ERP.

Here at Encompass Solutions, Inc., we are proud to continue working with Bezlio on many development and implementation projects.

About Encompass Solutions

Jun 2016

Take Advantage Of IRS Section 179 Tax Deduction With EPICOR 10

Quick: Think of something scarier than navigating and understanding the tax code! Okay. Are you done? If your top

Take Advantage Of IRS Section 179 Tax Deduction With EPICOR 10

Epicor Deduction, Epicor, Tax felixc

Quick: Think of something scarier than navigating and understanding the tax code! Okay. Are you done? If your top three looks like ours—which are navigating and understanding the tax code, giant spiders, and regular-sized spiders—then we’ve got good news for you! Here’s a hint: it comes in the form of a business software tax deduction.

Epicor ERP Qualifies For A Business Software Tax Deduction

One of the things we’re not afraid of is finding ways to make our ERP systems affordable enough for any company. IRS Section 179 is one of the ways we do this: It covers all the software that you bought for your company in a tax year. It’s right there on line 5 of Eligible Property. That means you can deduct the full purchase or leasing price directly from your gross income. This was implemented by the U.S. Government to encourage businesses to buy equipment from other businesses, while investing in themselves at the same time. It’s a fantastic reason and a serious incentive to upgrading your ERP system.

How To Collect Your Epicor Business Software Tax Deduction

To get into a little bit more detail, the software you purchase has to meet all of the following specifications:

The software must be financed (only specific type leases or loans qualify), or purchased outright by you.
The software must be used in your business for income-producing activity.
The software must have a determinable useful life.
The software must be expected to last more than one year.

In addition, these three specific stipulations must be met:

The software must be readily available for purchase by the general public.
The software must be subject to a non-exclusive license.
The software must not have been substantially modified. Basically, the software can’t be custom code.

Now for some more good news: We know about some software that fulfills all of Section 179’s requirements. It’s a brand new Epicor 10 system, installed and maintained by Encompass Solutions, Inc, of course.

Contact your accounting professional today to see how implementing Epicor 10 will allow you to take advantage of IRS Section 179 tax deduction.

There is bad news, though: We can’t do anything about the spiders.

About Encompass Solutions

Apr 2016

How to Know When to Take Advantage of Managed Services Providers

The essence of reaching out for help is never an easy task. We live in a “can do”

How to Know When to Take Advantage of Managed Services Providers

Epicor Encompass, Epicor, IT, Managed Services, Support valenciat

The essence of reaching out for help is never an easy task. We live in a “can do” society, where independence and self-sufficiency often define who we are or at least how we are perceived by others. The acclimation of stating that you just clearly do not know the answer to an unspoken question can be daunting for some and often forbidden. Therefore, we “spin our wheels” for hours on end, attempting to solve our own issues or enlighten ourselves with the answers to our own questions. Here’s where managed services providers can step in and lighten the load or deliver clear direction that leads to clear results.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

-Albert Einstein

How Managed Services Providers Can Help

How many hours can you state that you have worked on something that you had a burning question on and you either never discovered the answer, or you just chose to ignore the unanswered question- with the constellation of thought that the issue would magically disappear one day. We are all guilty of this one thing. It occurs daily- at work, at home, at school, we all experience the clouded thought/ question mark experience.

In our ever-changing technological world, we will always have questions, but how we choose to handle these unknowns is what determines our success individually, as a business and as a technology community. With this in mind, we have developed an ERP Community Support system- our Epicor Help Desk Support organization, known as Managed Services- is here to answer any and all of your Epicor questions.

As Managed Services providers, Encompass delivers a program that includes the ongoing maintenance of Epicor environments (typically a Test, Pilot, Live and Training environment), application of one off bug fixes (SCR’s), restarting application servers and setup and maintenance of user accounts.

As part of implementing this service, Encompass Solutions, Inc. will provide standardized procedures for environment management, which must be adhered to by all resources – for example, installing an SCR on a test system prior to deployment in live. Environment refreshes can be requested and scheduled through managed service tickets. To ensure stable operations, the SQL maintenance plan will be reviewed to ensure that preventive maintenance is taking place, consistency checks are being performed, that load balancing has been performed, and that hardware is correctly specified for optimal operations.

Beyond our Help Desk Support organization, we also provide assistance with Epicor customizations through our Incident Base Support program. In this instance, a help desk ticket would be logged by you- the end-user, and if flagged for Incident-Based Support, we would write up the requirement(s) for approval, and provide an estimate for the services which must be approved. These requests may still be logged through the helpdesk, but will typically be quoted separately outside of Managed Services.

