M1 ERP

Pros

I like the customization available since it's built on SQL Server and uses Microsoft forms. It's easy to get at the data and add custom features. The fact that is uses Crystal Reports as the reporting engine is nice - so there's not a big learning curve there.

Cons

I think it could respond a little quicker to inquiries (the screens sometimes feel slow) and the errors are sometimes cryptic - unless you are familiar with the database tables and their layout.

Pros

The ability to bring everything together in one place, where all management and supervisors can access it has been great. I like to ability to use shop floor terminals for data entry and the ability to generate reports from that data.

Cons

A regular challenge I face is trying to figure out the right location or combination of steps it takes to change certain items within the system. There are not explanations of pathways. For example, the other day I wanted to pick specific lots of material for a job we were running. I thought I would be given the option right at job material processing. Nope. I can see the different lots, but the numbers are locked, I couldn't change them. After many failed attempts. I finally called support. Long story short. I have to process, go into details, unprocess the line, go into the sub-details and type in the amount for each lot. That's an example of a common frustration I find in the system. There are lots of locked numbers. I understand some are necessary, but others just don't seem to make sense. The process to then alter them does not always follow a discernible pattern. You can often find the same information in multiple spots, but finding the place it drives from is a shot in the dark.

Pros

Their sales team made a really good pitch, then went radio silent the moment we signed up, and quit 6 weeks later.

Based on their pitch, we engaged them to provide version 8 of the core system seven companies, and a couple of optional modules for a couple of those companies, and a few custom modifications, we were assured this would be straight forward and ready to use in 8-12 weeks.

It has been over 2 years and they been unable to even get one of those companies up and running as per the our agreement with them.

Cons

The worst part about this experience? Everything that happened after they had our money...

In all of my professional life I have never before experienced such intentionally dishonest behavior in a professional setting. Deciding to use ECi M1 has been the worst business decision that we have ever made.

If you are in Australia, or if you intend to rely on the Australian support team, I cannot urge you strongly enough to stay away from ECi M1. They have repeatedly proved themselves incompetent and dishonest.

Pros

M1 is incredibly visual; whether you prefer traditional forms or spreadsheet views, you can customize the navigation and data forms with ease. Search features are robust in the spreadsheet style views. M1 is also fairly flexible for customization regardless of programming skills. We can easily add fields to any module and forms can be manipulated to match our information flow. In our business every order is a custom order yet the straight forward manufacturing module makes planning and scheduling simple. Dashboards on the start screen are great to monitor daily activities. While most ERP implementations require significant work, the visual nature of M1 really helped us keep the project on track. The M1 implementation specialist spent time to learn our business and specific information needs. 9 months running and we are very happy. We have added several additional modules since the implementation and have linked M1 to our sales tax service provider. The suite of included reports are handy, though they need some customization when you start up. Export to Excel is very easy. We added Spreadsheet Server option to really increase the capability to share data with Excel. Security controls are very robust.

Cons

At times customer service response is a bit longer than we would like though once they are working on an issue, they are great at resolving. Some of the included reports are fairly complex yet require customization in Crystal Reports. Best to have some working knowledge of Crystal reports. Some modules in M1 are not consistent with others - probably different programmers or different schedules for upgrading - however that slows the process just bit when you move module to module.

Pros

Overall, the product is very easy to use. The modules "talk" to one another and the data flows with ease. Our A/R and A/P departments use the software in conjunction with purchasing and sales and their experience has been positive. The data collection system is very user friendly for the employees on the floor and provides great feedback and reporting for the management team. The quick analysis reports, or dashboard reports, provide a snapshot of what's going on in your business at a quick glance.

Cons

There are nuances to the software that only a "seasoned user" would know exist. If the user is unaware of the nuances, the data could be skewed, or the user could be stopped in their tracks, or worse yet, the action of the subsequent user could be negatively impacted. To that point, the overarching concern I have is that we have a lot of tribal knowledge when it comes to E2 MFG and if an employee chooses to leave our company, the next hire will "learn" the software, but they won't really "know" the software for quite some time.