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Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Epicor Kinetic

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Our analysts compared Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Epicor Kinetic based on data from our 400+ point analysis of ERP Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central Software Tool
Epicor Kinetic Software Tool
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Product Basics

Analyst Rating

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Detailed Analysis

User Sentiment

Good User Sentiment (366 Reviews)

Analyst Rating

84 Detailed Analysis

User Sentiment

Good User Sentiment (935 Reviews)
Dynamics 365 Business Central, formerly known as Dynamics NAV, is a widely used ERP platform that benefits businesses of small and medium sizes. It’s a multi-faceted ERP product that assists in the streamlining of aspects such as accounting, contact management and inventory management. This program has high integration capabilities due to its status as a Microsoft product and is currently used by more than 100,000 companies.

Personalization is a key benefit of this tool that is expressed throughout the program’s different modules. For example, you can customize dashboards and reports to ensure that your employees are obtaining useful insights quickly and easily. The program is also highly automated and can reduce human error through its connected systems.

Pros
  • User-friendly interface
  • Seamless integrations
  • Flexible customization
  • Robust financial management
  • Strong reporting capabilities
 Cons
  • Limited industry-specific features
  • Potential customization complexity
  • Scalability concerns for large enterprises
  • Reliance on third-party add-ons
  • Potentially high ownership costs
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Kinetic (formerly Epicor ERP) is a cloud-based ERP that supports on-premise and hybrid deployment. It connects diverse production workflows and departments into one focused hub for medium and enterprise-level companies. Top modules include project management, project contracts, data analytics, accounts management, core financials and IoT.

Its flexibility and connectivity reduce communication issues and human mistakes while automating processes. The cloud-based deployment option allows employees to leverage its capabilities regardless of physical location. It contains advanced reporting and analysis tools that enable users to develop actionable insights to improve day-to-day operations with real-time information.

Positive user feedback highlights its manufacturing-focused configuration and functionality, with support for financial accounting. There are some negative reviews about poor tech support and limited learning materials, however, overall user sentiment is positive.

In terms of pricing, Kinetic offers a flexible subscription model based on the modules and features required by each business. Specific pricing details may vary depending on customization and implementation needs.

To explore other popular solutions that Epicor offers, visit our Epicor company page.
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Product Insights

