Cetec ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX (discontinued)

Cetec is useful for small to mid-sized companies with various levels of system complexity. It can manage having distributors and customer interfaces. It does fairly well at being a 'one-size fits all' solution. It would probably not be the best fit for large companies 100+ employees because it may not have the integration capability that is typically needed.

Incentivized

It integrates fully with the other Microsoft software we use daily, and this coordination speeds up our work and gives us the agility to run easily. For example, in a purchase inquiry, the customer, after submitting a request, identifies the teams that should work on the project, and if they need further review by other people, they are added to the process, and everything is managed seamlessly rather than the sales process. Get the result as fast as possible.

Incentivized

• Usage Logs: In the Medical Device Industry, having traceability is key. With this log, the Admin can review any user to see all their activity (viewing, updating, deleting, creating, etc.)
• Flexibility of Roles: Accessibility is very important. With Cetec ERP, we are able to create our own roles to grant specific access to certain user while denying it from others. This really helps by protecting information from being manipulated by users who do not carry that permission.

• Pricing: Microsoft Dynamics AX gives us good flexibility in how we price our products.
• UX: Microsoft Dynamics AX has a good user interface to put valuable information on the screen for users.
• Inventory Management: Microsoft Dynamics AX does a great job at giving us insight into our inventory.

Incentivized

• It needs the ability to breakdown sales for multiple customers by product code.

• Sales Ledger. Currently, the idea behind the sales ledger module is that the company prepares a sales order for another company. I would prefer the developers consider the scenario where a sales order is prepared for the same company but for another branch or unit.
• Postings of issues items are currently possible but none of the modules caters to "departmental material or item request". Further tweaks have been done on our Project Module to cater for this but it's not entirely perfect. This will enable aid in cost allocation per departmental request of materials or items.
• Challenges with the bank module - does not allow for easily reconciliation as the statement from the banks can not be uploaded except for specific format.

Incentivized

Microsoft Dynamics continues to evolve by bringing more functionality to the customer. Also there are several independent software providers that offer a wide range of solutions for vertical markets.

Incentivized

Cetec ERP is useful and fairly intuitive, but if you have a difficult time adapting to a ever-changing user interface, it may cause slight discomfort with every major update.

Incentivized

Overall the product does what we need it to do in order for us to function as a company. While there are some concerns over ongoing costs, the belief is, once we have it fully acclimated to our business the cost should settle into alignment with our original expectations. The new features that are consistently being added do add value to the product as they are usually customer request directed.

Incentivized

Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.

Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.

Cetec ERP will answer support calls but depending on your level of service contract, it may cost you quick a bit per hour to solve the issues you have. E-mail support is always available and surprisingly responsive.

Incentivized

We use a 3rd-party Microsoft Partner for the system. They are responsive and very knowledgeable. While costs have been mentioned several times in this review they are very aware of costs and have developers who are more economical they use to help offset the level of work required to meet our changes and fix our issues.

Incentivized

It took a lot of work, but Microsoft ultimately did a good job with in-person training, including being onsite in multiple global locations for extended periods.

Our solution deviated from a number of key out-of-the-box standards that were included in Online training. We just used that for introduction to the general functionality.

Some rough spots, but ultimately worked out. The contract didn't appear to be structured to support the level of overlapping facility deployments required to meet timeline commitments. Merging cultures on the program was also challenging. Overall, not an easy implementation by any stretch. Everyone did the best they could.

We reviewed plenty of ERP Systems before we decided on Cetec ERP. Going through systems like NetSuite, MS Dynamics, and Oracle, we were able to really define how many features we wanted and what price range we wanted to be in. As a small/midsize company, we needed a system that fit our needs while still having the capability for growth. Having the system be cloud based rather than a server base, like ProfitKey, also helped us determine our choice. Another feature that we were interested in was a barcoding/mobile feature. Cetec ERP has this out of the box where ProfitKey provided this as an add-on. GSS was the last system that we reviewed in comparison to Cetec and due to its large amounts of unusable features for our company, we decided not to use GSS. The overall price for what you get, responsiveness and helpfulness from their team, and the ability to customize to fit our needs helped make our decision to choose Cetec ERP over all the other systems we reviewed.

Cost and local regional compliance were primary factors in chosing Microsoft Dynamics AX over SAP Access Control for our need. SAP AC would have provided easier integration into our primary ERP system SAP but there were some regional compliance with ASEAN countries as well as the cost of implementation was more over Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Incentivized

• We have been able to streamline costs due to the amount of data now available.

• Clients have seen better cost containment on inventory based on better on hand management and supply chain visibility.
• Faster closing process for the finance team, where by day 3 of 4 you can generate a trial balance and look to balance ledger to sub-ledger.
• Better reporting allows for real time analysis and can get to predictive metrics in certain areas.

Incentivized