Open source ERP provider Compiere this week made its first official foray into the manufacturing realm, rolling out version 3.1 of its software, with new functionality geared specifically to the needs of industrial companies.
Compiere 3.1 features an add-on Manufacturing module that allows users to manage multi-level bills of material and work orders, letting users create a work order, issue materials to it, and track it through work in process to finished goods. Then, in conjunction with Compiere’s inventory system, the software can release the customer order for shipment. The Manufacturing module also ties sales orders to work orders, allowing for customer changes to be reflected on both. The software is also integrated with the financial backbone of the Compiere ERP system and offers reporting functionality for WIP tracking and customer-service levels by delivery date.
John Cingari, Compiere’s chief marketing officer, told Managing Automation that the new application, which mixes ERP and CRM functions, targets mid-market manufacturers. He also acknowledged that few technology providers master all the functionality of a specific vertical on their first attempt, and said Compiere will next focus on building out the advanced scheduling and planning capabilities of the Manufacturing module.
Indeed, the majority of Compiere’s headcount is in R&D, he said, a structure that allows the company to be aggressive in developing and releasing new functionality. In that vein, the company will unveil a warehouse management product next month, a further step toward solidifying its manufacturing bona fides.
Compiere has a relatively short history, dating back to 1999; its first product release came in 2002. The current management team, brought in to scale the company and front-loaded with Oracle veterans — the CEO, VP of development and customer support, and Cingari himself all hail from Redwood Shores, CA — took the helm just a year ago.
Compiere claims 2,000 paying subscribers. As an open source provider, the company touts a lower cost of ownership on three fronts: a smaller up-front investment; more application flexibility due to Compiere’s model-driven application platform, which allows users to adjust screens and functions without coding; and easier upgrades, since the provider migrates any customizations a user company has made when the next release hits the market.
At the high end of its portfolio, Compiere Professional Edition costs $600 per user per year. It features premium functionality not found in lower versions and provides users product support as well as copyright indemnification. Only users of the Professional Edition may install Compiere Manufacturing, which comes with an additional $150 annual cost per user.
Cingari said that the company’s subscription cost model gives it good visibility into future revenue, and said that its largely Internet-based marketing efforts keep sales and marketing costs low, which helps to make up for the lower price tags on its product. The company is private, having digested two rounds of venture funding from NEA. The mid-term plan is to go public, according to Cingari.
As for competition, Compiere often goes up against NetSuite and Microsoft’s Dynamics GP software, with SAP’s Business One and Oracle’s SaaS mid-market offering showing up approximately 5% to 10% of the time, according to Cingari. In Europe, the company often bids against OpenBravo, another open source ERP provider.
In fact, this proved to be a brisk week for the small cadre of open source stalwarts. xTuple, one of the pioneers of open source ERP for manufacturers, announced on Tuesday the latest version of its OpenMFG product, which, like Compiere ERP, demands no coding from end users looking to change screens and functions.
In recent years, Compiere has rarely crossed paths with xTuple, purveyor of the open source, manufacturing-oriented OpenMFG product. But that may soon change, Cingari admitted. “I think as our vertical focus, particularly in manufacturing, gets stronger, we’ll begin to see them.”