Industry Leader Expands Use of Epicor to Global Operation

Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organisations, today announced that Sparrows Group, a global leader in offshore lifting, crane engineering, operations and maintenance, has selected the Epicor® next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to support the group's further international growth. Since 2000, Sparrows has grown from a £50m (GBP) turnover company with operations in three countries to one of over £160m (GBP), operating in 12 countries.

The new implementation will replace three existing systems used across Sparrows global operation, giving the company a single unified view of the business through Epicor. Sparrows had been impressed with the functionality of Epicor Vantage®, which it used in its US operation, but it was clear that by upgrading to the next-generation ERP solution, the whole group could benefit. The new solution will make extensive use of Epicor Human Capital Management and Field Service Management modules, as well as its advanced Customer Relationship Management features.

"The rapidly increasing scale and complexity of our business calls for greater sophistication in the management information systems supporting it," said Martin Brayshaw, finance and business improvement executive at Sparrows Group. "Epicor ERP significantly adds to the earlier Vantage package we operated at our US locations; while retaining its strength in manufacturing support, it will allow us to manage much more closely the engineering and field service time/resource planning elements of our business. It also gives us the facility to deliver our offshore crane parts service more efficiently to clients worldwide, further enhancing our renowned service in this area."

Sparrows Group reviewed a number of solutions before selecting Epicor. The project team felt that Epicor provided an excellent balance between features and ease of use, as well as supporting the company's future needs in terms of scalability and flexibility, as it evolves to take advantage of new opportunities.

"Epicor had that perfect balance that we were looking for, without compromising on the features and flexibility we needed," added Brayshaw.

"Very often service organisations struggle to manage and assess the utilisation of their teams, or plan effectively for future needs," said Malcolm Fox, director, product marketing for Epicor. "Epicor Human Capital Management can be configured to integrate with our field service and CRM modules to allow the planning, forecasting and allocation of resources, as well as identify individuals with skills that might be required for a given project. By understanding the talent that exists in a business and how it is being used, managers can see where skills gaps might exist and ensure they are recruiting employees with the right skills sets to plug those gaps."

For more information please contact Duncan Gurney, the PR Network
Tel +44 (0)7912 495630, or Email [email protected]