Encompass Solutions has a team of over 65 resources spanning 4 countries globally, with combined experience in ERP reaching over 250 years.This makes it clear that we are an ERP support organization dedicated to being much more than managed services providers. As an Epicor certified Platinum Services partner, Encompass resources attend training and complete certifications alongside Epicor’s internal consultants, developers, and other departmental staff. Additionally, as a partner of the highest tier and a more condensed organization, we provide not only a more personal approach to your implementation support, but an additional level of agility and resource escalation to facilitate your success.

We have been providing infrastructure support for Epicor ERP for over 15 years, on numerous platforms. With our coverage, and deep Epicor infrastructure experience, Encompass is uniquely positioned to offer effective and responsive services. Allow us to work with you to resolve those burning ERP questions.

About Encompass Solutions

Apr 2016

The Epicor XL Connect Solution

Excel continues to be such a key tool in business today, that Enterprises of all sizes – big

The Epicor XL Connect Solution

Epicor Epicor, ERP, XL connect David Cranshaw

Excel continues to be such a key tool in business today, that Enterprises of all sizes – big and small – use it extensively. It is such a universally known tool that despite the sophistication of many other available programs, it is fair to say that Excel is very much at the heart of the workplace, particularly in Financial departments. The rub is that Financial data and other important metrics normally are held in your Company’s main IT system, ERP and Enterprise Management Database. So what if you could create and refresh reports in Microsoft® Office Excel®, combining ERP data with additional lookups and calculations to get the answers you need without the usual challenges of gathering source data and refreshing reports? This is where Epicor XL Connect comes into the picture.

Epicor XL Connect

The XL Connect solution is designed with pre-packaged content packs for Epicor ERP but is also available for other ERP Platforms. We have helped many customers implement this bridge between their enterprise source data and Excel.

With XL Connect, you can access real-time data from your ERP system with built-in functions that let you combine ERP data with non-ERP data, run lookups or calculations, and arrange and format data exactly as you want.

For the technical users, here’s what’s happening under the hood.

When you launch the XL Connect client, it reaches out to an Admin File Share. This is typically on a server, but technically it’s just a basic file share that can be copied anywhere.

When you drag in a function from the XL Connect tree view to your MS Excel spreadsheet, you are simply reaching out to an SSRS Report Server to grab the corresponding XL Connect report, and then pulling in data from your data source, which could be for example an Epicor database, so that you can populate the report in your spreadsheet.

XL Connect can be licensed for users who can run drill-downs, and also for developers who can build advanced, cross-platform queries that can be run directly from Microsoft Excel.

For more information about XL Connect please click here. We are happy to help!

About Encompass Solutions

Feb 2016

Creating An On-The-Fly Pop-up Form

From time to time I’ve needed to have a popup form appear on an Epicor form to ask

Creating An On-The-Fly Pop-up Form

Epicor Epicor, ERP, Form, Pop-Up jimk

From time to time I’ve needed to have a popup form appear on an Epicor form to ask the user to take some action or enter information. Since the toolbox does not have “EpiForm” as a choice, the form and its controls have to be programmed. This is not a big deal, though you do have to take the time to get the controls all laid out the way you want.

Of course, programming entails changing the code, running it, seeing where things are, changing the code to fix, repeat. I have some formulas I use to help speed up the process but I still typically need to do some fine-tuning by hand. Also, keep in mind: If you need to create events associated with the controls, you’ll have to code them manually.

Another option is to use Visual Studio to build the form, adjust the items where you want them, and then take the associated form.cs file and copy the code into your program.

Since you don’t always have Visual Studio an alternate approach came to me. When adding an EpiCombo box to a grid column, I add an EpiCombo to my screen someplace, adjust the properties so that it gets the list of values I want using the BO. Then I hide it before associating with the grid column.

How To Create Your Epicor Pop-up Form

It occurred to me I should be able to do a similar thing with controls for my popup. So, when I need a popup form, I do the following:

Add a sheet to the screen using the Sheet Wizard
Next, Add a groupbox to this sheet that is the same size as the popup form you will be using
After that, add the controls that you need to the group box, locating them where you need them. Since the groupbox is the same size as your form the location information will be the same.
Change any properties on the control, such as EpiBinding, if appropriate
In the Initialize code section make the sheet invisible
Create your popup form as usual except you just need to add the controls you created above, no need to set their location or size etc.

myPopupForm= new EpiForm();

myPopupForm.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(700, 500);

myPopupForm.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen;

myPopupForm.Controls.AddRange(new Control[] {grdEchoOrders,

btnOK,

btnCancel,

txtProgress);

myPopupForm.ShowDialog();……

If needed you can use the event wizard to add events for any of these controls; there is no need to code them manually. The controls are also global so you can reference them anywhere in the code.

