I know Epicor has it’s own configurator but our BOMs are huge and stepping through the logic around what options a machine requires will take a large amount of time with the team we have.
I am looking for a solution that will allow you to put in a series of logical steps and output a price we could then pass on as a quote.
Thanks
You just described a configurator. You don’t need to make a BOM, you can make a pricing-only configurator. If you don’t have the configurator module purchased, you could calculate the price in a customization, or your own program and set the price via REST. You might even be able to hack something together with Excel…
Generally you won’t get very good answers unless you are specific with your questions, which is why places like StackOverflow have rules.
Thanks Evan.
I have assumed, as I’ve not seen the Epicor configurator, that it is very tightly tied into part numbers which could cause issues (internal process issues) on having items added to the master parts list that only exist for quoting. Also, I know Epicor is good solution for maintaining inventory but some of the GUI components are too detail orientated for what we need for quoting. We need end users to be able to put together new quote models so something that requires zero programming language is required (although programming logic in the app will be ok).
Regards.
Matt
Do you currently do this in Excel? You could setup the Excel files to match the layout for a Paste Insert into Quote Entry.
We are a make to order company - the majority of our product is configured. The parts are configured on a quote/order basis, the parts are never added to the part master, they only exist on the quote/order/job.
It sounds sort of like you want a configurator that allows the user to assemble a BOM on the fly? Do you have an example of a system that works similarly to how you want?
We do create Part entries for the configured part, but only after an order is placed. This is a requirement if you want to manufacture at Site A, but ship from Site B (the only way to get it from A’s WIP to be shipable from B, is to use a Transfer order, which requires it be a qty bearing item).
If your concern is that you’d need to create part entries for the components, that’s not an issue. A Configurator can add a part that would be “Buy to Job”, which totally bypasses inventory, and does not need a Part entry.
We have a legacy MS access solution that is on it’s legs and maybe won’t reach Epicor go-live.
Excel could be a solution but I’m not sure how to put together the logic we’d need to ask questions on some of the key options e.g. engine or for x machine ask about size of conveyor or for y machine ask about type of crusher
It sounds like you’re in need of a “Product designer”. A configurator that does more than just let user pick options. Rather it take in application information and configures the product on those inputs.
The Epicor configurator can do this. Or you could start out simpler and not have it do all the decisions, then add in decision making as you get more comfortable.
But if your real problem is that the data entry people can’t “design” (i.e. determine the needs based on the application), and the configurator (Epicor’s, your MS Access’, or whatever) is heavily relied upon, you’ve got a business vulnerability that needs to be addressed ASAP.
Thanks Calvin. I’ve not looked at these kind of software solutions previously so the Product Designer term may help with Internet searches.
Just feel we only need a slight step above Excel as our current quoting process is basic.
I won’t kid you, the learning curve on Epicor’s Configurator is a little steep.
But once you have the basics down, making “as step above basic” configurators is pretty straight forward.
I find the hardest part with designing configurators, is knowing when to stop (i.e. “feature creep”). Both in features of a specific configurator, and when two configurators should be used instead of one (“these products are so similar …”)
My company was sold the Configurator and also Multi-Tenant hosting; this is not a healthy combination. Due to limitations in Epicor’s design and the fact that client programming bugs could result in killing the Epicor service for all companies on a server, Epicor restricts what Multi-Tenant customers can do with its Configurator. And, the Configurator ends up being a programmer’s tool–as @ckrusen indicated.
For my company, the solution has been spreadsheets. Formulas are handled with a series of =IF and =VLOOKUP commands to handle unique customer conditions. Part costs are handled by a simple BAQ that returns part# and cost, with the BAQ results copied periodically into a tab in the spreadsheet.
My company hasn’t yet figured out how to get the BOM & BOO out of the spreadsheet, but we are aware that others do this. The parts list used in the bottom-up Excel estimate can be formatted to match DMT’s format in yet another spreadsheet tab; the same is true for the BOO. Since my manufactured products have roughly 20 operations and 200 raw materials, figuring out how to format the spreadsheet tabs and get the resulting data to DMT feels worthwhile.
Thanks for this @PaulKile. The Epicor configurator is in use in one region of the company I work for but it sounds like the effort to implement useful configurations are quite large.
I was going to say that the configurator should never be sold with MT. But then I remembered, MT should never have been sold… Alas, it was on the path to something better - and what would be better than getting rid of MT? So much code is in there that inhibits the usefulness of the product AND makes it difficult to manage. I would move all the MT customers to the Public Cloud and provide them no extra options unless they upgraded to the full public cloud option. Then I would rip out all that useless code and get back to a easier to manage code-base.
Mr. Ranty McRant Face
Hello Matt,
You can PcConData table to populate the price on a load of the configurator and also for a logic building. Based on the selection on Let say a Page1, use the same PcConData table with Keys (Key1, Key2…etc) to populate Parts or Assemblies on Page 2. Then use this Page 2’s part Numbers to set a Configurator Rules to fetch the MOMs and BOMs.
I have been working with Epicor Product Configurator since 2015 (Starting E9 and now E10) for a Manufacturing Company. Creating dynamic Epicor MOM/BOM Configurators. Augmenting the configurators with custom C# code that interfaces with Customer’s web portal to export the Web Orders to Epicor as Sales Order with configurator values.
Let me know if you need any help.
Thanks,
Kalpesh Bhanushali