  • Centralized Data: Dynamics 365 Business Central leans in to the essence of ERP software — data centralization. For example, the system’s contract management program maintains a shared database of customers and prospects that can be customized and filtered. The program also removes any duplicates found in the system, which is especially helpful when you have multiple people entering prospect information or liaising with customers. Customized dashboards and visualizations are also available for insights developed across your company. 
  • Accessibility: This software is available either on-premise or as a cloud-based ERP. If you opt to go with a cloud deployment, the solution will be accessible to your employees anytime and anywhere as long as an internet connection is available. This broadly increases the scope of where your employees can complete their duties and access pertinent information. 
  • Forecasting: Dynamics 365 Business Central contains forecasting tools that include the use of historical demand to estimate future demand. This is helpful because it can improve efficiency, reduce spoilage and improve the likelihood that you will be able to fulfill orders from customers. 
  • Simple Integration: As a Microsoft product, Dynamics 365 Business Central is well poised for integration. The software can work with programs such as Word and Excel and is also available across iOS, Android and Windows devices. Microsoft offers a wide variety of software solutions that can be connected to Dynamics 365 Business Central, such as Dynamics 365 for Sales. 
  • Collaboration: Dynamics 365 Business Central provides visibility and control over multiple production sites. This allows you to collaborate with employees located in that facility to determine benchmarks such as optimal inventory level. Additionally, because of Dynamics 365 Business Central’s availability as a cloud-based solution, it is easy for employees to collaborate on and access materials whether they are in a corporate office or at a production facility. 
  • Security: With this program, you can configure user access to different components of the software. For example, if you don’t want an account representative to have visualization of the payroll, you can limit the scope of a user’s access to the application. Disaster recovery tools also assist with security measures. 
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  • Chronicle Cash Flow: Save project fees and allocate on-time invoices to manage costs and ensure clients receive their bills. Boost cash flow forecasting via effective financial management.
  • Access In-Depth Business Analytics: Make wiser business decisions based on company-specific profit margins, sales information and workflow performance data. Access dashboards and custom reports that analyze real-time data and present actionable insights.
  • Simplify Demand and Order Management: Capture customer orders, manage product configurations and automate order fulfillment with a tightly integrated CPQ and eCommerce platform.
  • Use Simple MES Data Exchanges: Reduce double-data entries, leverage accurate data between interfaces consistently, and import and export information for advanced MES practices for easier data collecting and transfers.
  • Deliver Centralized Client Management: Govern contacts, leads, patrons and more from any mobile device, making it easy to maintain and manage relationships and data anywhere. Supervise region, team and proposal insights in one centralized location instead of traveling to all worksites.
  • Exhibit Supply Chain Visibility: Use advanced electronic data interchange (EDI), material requirements planning (MRP), and advanced planning and scheduling (APS) to review inventory levels, manage demand fluctuations and ensure on-time deliveries.
  • Access Resources From Anywhere: Review operations, dashboards and vendors on the go with mobile access. Monitor processes on your preferred iOS or Android device via the CRM mobile app.
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  • Sales Order Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s sales order management module allows you to alter quantity available amounts based on posted invoices. You can also use the program to create prepayment invoices and to manage partial shipments. 
  • Analysis Reports: The analysis reports tool is based on helping decisionmakers within your company gain meaningful insights that will positively influence daily decisions. With this customizable tool, you can use factors such as customers, items and vendors to view information such as inventory turnover and customer behavior. You can also use this tool to more accurately pinpoint problems across your business that are creating bottlenecks or inefficiencies. 
  • General Ledger: Accounting and financial reporting tools are a commonly requested feature in ERP software. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a general ledger in its base package that includes internal and external reporting tools, ability to export data in various formats, employee ledger entries, linking to external documents and reporting in your company’s preferred currency format. 
  • Requisition Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s Requisition Worksheet allows you to optimize your inventory based on factors such as predicted demand and material availability. You can also set minimum and maximum quantity levels to determine a reordering point in your manufacturing center. 
  • Multi-Site Functionality: With this software, you can track inventory levels across multiple distribution centers, warehouses, production plants, showrooms and more. You can also track inventory as it moves from different locations while accounting for its value during transit. 
  • Contact Management: The contact management feature allows you to input and maintain a list of your business contacts and prospects. The tool lets you know when duplicate contact information is entered, enables you to issue quotes or sales documents, allows for the categorization of people associated with a specific contact and segments people based on profiling questions. 