About Encompass Solutions

Jan 2016

The EDI Specialist

So, what is this EDI specialist business that you’ve been hearing about? Great question, let’s answer it with

The EDI Specialist

EDI EDI, EDI Specialist, Electronic Data Interchange, Epicor, Integration landerson

So, what is this EDI specialist business that you’ve been hearing about? Great question, let’s answer it with another question: Do you like jumping through hoops and going through tedious manual processes when trying to interpret or convert the most simple, but sometimes most important, electronic documents from your business partners?

No? Surprise, surprise!

The EDI Specialist Is Definitely Something You Need

Here’s the real answer as to why enlisting the help of an EDI specialist can be invaluable for your business. An EDI specialist is an expert in Electronic data interchange (EDI), which is the computer to computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. They’re basic files you’re already familiar with: the purchase order, the Advanced Shipping Notice), the invoice, and more. Even though there are widely accepted standards on how to exchange these electronic documents, each company can format the transactions and data to best fit their business needs.

What EDI does is use “maps” to connect each document’s data format to the format needs of the receiver systems. Once the data is mapped, the receiver can then receive the data into their internal system to be processed. The transfer of information from one partner to the next is seamless between systems!

One of the biggest advantages of exchanging documents electronically is the lower margin for error. Not only is the data sent securely over the internet, but it avoids the hassle and vulnerability of being hand entered by an entry team. EDI also gives companies a faster order cycle time resulting in automated processes and instant communication with trading partners.

So with all the benefits, why haven’t you been utilizing EDI all along? It is no secret that many companies are faced with daunting deadlines, never-ending priorities, and a constant change of focus. They may feel lost on where to start or find it difficult to form an implementation or integration game plan. They may not have the resources, and struggle to achieve desired results. That’s where an experienced and professional partnership with a services organization can really benefit one’s business.

Allow that partnership to create a robust execution method for implementation of your EDI services with your business goals and systems in mind. This permits you to focus on your business while the services organization adds additional value by guiding your company through EDI implementation, supporting your business with expertise, and creating competitive advantages against your competitors.

So don’t wait! Now that you have all the questions answered, get started today with an EDI implementation through a services organization and take full advantage of goal-focused improvements and endless benefits that accompany exchanging business documents electronically through EDI!

Our EDI Solutions

What differentiates Epicor’s B2B Integration and EDI Managed Service On-Demand from other business integration solutions is the ability to provide our customers with the identical software tools if the business need outgrows that of an outsourced solution. Epicor’s on-demand data integration software uses its commercially available and fully supported software tools to connect our customers to their business partners as a service. As trading partner or application maps, profiles, and workflows are created for your business-specific environment, they are always available to the customer to utilize internally. The EDI Managed Service On-Demand solution grows as your business needs dictate.

Epicor’s EDI integration technology is now available on demand for customers looking to outsource their eCommerce function. Epicor has an array of service-based XML/EDI, data synchronization, and B2B integration offerings that allow organizations to reap the full benefit of Epicor’s powerful Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Customers outsourcing eCommerce processes to Epicor enjoy the advantages of true eBusiness—conducting business electronically with any party regardless of the service or solution their business partners use.

About Encompass Solutions

Dec 2015

The 12 Steps of Fiscal Year Period Accuracy

Tis’ the season for the 12 steps of Fiscal year planning for the 12 periods of the fiscal

The 12 Steps of Fiscal Year Period Accuracy

Helpful Tips Accounting, AP, Best Practices, Encompass, Epicor, ERP felixc

Tis’ the season for the 12 steps of Fiscal year planning for the 12 periods of the fiscal year. Get these steps out of the way so you can enjoy your holiday with peace of mind.

For those in need of a rundown of what a fiscal year (FY) is, it is a period that any company or government uses for accounting purposes. Financial statements are prepared according to the dates that make up that organizations FY. This may or may not align with a standard calendar year. The IRS recognizes that not all companies align their FY with a calendar and allows organizations to file as calendar-year taxpayers or fiscal-year taxpayers. You may hear this term used when referring to budgets, financial performance, and other accounting discussions.

Fiscal Year Period Accuracy

Here’s a brief guide to help you set up your FY period accuracy within your ERP system.

At (Financial Management/General Ledger/ Setup/Fiscal Calendar/ Selected Calendar) Latest FY = Current FY+1

THEN

Go to the Twelfth Step

ELSE

Add a New Fiscal year
Enter End Date
Save
Check Number of periods and closing periods for accuracy (check for period 13 requirements)
Go to Actions. If a Calendar period THEN Generate Periods
Check data accuracy
Generate Periods
Save and Exit ELSE
at (Fiscal Year/Fiscal Period/List tab)
Enter period date ranges needed
Save and Exit
Have a Happy New Year!

