India’s growth prospects have probably attracted most of the technology providers around the world. And when it comes to manufacturing in India, after China it looks as the most viable location. Therefore, a huge chunk of investment is coming into the country so also the growing bee line of the enterprise applications companies focussed on manufacturing.
The Indian mid-market story is probably the most vibrant one after China. Companies in this market are engaged in either manufacturing or services sector. It is believed that the number could easily go up to some millions and the substantial percentage of them are into manufacturing. In recent years, under the aegis of PM Modi, the country has embarked upon ‘Make In India’ initiative, which aims to position India as a global manufacturing hub. This has created a big opportunity for the manufacturing sector in the smaller cities. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to tap this market not only to stay profitable but also grow with the growth of the market.
Epicor ERP, a mid-market specialty for manufacturing, launched operation in India during early 2011, is probably sees this market as its sweet spot and have been building its capability to address the market. Of course there are challenges in the market. For example, companies like SAP, Microsoft, even Tally are riveting their attention and are there for a long time. But unlike Epicor, the rest of the companies either come from a background of large mind-set or very small mind-set. Epicor is probably the only company to have genetically built to address the mid-market and have remained commitment to this market so far.
Another challenge for the company is less brand recall, which the company is addressing by going hundred per cent through the channel partners where as others have a hybrid model.
Today, Epicor is aligned with 14 channel partners across India including Orient Technologies, Daksha, Corporate Serve and RheinBrucke. Although this number is too low to cater to the mammoth size of India but this is how the companies grow. Of course these partners might be having presence in multiple cities which could solve the purpose of the principle some extent but clearly Epicor need more partners and more head count to gain access to the larger market and sustain the market pressure.
“For Epicor, the Indian economy represents a vibrant market place that has high potential for growth – especially given the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiatives,” said Channel Director for Epicor Software – Middle East, Africa & India, Anish Kanaran. “Because of our expertise, we recognise the challenges midsized businesses face, and we are able to offer solutions designed with these in mind – providing the right level of flexibility, functionality and cost effectiveness for these businesses as they grow. “
There are many customers wins recently i.e. NADI Airtechnics Pvt. Ltd, the manufacturer of industrial Fans, Allengers, manufacturers of medical diagnostic equipment and Tempsens Instruments the temperature sensors manufacturer.
One of its customers, Krishna Beads Industries, for example, is a leading fashion exporter to over 50 buyers worldwide. Headquartered in Mumbai, Krishna Beads has selected our next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, Epicor ERP, to meet its aggressive target to grow tenfold in the next decade. Krishna Beads is implementing Epicor ERP across its whole business – from the shop floor to finance. The solution will meet its urgent need for access to real-time information, not only to provide a consolidated view of its operations, but to aid informed business decision making.
Since channel is the primary rout to market in India for Epicor, the company has apparently adopted a strategy of ‘quality over quantity’. Partner selection is a critical exercise for the company. Anish added, “Our strategy is to recruit the right type of partner, rather than a large volume of partners that might end up competing against each other. We focus on enabling partners to build a successful local business that can grow at a sustainable rate. The success of our customers is key and we are therefore selective about the type of partners we work with.”
As per him, today Epicor has partners in all major tier one cities and the next step is to expand to tier – 2 and manufacturing hubs.
Two months back, Epicor has taken Hesham Al Komy on-board as senior director, international channels, to boost its channel strategy. Anish maintained, “We are working towards building a stronger, more strategic alliance and relationship with our channel partners and establishing an ecosystem that allows us to work hand-in-hand with our partners as we grow together.”
How Epicor is different from the product perspective? One of the key differentiators for Epicor, compared to the competition, is that these are entirely built on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). With adaptable SOA, businesses have the ability to more easily and efficiently align their information systems and technology resources with their business processes, allowing them to respond faster to the continually changing business landscape.
Anish added, “We understand that businesses today require agile technology that is compatible with new devices such as tablets, smartphones etc. Because of its modern platform technology, Epicor ERP is ready for an enterprise with an expanded mobile framework – it enables access anytime, anywhere.”
The latest version of Epicor ERP delivers powerful “out-of-the-box” functionality. Its new features extend the functionality for financial management, manufacturing, supply chain and global operations and are focused on simplifying the end user experience and improving ease-of-use.
Apart from being available for commercial market, Epicor is also strengthening its India operation for product development, support and services for the global market. In 2015, Epicor opened its India Technology Centre (ITC) in Bengaluru. Anish maintained, “The new centre is a key component of the company’s globalisation strategy and is already successfully enhancing product development, support and services, in order to drive performance and growth on a global scale.”
Epicor is already positioned as a visionary in Gartner’s magic quadrant for single-instance ERP for product-centric mid-market companies.
Finally…
Since its operations in India, the company has continued to gain momentum. Today, Epicor continues to successfully serve local customers by working closely with its expert channel partners. But what the company need to take care aggressively is to enhance its brand recall. As per Vinay Vohra, Founder & CEO, CorporateServe, Epicor’s E10 is an outstanding ERP solution based on cutting edge technology. The main challenge we face in market is in terms of lack of awareness of its availability.
