WorkWise vs ECi M1

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Our analysts compared WorkWise vs ECi M1 based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Manufacturing Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

WorkWise Software Tool
ECi M1 Software Tool

Product Basics

WorkWise ERP is a role-based software for discrete manufacturers that use engineering to produce their merchandise. It assists from conception and design to manufacturing and delivery. It automates the tedious manufacturing tasks and allows manufacturers to focus on optimizing the production, marketing and the financial sides of their businesses. For example, it ensures that employees are always aware of inventory locations and levels, so they’re able to focus on more complex manufacturing tasks.

It can deploy in the cloud or on-premises. Comprehensive implementation and support services are available. It’s built specifically for make-to-order, configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, build-to-stock and mixed-mode manufacturers.

Pros
  • Intuitive interface
  • Improves inventory visibility
  • Streamlines production scheduling
  • Solid customer support
  • Flexible customization options
Cons
  • Steeper learning curve
  • Limited reporting features
  • Occasional bugs and glitches
  • Can be costly for smaller businesses
  • Mobile app could be more robust
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ECI M1 is a solution that obtains real-time process transparency for small and mid-sized companies. It cuts costs to save money and boosts productivity. Its top features include production management, inventory supervision, scheduling, shipping and a resource planner.

It reviews everything from order entries to shipping in real time. Gain in-depth insights on equipment downtime, capacity and inventory. Link orders and invoices to existing materials for full transparency.
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$2,000 Monthly
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$5,000 Monthly
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Product Assistance

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24/7 Live Support
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Product Insights

  • Improve Customer Service: The WorkWise CRM module provides users with the necessary tools for quickly delivering solutions to customers and increasing employee productivity. This can encourage employees to flourish in their roles and provide their best customer service. 
  • Optimize Supply Chain Management: Accurate, real-time data enables users to make decisions that shorten cycle times. For example, forecasting capabilities help users anticipate inventory demand, preventing disruptions in the supply chain.  
  • Cut Costs: Improved manufacturing efficiencies and financial analysis capabilities provide ample opportunity to cut costs. Additionally, improved employee productivity — which comes as a result of automating tedious tasks such as schedule building — reduces labor costs.  
  • Go Paperless: WorkWise ERP can assist in going paperless with electronic data capture and other document management features. With the implementation of WorkWise ERP, all business processes become completely digital, and any remaining paper legacy documents can be uploaded with the electronic data capture feature. 
  • Stay Informed: From the availability of real-time data to instant messaging and notifications, the system provides visibility and streamlines communication so you’re always informed.  
  • Ensure Compliance: Data journaling can help users maintain an audit trail and stay compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley reports. In addition, quality management capabilities that include a partnership with uniPoint Software can make it easier to ensure ISO compliance. 
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  • Increase On-time Deliveries: Utilize stock, machinery and other data to enhance productivity and team collaboration to boost on-time deliveries and increase customer satisfaction. 
  • Reduce Costs: Implement shipping analytics and merge them with global shippers to gain operational visibility and eliminate bottlenecks to save time and money. 
  • Obtain Workflow Centralization: Govern sales, warehouses, inventory, production and files on multiple sites with a centralized solution to monitor and supervise all activities. Gain in-depth business activity from any location to better manage and address issues. 
  • Boost Collaboration: Share job information with shop floor teams for increased communication and productivity by keeping everyone on the same page with real-time data. 
  • Reduce Machine Downtime: Automate scheduling to reduce idle machines, unnecessary overtime and missed deadlines while boosting production KPIs and client satisfaction rates. 
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  • Customer Relationship Management: The CRM manages marketing, sales and customer service responsibilities. It’s designed to provide exceptional customer service with several features, such as quoting and estimating, order management and returns and warranties. It also comes with an electronic data interchange feature and an e-commerce gateway for managing customer-facing applications. 
  • Engineering Application: The engineering application helps users maintain data and work with their CAD application. The system can integrate almost any CAD application. The bills of material application can work with every style of BOM and coordinate with all supply chain functions, from customer order processing to production costing. The routings application handles scheduling, work loading and cost planning. 
  • Planning Suite: The planning suite manages capacity requirements planning, material requirements planning and master production scheduling. The advanced forecasting feature can help with balancing supply and demand. 
  • Materials Suite: The materials suite provides users control over their materials-related tasks, such as purchasing and requisitions, mobile data collection and shipping. The mobile inventory control application is included in the solution and can deploy barcode enabled handheld mobile devices. The system integrates with major shipping carriers and can manage shipments with multiple carriers. 
  • Production Suite: The production suite streamlines ERP manufacturing processes to help users manage quality, schedule maintenance operations, manage shop floor changes and more. The suite comes with a visual scheduling feature as well as a Kanban visual communication system. Other features include shop floor control, production dispatch & reporting, equipment maintenance and quality management. 
  • Finance Suite: The finance suite monitors financial health with standard accounting features as well as more advanced capabilities. The system’s accounting features include a general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, fixed assets management and payroll management. Several features within the suite leverage financial data to create reports or conduct analyses, such as planned vs. actual cost. It also automates sales tax management. 
  • Documents Suite: The document suite provides paperless document management with the business process repository (BPR), barcode generator and a document linking application. It allows the user to capture information electronically and manage and archive data. Label management can create any type of barcode label and the BPR retains business process information for accessibility across all departments. 
  • Analytics Suite: The analytics suite provides access to graphs and data. It can enable desktop notifications and mobile alerts. The Workwise Event Manager allows users to communicate through instant messaging. The Data Journaling application can help with the collection and management of data for audit trails. 
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  • Production Management: Maintain job schedules and track labor to control fees. 
  • Inventory Management: Merge all business data in real time and track all stock information across business functions. 
  • Scheduling: Automate schedules to meet maximum performance for discrete and other production methods. 
  • Shipping Management: Automate and simplify shipping tasks with in-depth analytical and Order Snapshot tools to monitor on-time deliveries and adjust accordingly. 
  • Manufacturing Resource Planner (MRP): Manage and arrange multiple facilities to keep up with ever-changing supply and demand. 
  • Quality Management: Perform automatic, customized requirements for product inspections and quality analyses. Verify improvement areas to keep bottom lines and reputations intact. 
  • General Ledger: Unite all financial data, including accounts payable and receivable, payroll, fixed assets register and credit card processing into one centralized system. 
  • Design Studio: Add new fields, change input documents, shift objects and create recent reports. Change search grids to exhibit data in several ways. 
  • Product Configurator: Craft and adjust anything from single-level BOMs to intricate products and parts. 
  • Shop Floor Entry: Gain accurate job fees, prioritizations, real-time job statuses and collected payroll hours. 
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Product Ranking