About Encompass Solutions

Nov 2015

Data Migration Tools Pt. 3

Patrick Miskill’s technical series on ERP tools, particularly the Epicor DMT, wraps up today with a look at

Data Migration Tools Pt. 3

Epicor Data, Data Management, Database, DMT, Encompass, Epicor, Transactions patrickm

Patrick Miskill’s technical series on ERP tools, particularly the Epicor DMT, wraps up today with a look at all the variables you’ll run into when building your ERP system and how learning about your errors is even more important than learning about your successes.

My actual experience with a manufacturer of fabric belts for large conveyor systems (Fenner Dunlop Americas) saw two uses of DMT: One for a major upgrade, a second for updating their Method of Manufacture/MOMs. In the ﬁrst case, we used DMT scripts to upload data from an older version of Epicor to a newer one. Similar to a new installation, we pulled data out of the source system and formatted it in several dozen spreadsheets for uploading to the new target system. Knowing how the data was structured in the old Epicor system was a big help. For new Epicor customers, extracting and massaging the data from a non‐Epicor legacy system is quite a project; in such cases DMT is an invaluable tool.

Where The Epicor DMT Comes Into Play

In the standard product, an engineer would have to run a “where‐used” report to determine which part revisions used the raw material; it could be just a few dozen or it could be over 100. Each part revision would require changing in the Engineering Workbench, one by one. It is a time consuming and manually intensive process. So we developed a process starting with a Business Activity Query (BAQ) which went out and extracted only the MOMs aﬀected by the change. The BAQ was developed speciﬁcally for subsequent use in DMT, i.e. column headings matched those required by DMT, we extracted all columns required by DMT (because we already knew the “rules” for MOMs) and only those optional columns we needed to update. We then entered Excel column formulas speciﬁc to the change(s). E.g. if the old raw material was a polyester yarn and the new material was a nylon yarn, unit weights and other factors speciﬁc to the textile industry (ever hear of a “twist contraction” variable?) could be entered into a formula that resulted in the new variables for the MOM.

Once the extract and validation of the Excel data was completed, it was simple to format the ﬁnal output for use by DMT. Testing a few rows in a copy of the LIVE database, we could easily validate the ﬁnal updated MOMs. In fact, we could use the original BAQ extract programs to look at the updated data in the TEST system and quickly evaluate the results. Once we got the process down, we turned what would have been a 100+ hours of manual updates in Epicor to an electronic process that ran in just a few hours. Once documented, the process could be reviewed, validated (the client was ISO compliant) and repeated as needed.

Of course like any software tool, DMT has its quirks. We learned the hard way that despite how illogical a data template may appear, it was critical to supply the required information in exactly the format requested. And interpreting the error logs is sometimes an exercise in the art of editing. I highly recommend acquiring and using the free “Notepad++” data editing tool; it can help you read a jumbled up error log ﬁle and it is essential to always check the ﬁnal DMT ﬁle you create from Excel, prior to uploading it to DMT. A common mistake is to save an Excel spreadsheet as a comma‐separated variable ﬁle and the resultant ASCII ﬁle has extraneous commas and/or columns or just plain garbage. And if your data (e.g. Descriptions) contain commas, you must enclose them in double‐quotes (or just use a wacky character as the delimiter‐even safer).

Words Of Caution For Epicor DMT

Just remember that “with great power comes great responsibility…”. So before you change data in a system, make darn sure you’ve chosen the correct target database, since DMT will not issue any warning whatsoever if you update LIVE instead of TEST (not that I’ve EVER made that mistake!) and will merrily chug along, processing the data with the full expectation that the operator knows what the target database should be.

This is why it is CRITICAL to always test your DMT script before you run it in a production environment. Note that if you don’t have a recent copy of LIVE for test purposes, you should seek out technical services that can assist you (usually by taking a copy of your most recent backup of LIVE and bringing it up on a similar environment) this is something that Encompass Solutions as an Epicor certified partner does on a regular basis and offers as a managed service.

About Encompass Solutions

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Tag Archives: Epicor

Encompass Solutions, Inc. Platinum Partner

About Encompass Solutions

Adding Field Qualifiers For Barcodes’ Labels

Adding Non-Visual, Dynamic Feedback

About Encompass Solutions

The Epicor Credit Card Transaction Enhancement

The Epicor Credit Card Transaction Enhancement Level 1, 2, and 3 Comparison

About Encompass Solutions

Epicor ERP Qualifies For A Business Software Tax Deduction

How To Collect Your Epicor Business Software Tax Deduction

About Encompass Solutions

How Managed Services Providers Can Help

About Encompass Solutions

Epicor XL Connect

About Encompass Solutions

How To Create Your Epicor Pop-up Form

About Encompass Solutions

The EDI Specialist Is Definitely Something You Need

Our EDI Solutions

About Encompass Solutions

Fiscal Year Period Accuracy

About Encompass Solutions

Where The Epicor DMT Comes Into Play

Words Of Caution For Epicor DMT

About Encompass Solutions