Datum Alloys selects Epicor ERP for international cover

The £5m UK-based company, which distributes high-tech stainless steel and nickel alloys to industries ranging from the aerospace to medical sectors, has offices in Singapore and the US, and needed a system to provide effective integration. Ian John, operations director at Datum Alloys, explains that the firm currently runs separate systems for manufacturing and finance in each country. He says the management team was looking for a single system that would improve reporting and stock visibility, as well as allowing multi-currency accounts and enforcing business processes. "In selecting Epicor, we believe we have found a solution to meet all of these goals," he states. "We've reached a point where we have outgrown our custom-built system, and continuing to develop it further would get us into a position where we were reliant on the developers. "We didn't want that risk. We needed a new system that would incorporate finance, stock control, traceability and flexible reporting out of the box," he adds. Epicor is to provide a classic 'quote-to-cash' ERP implementation, with multi-currency local accounting as well as Epicor's Enterprise Performance Management module, aimed at improving reports and decision making business-wide. John believes that Epicor's business process management system will allow Datum Alloys to precisely replicate its processes and business rules – for example on customer discounts and approvals – automatically enforcing them across the organisation at the point of entry. "Our staff are fantastic, but our business rules are enforced by trust alone," he explains. "As we grow, it is important to have our systems reflect the way we run the business, and to be able to update those rules quickly and easily, without external consultants," he says. Force 9 Solutions, an Epicor value-added reseller, will implement the solution firstly in the UK, hosted at a data centre, and then in Singapore and the US, with a total of 25 users worldwide. "The demonstration sessions we had with Epicor really opened our eyes," explains John. "We threw questions at other vendors who said their solution could do what we asked with some coding, but Epicor just did it then and there in the room, even changing existing screens and workflows."