Manually issuing unique parts to specific jobs or just mass data entry in general can become time consuming. I’m wondering if anyone here has created tools to help automate repetitive tasks within Epicor. Or more specifically I was wondering what I should focus on learning and if it was possible to connect to Epicor in someway to automate these tasks. I was briefly looking into python scripting and moving data around in excel but am not sure how I would link it to Epicor I also ran across some threads here that mentioned REST api and node JS. I was hoping to find some good information without having to post but this proved difficult. I’m relatively new when in comes to programming and am confused on where to start with this specific problem. Any help or tips are greatly appreciated.
While you can do a lot to automate Epicor I would recommend you spend quite a while learning the internal tools that Epicor provides as well as the native way of accomplishing these tasks.
There are good reasons to automate some things but things like mass issue you can already do that to some extent.
Generally the transactions that need to be made in Epicor can’t be trivially automated and hearing/reading the words copy stuff around with scripts in excel just sent a chill down my spine
I recommend some in depth reading of the application user guide, customization guide, programmers guide, ice tools guide and then have a look at things like automation Studio
All of these are available in the Epicor Help Menu within the application
There are quite a few ways to speed up repetitive task or do bulk loads.
I would look into some of the more organic tools before moving to a REST model.
Updateable Dashboards are great for mass changes as are many of the Entry line screens (i.e. PO Lines and Sales Order lines). I would also recommend considering DMT if you are doing a lot of data loads. It’s a basic tool but very effective and fast for large load or updates of data. We use it for order lines if we are doing large date moves or price updates (i.e. 20+lines at a time) . Service Connect (or really now the Automation Studio is great for more sophisticated updates and queries).
This doesn’t mean don’t use the REST APIs - especially for something you need specific and tight control over or want more complex error handling or functionality. Just be advised there are other, much simpler and arguably more cost effective ways to “skin the cat” for most data automation.
-Update by List (PO Lines/SO Lines) etc.
-Updateable Dashboards
-DMT
-Service Connect (…updated to Automation Studio).
-Rest APIs
I have created a few updatable dashboards, and they are incredibly helpful. Is it possible to issue parts through an updateable dashboard? I appreciate the list of tools and paths. We don’t have access to the automation studio and DMT although hoping to soon.
Have you tried using the Mass Issue to Manufacturing screen? It automates the issue process for a job and it does not take that long to do. I highly recommend it.
I am not familiar with that specific screen. It is just to mass issue all parts on a job correct? Or am I mistaken. For more context: I have 278 lines of unique parts with unique jobs that need to be issued. Is that something that could be possible within that screen?
It allows you to issue all material to one job with a couple of clicks. So if your job has 100 different materials, it will issue all 100 at once. I would try that before trying to come up with something else.
Issuing materials can be done in many ways… the manual “one part at a time” is only one of them. There is the Mass Issue option (mentioned above by @jkane ), or even better for complete automation is using the BACKFLUSH option… what it does is:
you mark your parts as Backflush
in the BOM & Routing you specify the related operation for each material
When you have a job with backflushed materials: When you complete a quantity on an operation, then the system automatically “Backflushes” (Issues) the material that is associated with that operation for the quantity you finish. So… if your JOB is for 100 Finished units, and it takes 3 Bolts per Finsihed good, and you complete 25 finished goods on the operation, it will backflush 75 bolts (3*25). This is the ultimate automation for issuing materials because nobody does anything once things are setup.
Mass Data Entry… anytime you want to do something that is considered any type of data importing, DMT is the tool! It is not “automatic” but it really makes the importing of data very slick. You should have a copy of DMT because it is almost always sold as part of Kinetic (unless your company purchased your software before 2007).
As @josecgomez mentioned, if you are looking to automate other things (outside the Mass Issuing), there are several tools built into Epicor:
BPMs… You can make your own BPMs that will allow for business processes to be automated within Epicor.
automationstudio … this brand new module (you need to purchase) is Epicor’s latest feature that supports automation (I am the Product Manager of this product). But this automation is not only restricted to “inside Epicor” but can automatically trigger and move data between various systems. It is very advanced, and yet is built in a no-code/low-code tool that is very easy to learn and use. You can read more about it here: Automation Studio where there is an explainer video. If you want to know more you can arrange a demonstration with your Customer Account Manager.