Aerospace and defense companies have strict quality and regulatory standards. It’s especially true for top-tier A&D companies. Companies sometimes serve A&D ecosystems. Serving these businesses is too expensive for them.
A&D margins may be tighter than automotive. If you streamline admin and reporting, quality requirements may only eat off your margins. Aerospace parts are also highly engineered. Large programs demand vendor collaboration and timeliness. One vendor’s mistake could affect the entire supply chain.
Aerospace and defense firms have complex needs. They’re heavily regulated and involve project management, raw materials, quality controls, and more. Not all ERP systems are specialized.
The best Aerospace ERP Software
IQMS
This product targets manufacturers and distributors—a large A&D customer base. IQMS is focused, scalable, and can handle complex requirements. It’s also reportable.
Cost and usability are product flaws. If the scope is narrow, then the net cost is low. Reporting is a product strength, but it takes a lot of work to set up. Software upgrades and changes are delayed compared to other suppliers on our list.
SYSPRO
SYSPRO is a manufacturer- and A&D-focused product. Product strengths include a user interface, software setup, and fast, low-cost deployments. It’s noted for its excellent customer service, partly due to its modest size and concentrated attention.
SYSPRO is too thin for larger, multipart enterprises. It may be helpful for a smaller midsize company. The search feature is challenging despite the system’s intuitive user interface compared to others. Customers have also complained about data check downtime.
ERP Aero
ERP.aero operates at the intersection of aerospace and technology. Drawing from the expertise of seasoned industry professionals and top talent in software development, we are transforming business for aerospace companies.
It is a cloud-based aerospace ERP software providing a readily-available, fully-featured, online operational environment for your entire organization, seemingly integrating with leading marketplaces.
ERP.aero is designed as a multi-layered operation system, which allows you to supply the right airplane part in most effective manner. Your customers will receive their spares quickly and on time.
ERP Cloud Oracle
Oracle ERP Cloud, number seven, competes with SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Dynamics. Oracle ERP Cloud provides engineering modules, configurable price quotes, project management, and MRP and production capabilities. Even though it’s a massive, sophisticated system, it’s one of our most flexible products.
Oracle ERP Cloud is less mature than other cloud-based platforms. Oracle ERP Cloud may be excessive, too sophisticated, pricey, dangerous, and challenging to execute for smaller midsize organizations.
Acumatica
Acumatica, a 10-year-old aviation ERP firm, ranks sixth. Acumatica is in our top 10 because it focuses on manufacturing, especially A&D. It’s an end-to-end solution flexible for companies with shifting needs. It’s also remarkably configurable for diverse companies’ needs.
The product needs to be improved for large businesses, slows down when processing massive amounts of data, and has a longer learning curve than comparable solutions. It may be better if you need various reports, dashboards, and analytics.
Deltek
Deltek is an A&D solution for government contractors. It offers excellent project-centric and multi-entity features, making it ideal for project-centric organizations. Its strength for A&D enterprises includes those with mostly government funding. Deltek provides one of the best built-in feature sets for government contracts, which may require exceptional development in other ERP systems.
Lastly, its multi-entity capabilities make it suited for major A&D organizations and a replacement for larger ERP systems like SAP S/4 HANA and Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O for specific industrial verticals.
Epicor Kinetic
SMB A&D firms use Epicor Kinetic for mixed-mode production. Tier 1 and 2 A&D manufacturers use it because of its versatility and broad adoption. Its strength is pre-packaged MES capabilities. PLM, MES, CAD, and quality management integration are pre-packaged and pre-integrated. Finally, it supports diverse manufacturing business models and procedures.
It lacks A&D-specific built-in capabilities, including ITAR export compliance, AS 9100, DPAS, and DCAA requirements. Its reliance on a third-party quality module poses vendor, contract, and product lifecycle risks. Customers typically complain in reviews that Epicor’s support is minimal and that it’s challenging to use.
Conclusion
Aerospace and defense firms’ operations and regulatory needs necessitate better process control. Regulatory costs may also eat into your profitability. It would help if you had an ERP solution that natively supports A&D. A vanilla system not developed for aerospace and defense may require major adaptations and dangerous add-ons, leading to ERP failure. Choose a defense and aerospace ERP system.
