With a robust revenue of $1.25 billion, spanning operations in 150 countries and serving 23,000 customers, Epicor’s influence is significant. Their 4,800-strong workforce is the backbone of their 95% customer retention rate and the 13+ year average customer tenure. Epicor regional vice president Graeme Evans set the tone for the event with his opening remarks, urging attendees to “make data your superpower” as Epicor continues to lead the evolution of ERP systems.

The three-day event was packed with sessions aimed at helping businesses optimise operations, drive growth and enhance profitability. Attendees connected with industry peers and Epicor experts, gaining valuable insights into how data integration, automation, and AI can unlock substantial value across various sectors. A standout was the spotlight on Epicor Kinetic, a platform that supercharges workflow automation and intelligent data integration, significantly aimed at boosting business performance and customer satisfaction.

Global vision and strategic ownership changes

During the event, iTWire interviewed Epicor executive vice president Andy Coussins. With a distinguished career in international sales, including a pivotal role at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Coussins has been instrumental in shaping Epicor’s global sales strategy. He shared insights into the importance of the event and the future of Epicor’s solutions in the increasingly cloud-base, AI-driven world.

“Epicor has worked closely with customers across Australia and New Zealand for more than 25 years helping them optimise and grow their businesses with our industry-focused ERP solutions and capabilities. Our customers’ success is our success, and we are deeply committed to serving supply chain companies across a variety of sectors as well as organisations providing aged care services,” stated Andy.

Andy lauded Insights ANZ 2024 as an exceptional platform for the collaboration with customers and partners. He emphasised how the event fosters an invaluable feedback loop that directly influences Epicor’s product roadmap. According to Andy, the conference not only provides significant networking opportunities but also offers participants the chance to engage in educational sessions—a part of the event he sees expanding in future years.

A significant growth announcement was made during the event that Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) and CVC had agreed to acquire a significant ownership position in Epicor, with both parties receiving equal board representation.

“Our customers and their ambitions are the focus of what we do as we work to provide the most innovative solution sets possible,” said Steve Murphy, Epicor CEO. “CD&R’s support and partnership has been invaluable as we have accelerated the growth of our business, invested significantly in our portfolio and released a number of next-generation, cloud-ready products. We look forward to working with CVC as we continue to grow our platform capabilities, with a keen focus on better serving our dynamic customer base.”

Client and partner success stories

Insights ANZ 2024 provided attendees with the opportunity to learn from the real-world experiences of Epicor users. iTWire spoke with several clients and partners and received examples to help understand the tangible benefits derived from Epicor’s suite of products.

Shirley Chow of Jackson Allison Medical (JAM) and Europlan, long-time users of Epicor Kinetic, shared how networking at events like Insights ANZ has driven benefits for her organisation. According to Shirley, Epicor Kinetic’s seamless out-of-the-box experiences has significant boosted productivity and efficiency through automated processes. Despite a post COVID-19 revenue surge of 150%, JAM and Europlan were able to maintain their headcount, a feat she attributed to the scalability of the Kinetic platform. Shirley also highlights a remarkable improvement in their month-end close process, which was reduced from a full month to just one week. She attributed this to the intuitive design and data extraction capabilities of the system. Shirley praised Epicor’s proactive approach to working closely with her team to maximise product value from their existing solution.

Matt Elliot, Chief Growth Officer of BISCIT, a global leader and partner with Epicor ERP, shared insights into how their warehouse solution is helping organisations worldwide optimise inventory and automate shop floor operations. With the continued support of Epicor’s ecosystem, Biscit has become one of Newcastle NSW’s most surprising success stories, with over 1,300 customers in 40 countries and a team continuing to push innovation, with exciting product launches just around the corner.

Another success story came from the Royal Australian Mint, which selected Epicor for its flexibility and simplicity. The Mint chose Epicor because “met our organisational goals of flexibility and simplicity. There user interface – which was delivered out of the box – fit perfectly with the Mint’s strategy of not having to customise significantly.”

To showcase the entire lifecycle possibility Steel Blue, a Western Australian footwear company reduced its time to prepare orders by 10-15%. “Epicor is the whole foundation of the operations part of our business from finance, customer service, supply chain functions, and manufacturing to support the business globally.”

The future of AI at Epicor and Epicor Prism announcement

IDC vice president and industry analyst Linus Lai addressed the conference on the evolving AI landscape. He noted a significant shift: while 25% of businesses had no plans to adopt AI in 2023, by early 2024, the average business was exploring over 24 AI proof-of-concept projects. Epicor, known for its forward-thinking approach it at the forefront of this shift.

iTWire had the opportunity to speak with Arturo Buzzalino, Vice President of Product and Innovation at Epicor, about the latest innovations and how AI is reshaping the ERP landscape. Arturo emphasised that AI is set to revolutionise ERP and software as a whole. He proudly announced Epicor Prism, a groundbreaking AI foundation product currently in incubation. Epicor Prism, designed as a network of AI agents, will be embeddable across all product lines, offering a fluid, people-centric approach to managing tasks, workflows and productivity.

Arturo outlined Epicor’s AI philosophy; it must have ERP at its core, deliver 10x value to be counted as a success, and prioritise a people-centric approach. With Epicor Prism, the company is posited to deliver, unparalleled value, further solidifying its position as a leader in the ERP space. Prism is based on Arturo’s acknowledgement that Epicor has one of the best existing expert systems in the industry and a data ontology built over decades, all of which will allow AI to act swiftly and provide fantastic results for its customers

Epicor Prism whilst in incubation is expected to have further announcements towards the end of the year.