Case Study

From Fragmented Systems to Strategic Epicor Cloud Migration

Summary

A family-owned, mid-sized manufacturer of custom machine enclosures and fabricated products struggled to scale as fragmented systems reduced visibility and slowed decision-making. Pemeco’s business-first assessment found the core issue was not the software, but the surrounding process, data, governance, and organizational foundations. Rather than replacing the technology first, Pemeco addressed underlying issues to support a lower-risk transition to Epicor Kinetic Cloud and establish a stronger foundation for long-term scalability and continuous improvement.

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Company Overview

Uni-Fab is a family-owned, mid-sized multi-company manufacturer operating across multiple Canadian production plants. Its growth plan focused on enabling scalable, efficient growth by delivering innovative high-quality products and a teamwork-centered culture.

Challenges

To process transactions, Uni-Fab personnel had to work with multiple fragmented and loosely connected systems, manually enter and re-enter data in different systems and Excel spreadsheets, and make key decisions without effective analytics. Additionally, the on-premises ERP system was unbearably slow.

  • Fragmented systems and workflows:
    Disconnected tools and siloed handoffs made cross-functional execution and collaboration difficult.
  • Poor data control and visibility:
    The same data was often entered and re-entered in multiple systems and spreadsheets, creating a strong potential for errors.
  • Limited analytics and planning effectiveness:
    Key analytics were missing, and disconnected planning processes made it difficult to synchronize supply and demand.
  • Slow systems slowed performance:
    Epicor E10 performed poorly, with users having to wait unreasonably long times for the spinning wheel to stop.

Solution

Pemeco led a structured transformation focused on business readiness before technology change:
  • Defined a future-state, business-first operating model:
    Assessed business requirements and redesigned end-to-end processes to support more standardized, scalable, cross-functional execution.
  • Strengthened organizational foundations:
    Clarified roles, introduced key functions, and established stronger governance, project discipline, and business-facing IT capabilities.
  • Executed a phased migration to Epicor Kinetic Cloud:
    Confirmed Epicor remained fit-for-purpose and guided a lower-risk cloud transition, based on scalability, security, analytics, and long-term total cost considerations. To mitigate risks of a big-bang migration, Pemeco first led a procure-to-pay optimization project, designed to introduce purchasing controls, inventory management, and AP processing in a familiar E10 environment. Then, it proceeded to lead the Kinetic implementation.

Results

Pemeco’s recommendations and phased execution approach resulted in an ERP environment better aligned to Uni-Fab’s business model:

Implemented integrated end-to-end processes:

Across all value streams, Pemeco eliminated disconnected systems and manual processing that created business processing frictions and implemented Kinetic-enabled cross-functional business processes.

Analytics and decision support:

Deployed KPIs, dashboards, and reports to provide key analytics on sales, operations, and finance to enable reliable planning, costing, and operational decisions.

Strong organizational structure:

Created new functions, clarified roles, reduced workarounds, and strengthened the business’s ability to manage change and execution.

Successful phased move to Epicor Kinetic Cloud:

Completed a lower-risk path to cloud, establishing a stronger foundation for scalability, security, analytics, and continuous improvement.

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