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Dynamics 365 Business Central includes support for Kofax Invoice Capture Service (ICS) out of the box. This tool can take information from unstructured PDFs, extract it, and turn it into structured data. 
  • Currency Exchange Rates: This system allows you to update currency exchange rates as they shift. This can be done either manually or automatically. Dynamics 365 Business Central supports Yahoo and European Central Bank (ECB) currency feeds out of the box, but you can add other currencies to the tool using the currency exchange rates setup. 
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  • Project Management
    • Planning and Analysis: Leverage user-established cost analytics throughout work breakdown structures (WBS), defining all project components and creating WBS templates for quick reference. Record all general ledger and project transactions in one centralized ledger for base reconciliations and reporting.
    • Contract Management: Meet contractual obligations while protecting profitability. Rely on the system to define source cost rates across levels, monitor resource ceilings, link planning contracts with projects and seamlessly develop claims for any or all contract lines on one screen.
    • Billing Types: Obtain several billing types, such as progress, fixed price, milestone and quantity. Use bill plans, recurring payment, subscriptions, time and expenses, part price lists, and markups.
  • Manufacturing
    • Lean Manufacturing: Optimize production processes, reduce waste and manage manufacturing operations by incorporating lean principles. Apply Kanban systems, enable manufacturing without work orders and automatically process material flow.
    • Job Management: Access detailed job tracking and reduce overproduction with drag-and-drop planning and material availability checks. Ensure quality and production with job manager assistance and production planners.
    • Manufacturing Execution System (MES): Monitor production activities and automatic data collection from equipment via touchscreen interfaces. Support operators in making smart decisions regarding productivity, waste reduction and risk mitigation.
    • Quality Assurance: Enhances quality control by providing tools for managing quality processes, inspections, supplier returns and automated debit processing within the manufacturing environment.
  • Analytics and Reporting
    • Sales and CRM: Uncover more detailed business patterns and obtain deeper awareness of accounts, regions, orders and more. Review net sales, shipped and ordered quantities, material costs, fixed and variable burdens and labor fees.
    • Materials Management: Optimize purchase spending and evaluate vendor performances. Track shipment progress and review costs, on-hand amounts, in-transit, bill of lading information and shipped on time, amongst others.
    • Financials: Govern cash flows for more trends with a holistic filter for payables, receivables, customer payment cycles and vendor payment conditions. Drill down into organized accounts and payments on income statements and balance sheets.
    • Production: Verify high-quality, manufactured products for the ideal client at the right time. Monitor tool quantities, good values, actual setup hours, defined labor rates, production run standards and more.
    • Preventive Maintenance: Employ the EDA equipment maintenance data and dashboard to inspect maintenance data for suppliers, tasks, plants and open and closed requests. Boost preventive maintenance services and average response times for obstacles so managers can catch production bottlenecks.
    • Field Service: Use EDA data to oversee consumers, parts, service call types and warranty eligibility linked with service requests. Summarize totals, call counts for each service representative and other relevant indications.
  • Data Exchange
    • Integrations: Import and export data quickly to avoid manual data entry mistakes while maintaining data integrity. Manage specific information, data amounts and file formats for easy storage and sharing. Allocate data expeditiously and handle detailed tasks for IT teams and administrators.
    • In and Outbound Data: Import master information from ERP systems and send production details between MRP and ERP solutions. Regulate where data goes and how to handle it with ease.
  • Financials Core
    • General Ledger: Process and post all purchases made across this and other solutions. Manage manual entries, meet economic compliances, boost productivity and push enterprise efficiency.
    • Accounts Payable: Implement petty cash to manage in and outbound cash activities, employee fees and advances, vendor expenditures and customer receipts. Track promissory notes, post-dated checks and other credit tools.
    • Accounts Receivable: Establish coherent tools to monitor invoicing, credit, cash and client requirements. Create automatic invoices via order releases to reduce more work and typos.
    • Business Architecture: Use the data discovery function to access pre-made financial management, accounts receivable and payable content. The human capital management link transfers information to payroll providers, benefit vendors and more.
    • Global Engines: Support financial management across locations, vendors and global boundaries with country-specific implementation packs. Support multi-currency transactions, automate conversions and accurate financial reporting.
  • Epicor Automation Studio: Let users connect data and automate workflows across various apps with Epicor Automation Studio, a built-in low-code iPaaS solution. Access an integration marketplace, pre-built workflow automation templates and other native tools.
  • Virtual Agents: Rely on chatbots to pinpoint supply chain disruptions and recommend sourcing options based on predictive events.
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Product Ranking