#85

among all
Manufacturing Software

#126

among all
Manufacturing Software

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Improved Inventory Management: Real-time visibility and control over stock levels, reducing waste and optimizing production.
Streamlined Production Scheduling: Efficiently plan and track production processes, minimizing downtime and maximizing output.
Enhanced Quality Control: Integrated quality checks and traceability features ensure consistent product quality.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Gain actionable insights from production data to optimize operations and improve efficiency.
Scalable and Flexible: Adapts to your growing business needs and integrates seamlessly with existing systems.
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Comprehensive Feature Set: ECi M1 offers a wide array of functions, covering production planning, inventory control, and financial management, making it a comprehensive solution for small to medium-sized manufacturers.
Flexible and Customizable: The software's adaptability to different manufacturing processes is a key advantage, allowing businesses to tailor the system to their specific needs.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Many users report that once ECi M1 is fully implemented, it significantly streamlines operations, leading to increased productivity and reduced manual processes.
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Steeper Learning Curve: Requires significant investment in training and onboarding due to feature complexity.
Limited Reporting Customization: Predefined reports may not fully meet specific data analysis needs.
Occasional Bugs and Glitches: Users report occasional software bugs and glitches that disrupt workflows.
Costly for Smaller Businesses: Subscription fees and implementation costs can be high for smaller manufacturers.
Mobile App Limitations: Mobile app lacks full functionality and offline capabilities compared to the desktop version.
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Steep Learning Curve: ECi M1 has a steep learning curve, meaning it can be challenging and time-consuming for users to get up to speed with the software's functionality.
Customer Support Responsiveness: Some users have reported issues with the responsiveness of ECi M1's customer support, which could be problematic when facing urgent technical difficulties or needing assistance.
Complex Initial Setup: The initial setup of ECi M1 can be complex and time-consuming, requiring significant effort and potentially specialized expertise to configure the system correctly.
Limited Batch Manufacturing Support: ECi M1 is not ideal for batch manufacturing, which could be a drawback for businesses that heavily rely on this production method.
Lack of Low-Code Customizations: Unlike some competing ERP systems, ECi M1 does not offer low-code customization options, making it potentially less flexible for businesses with unique requirements not addressed by the software's standard features.
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WorkWise user reviews offer a nuanced perspective on its strengths and drawbacks. For some, it's a game-changer: "Switching from Acumatica to WorkWise felt like upgrading from dial-up to fiber optic internet. Everything is so much faster and more efficient." The real-time inventory visibility and streamlined production scheduling are often praised, with users noting, "We used to spend hours manually tracking inventory with Epicor, now WorkWise does it all, giving us valuable time back." However, the complexity can be intimidating. New users often face an uphill battle: "It's incredibly powerful, but it took our team months to feel comfortable using it all compared to Acumatica's more user-friendly interface. The learning curve is definitely steeper than Epicor's." This complexity extends to the customization options, a double-edged sword: "You can tailor WorkWise to your exact needs, but if you're not careful, it can become a tangled mess like Epicor's overly-customized systems." Reporting leaves mixed reviews. While some appreciate the data-driven insights, others crave more flexibility: "The pre-built reports are useful, but I need to dig deeper into specific data points like Epicor allows, and WorkWise doesn't quite offer that granularity." Ultimately, WorkWise excels for manufacturers seeking robust control over inventory and production. Users who value ease of use and out-of-the-box reporting might need to look elsewhere. As one user aptly concluded, "WorkWise is like a Swiss Army knife – incredibly versatile, but requires some effort to master, unlike Acumatica's straightforward approach."

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Is ECi M1 manufacturing a monumental success in the world of ERP software? Recent user reviews suggest a somewhat nuanced picture. While ECi M1 garners praise for its robust functionality, particularly in inventory management, production scheduling, and financial reporting, some users find the initial learning curve to be a bit steep. Many users, especially those already familiar with manufacturing software, appreciate the depth of features, citing the comprehensive inventory tracking and detailed production planning capabilities as major wins for streamlining operations and reducing costly errors. However, the software's complexity can be daunting for some, leading to initial setup challenges and a longer onboarding period. This robust functionality also appears to be a key differentiator for ECi M1. Unlike more general-purpose ERP solutions, ECi M1 is purpose-built for the intricacies of manufacturing, which resonates with users who find generic ERP systems to be a poor fit. The software's ability to integrate with other software is another often-cited advantage, enabling businesses to create a more unified technology ecosystem. That said, the responsiveness of customer support has been an occasional source of frustration for some users, who have reported delays in getting issues resolved. Overall, ECi M1 appears to be best suited for small to medium-sized manufacturers who need a powerful, specialized solution and are willing to invest the time to overcome the initial learning curve.

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Top Alternatives in Manufacturing Software


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MRPEasy

NetSuite

Oracle Fusion Cloud

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Sage 100 Cloud

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

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