Abas ERP is an ERP with relatively extensive capabilities from supply chain optimization to customer relationship management
N/A
M1
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
M1, from ECI Software Solutions headquartered in Ft. Worth, is an all-in-one manufacturing ERP software solution, built for small and medium-sized discrete manufacturers.
These other software packages all have strengths but for what we were looking for in one system, to handle most of our business processes, but also allow the flexibility to be customized (without the need to be placed on a "like to have" waiting list), ABAS gave us that …
We replaced Open Systems with M1 7 years ago. Our Open Systems software seemed to be more user-friendly and was not overburdened by reports and processes that were not needed for daily functions.
M1 is light years ahead in overall cost and proficiency. It allows so much more control and flexibility as compared to its competitors. When choosing M1 we went through many demos and M1 was the only ERP that met our needs and still does. We also control our own data which is a …
M1 is better with the manufacturing side of software whereas Sage 100 is better at the financial side. Which is frustrating that M1 implementation people are not accountants, so they got us up and running but did not do a good job of making sure the GL accounts were setup …
Our customization requirements were not that high and based on a price/cost benefit M1 was the winner. SAP was considered but the upfront costs and challenging learning curve together with the lack of flexibility in the SAP HANA public cloud version made the M1 choice more …
M1 does a good job of being able to handle our requirements. Some of our assemblies and sub-assemblies require a significant amount of detail and different levels in order to complete - and M1 handles that. Some of the other products I've used, or implemented else where fall …
Implementation is by far the weakest link in the ECI/M1 process. Although the tool is powerful, the client is expected to drive the process of learning the tool, planning the meetings with consultants, identifying risks and making mitigation plans, etc. without any samples, guidance or assistance on the part of ECI. The tool is best suited to high volume, standard product manufacturers who build to inventory or to order without much variation. The shop floor routing and time tracking are straightforward if you can master the convoluted Unit Of Measure calculations. The tool is either hosted locally or accessed through Remote Desktop. Shop floor is web enabled but the main desktop for M1 is still a relay which makes connectivity a potential issue. Moving this platform to a truly web hosted environment would substantially improve connectivity and eliminate compatibility issues with Apple products
Manage inventory counts. Good precision on quantities in and out, through shipping, MI, MR, and receipts.
Job costing shows great details on labor, operations, and materials to be used. I wished that would do better in outside operations that would return, but we still think it is great.
Ability to track changes (changelog), showing all changes that had in a particular place. Such as where, when, and by whom a line item unit price was changed in a PO.
Link, traceability, keeping history. If done correctly, it is amazing to keep the history of a part/lot.
The amount of user rights/customization is unbelievable. It can be hard to set up in the beginning, but it is great that you can give some very specific access to a user, and it is not (in general) as a package.
ABAS is headquartered in Germany with a US based headquarters in Virginia. Some of the programming structures were based on European methods that differed somewhat from the way business is done in the US. ABAS-USA has worked to modify the system so that it is in tune with US business practices and has made great strides in this effort. For the average user, the structures may go unnoticed, but for the more advanced user, some of the field names that are used for advanced reporting might be in German. However, ABAS-USA has recently been updating the programming language to be fully in English.
Because ABAS is growing rapidly, more complex customizations might take longer to complete than normal. ABAS appears to be bringing on even more technicians to handle the increased workload so the concern is waning.
Some of the functions are pretty detailed - and so they take a while to generate screens and pages in reports.
We actually use it for 2 companies we own - and it would be nice if the inter company communication was a little smoother. It's hard to share some data, and not everything is possible to be shared.
Customized reports need to backed up before any updates to M1 or they're lost. It seems M1 overwrites the report folders everytime you run an update - so you have to keep track of what you've changed in Crystal Reports and restore it.
Because it would be helpful if ECI would provide better documentation, communication and workflows to understand how each field interacts within the system and how each of those touch other areas within M1. It would also be useful if ECI would provide prescheduled training for how to customize things with M1 through Design Studio
These other software packages all have strengths but for what we were looking for in one system, to handle most of our business processes, but also allow the flexibility to be customized (without the need to be placed on a "like to have" waiting list), ABAS gave us that ability, hands down.
Our customization requirements were not that high and based on a price/cost benefit M1 was the winner. SAP was considered but the upfront costs and challenging learning curve together with the lack of flexibility in the SAP HANA public cloud version made the M1 choice more natural. SAP Services is usually more expensive compared to M1.
ABAS has the capability to handle many of the processes that we did on various software platforms. Since we've been able to consolidate these platforms, the cost of subscriptions, maintenance and management hasve been reduced.
Efficiency was a noticeable impact right from the start. In the past, reports from one system had to be loaded into another in order to provide the analysis needed for business decisions. Connections to our design software also reduced the amount of time our engineers spent manually creating bills of material and purchase requisitions.
The ability to see what's happening in various business functions all in one place has helped with decision making and provided the data necessary to ask the right questions when arriving at those hard decisions.