#18

among all
ERP Software

#11

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ERP Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Analytics And Reporting Asset Management Customer Relationship Management Finance And Accounting Human Resource Management Inventory Management Manufacturing Order Management Procurement Project Management Service Management Supply Chain Management Warehouse Management 99 80 71 91 30 91 81 92 96 100 87 60 76 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 366 reviews
Good User Sentiment 935 reviews
75%
of users recommend this product

Dynamics 365 Business Central has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 75% when considering 366 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

78%
of users recommend this product

Epicor Kinetic has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 78% when considering 935 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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4.3 (11)
3.6 (142)
3.7 (409)
3.7 (85)
3.9 (175)
4.3 (9)
4.2 (229)
3.9 (130)
3.9 (111)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Easy to Learn: Precisely 53% of users say the system has a simple implementation process and helpful training materials.
Extensive Features: Features include BOM management, finance management, document management, reporting, search filters, accounting and other modules, according to 79% of users.
Intuitive Interface: Familiar layout and guided workflows simplify data entry and task completion for non-technical users.
Automated Processes: Reduce manual tasks and errors with automated workflows for finance, inventory, sales, and customer service.
Actionable Insights: Gain real-time visibility into business performance through comprehensive dashboards and reporting tools.
Powerful Integrations: Connect seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and other popular business applications for a unified data ecosystem.
Cloud-based Scalability: Adapt to growth with a flexible cloud infrastructure that supports diverse user needs and data volumes.
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Modern Interface: Approximately 52% of users say this solution has a flexible, user-friendly UI.
Flexibility and Customization: Approximately 87% of the users said Kinetic is easy to configure and has great customization options for multi-mode manufacturers.
Modules: Of the users who discussed features, 60% said this system offers a wide range of practical tools (i.e., KPI dashboards, accounting and financial management, part tracking and more).
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User Interface: Of the users who discussed the interface, 46% said it was not intuitive and the layout is old-fashioned.
Glitchy Performance: Approximately 67% of users said the program's overall performance is slow and glitchy.
Industry Gaps: While strong for core ERP functions, may require additional add-ons or integrations for complex industry-specific needs like manufacturing or healthcare.
Customization Curve: While offering customization options, extensive modifications might require developer expertise, increasing costs and implementation time.
Large Enterprise Scalability: While cloud-based and scalable, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration.
Add-on Dependence: Fulfilling specific needs may rely on third-party add-ons, introducing potential compatibility and support challenges.
Cost Considerations: While offering subscription plans, total cost of ownership can be influenced by user licenses, customization needs, and add-on integrations.
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Overall Performance: Roughly 40% of users indicated that the system is buggy, cumbersome and has a clunky UI.
Customer Support: About 55% of users agree that the support team is ineffective and has poor quality.
Training: Approximately 77% of users mentioned a steep learning curve and limited training resources.
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Users appreciated Dynamics 365 Business Central's user-friendly interface and automation capabilities, highlighting its ease of use even for non-technical personnel. The streamlined workflows and intuitive layout simplified data entry and task completion, especially compared to competitor solutions with steeper learning curves. The automated processes proved beneficial in eliminating manual work and errors, boosting efficiency in areas like finance, inventory, and customer service. However, some users pointed to limitations in industry-specific features compared to more specialized competitors like SAP Business One or Acumatica. While Business Central excels in core ERP functions, complex needs in manufacturing or healthcare might require additional add-ons or integrations, increasing complexity and potentially cost. Customization, while available, also presented a potential hurdle. While offering flexibility, extensive modifications could necessitate developer expertise, raising implementation time and costs compared to competitors with more drag-and-drop customization options. Business Central's cloud-based scalability was praised, accommodating growth and diverse user needs effectively. This stood out compared to some on-premise competitors with less flexibility. However, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration compared to solutions like Oracle NetSuite designed for such complexity. Overall, user reviews suggest Dynamics 365 Business Central shines for its user-friendliness, automation, and cloud-based scalability. However, limitations in industry-specific features and potential customization complexity compared to some competitors are important considerations, especially for niche businesses or large enterprises.

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Kinetic offers a comprehensive ERP solution designed for multimodal manufacturers. It offers a robust combination of core financials, extensive integrations and country-specific implementation support. The advanced overlaid manufacturing module addresses future scalability needs. Its modern interface supports various business models through manufacturing processes.The user-based subscription model lets businesses adjust costs based on their specific needs. The solution is available in both perpetual and subscription licensing models, providing businesses with the flexibility to choose the most suitable option.Features like MES data exchange and Kanban systems manage production processes and reduce waste. Additionally, in-depth business analytics provide valuable insights into sales, profit margins and workflow performance for informed decision-making.Users praise this vendor’s configurable options and range of functions that cater to their unique business needs. Positive feedback also includes mentions of a unified platform for customer interactions. Despite its robust customization and integration options, many users report a steep learning curve and limited training resources.Overall, Kinetic is a comprehensive ERP solution that offers significant benefits to manufacturers looking to improve their operational efficiency, decision-making and profitability.

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Screenshots

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Head-to-Head Comparison

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