Exel to go for food, process and apparel sectors with new VCA technology

Process control, the apparel industry and the food and beverage sectors are to be targeted by UK SME enterprise software (ERP) developer Exel Computer Systems. Following the launch of its Internet-centric Efacs E/8 v5 at last year’s CIM (Computers in Manufacturing) Show at the NEC, completely rewritten in Java and XML, Exel chairman and CEO John Ellis says he will be taking advantage of its variable components architecture (VCA) for rapid ‘customising’ to vertical market requirements. He says that whereas the last few months have been about replicating the robustness of the core ERP system in the new code, functionality is now being varied and added by effectively knitting together and developing software components. Specific additional ‘modules’ will include CRM (customer relationship management) and SRM (the supplier side of that) by Q3 2002. Other software is being developed according to user feedback. The firm is also about to launch Linux on the client side and open source browser support (next month) meaning total platform independence at every level. Ellis says: “It’s not that we’re anti-Microsoft – far from it; we’re a Microsoft solutions partner. But there are manufacturers out there that want the option of being totally Microsoft independent.” In fact, Exel is also an IBM and an Oracle business partner, with all that entails in terms of support and system development. Indeed, Ellis says that, with its new ‘stateless architecture’ and coverage of all platforms (IBM iSeries, zSeries and pSeries, Sun Solaris, NT and the rest), scaleability will be considerably expanded. He also says, that while managed services and ASP (application service provision) haven’t exactly taken off, when they do, that same stateless architecture makes the firm “ideally suitable”. Beyond this, E/8 v5 has already been augmented with advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software now covering multiple sites for manufacturing, with field service and logistics and distribution following shortly. And for those needing the sophistication, there’s also web-based product configurator software, workflow and support for lean manufacturing and business initiatives. Exel is using Ilog for its business process modelling and implementation aids.