Aerospace and defense (A&D) manufacturing runs on tight requirements: traceability, quality, documentation, and on-time delivery.

Epicor Kinetic is a modern ERP built for manufacturers that helps A&D organizations manage complex builds and multi-step workflows and strengthen traceability and audit readiness for requirements such as AS9100 and ITAR-related controls.

With the right setup, you can reduce risk, improve execution, and make decisions faster.

Book a 30-minute A&D ERP Fit Assessment

IT Leader

You need an implementation that does not become a security failure, an integration nightmare, or a maintenance burden. Here is what matters for your evaluation.

Canada’s Controlled Goods Program requires organizations to register when they examine, possess, or transfer controlled goods. Epicor Kinetic supports role-based access controls and audit trails that help your team manage data governance requirements. EC Solutions configures these controls to match your organizational structure from day one.

Most A&D operations run more than one system. Epicor Kinetic integrates through a well-documented REST API. EC Solutions builds connections using Epicor Automation Studio, a low-code integration platform built on Workato. Workflows run server-side, which means they do not break when Epicor releases updates.

Customizations built at the UI level create risk every time Epicor updates. EC Solutions uses Epicor’s supported customization tools so your configurations survive upgrades without requiring rework after every release.

A go-live failure caused by bad data is an IT failure in the eyes of leadership. EC Solutions structures data migration as a phased process with validation at each stage, so data quality issues are caught before they reach production.

Finance Leader

Your risk is overruns: implementation overruns, job-costing blind spots, audit exposure, and margin erosion that shows up too late to act on. Here is what matters for your evaluation.

In most A&D shops, finance finds out a job lost money after it ships. Epicor tracks labor and materials against each job as work progresses, not at month end. Overruns are visible in real time so someone can act before the damage is done.

From estimate to invoice, every step is tracked in the same system. There is no reconciliation between a quoting tool and an ERP, no manual bridge between production costs and financial reporting. The margin picture is current, not historical.

A poorly scoped ERP project is its own financial risk. EC Solutions structures implementations with clear milestones, defined scope, and testing phases that reduce the risk of cost and timeline overruns during the project itself.

AS9100 audits require documentation, approvals, and records that are complete and accessible. Epicor’s quality management and audit trail capabilities keep those records structured throughout the year, not assembled under pressure before an audit.

Operations Leader

You want fewer surprises, fewer firefights, and fewer late jobs. You need the system to hold together when revisions change, suppliers fail inspection, and customers ask for full traceability. Here is what matters for your evaluation.

Engineering releases a new revision. Production is already mid-job. Without a connected system, the floor works from the old drawing and rework follows. Epicor keeps production tied to current revisions so changes reach the right people before the wrong parts get made.

When a customer asks for the full history of a part, from raw material receipt to shipment, Epicor’s lot and serial traceability pulls that record in minutes. EC Solutions configures the depth of traceability to match your customer requirements so the data is captured automatically as work progresses.

Long lead times, single-source suppliers, and cross-border supply chains create planning risk. Epicor connects demand, capacity, and purchasing so your team can see pressure building and re-plan before it becomes an expedited crisis.

Late deliveries in A&D have consequences that go beyond the invoice. Customer relationships and future contract opportunities are all on the line. Epicor connects scheduling, production execution, and supply chain visibility so your team can see delivery risk before it becomes a missed commitment. When priorities shift or a supplier slips, the impact on your schedule is visible in real time, not after the fact.

Challenges Epicor Kinetic Helps A&D Teams Solve

Canadian aerospace and defense manufacturers operate in one of the most demanding environments in the country. Customer requirements are exacting. Regulatory pressure is real. Supply chains cross borders. And the cost of a quality escape or a missed delivery is not just financial.

The operational challenges are specific:

AS9100 audits require documentation, approvals, and records that most shops are assembling manually.

ITAR-adjacent work means controlled data needs proper access governance, not just a password.

Engineering changes create rework when the floor is not working from the current revision.

Long lead times and single-source suppliers make planning unreliable the moment a commitment slips.

Job costing is invisible until the job closes, by which point margin is already gone.

Traceability gaps become customer problems when an as-built record cannot be produced quickly.

Epicor Kinetic is designed for manufacturers to address these challenges. EC Solutions has been configuring it for Canadian A&D manufacturers since 2004.

Benefits of Epicor ERP for A&D Manufacturers

A&D Compliance and Audit Readiness

When your team spends weeks before an AS9100 audit pulling documentation from disconnected systems, chasing approvals that were never recorded, and reconstructing lot histories from memory and spreadsheets, that is not an audit preparation problem. It is a system problem.

Epicor Kinetic keeps quality records, approvals, non-conformances, and audit trails structured throughout the year. When the auditor arrives, your team runs a report. They do not rebuild a file.

EC Solutions configures these workflows to match your specific quality requirements so records are captured correctly from day one, not retrofitted before each review.

End-to-End Traceability

A customer asks for the complete history of a part. Raw material lot, supplier certificate, inspection records, operator sign-offs, ship date. If that information lives across three systems and two email threads, producing it under time pressure is a risk every time.

Epicor’s end-to-end lot and serial traceability links every transaction from purchase order to shipment. The as-built record is in the system, captured automatically as work progresses.

EC Solutions configures the depth of traceability to match what your customers and your quality processes actually require.

Better Cost Control and Margin Visibility

The job looked profitable at the quote. By the time it shipped, it was not. Without visibility into real-time job costs, that gap only shows up after the fact, when there is nothing left to do but absorb it.

Epicor tracks labor, materials, and overhead against each job as work progresses. Actual costs are visible against the estimate in real time. Overruns surface early enough for someone to act.

EC Solutions configures job costing structures to reflect how your shop actually accumulates costs, so the numbers in the system match the reality on the floor.

More Reliable Planning in a Complex Supply Chain

One supplier slips. Three days later, the job stalls on the floor waiting for material. By the time the office knows, the schedule has already shifted and someone is about to call the customer.

Epicor’s planning and scheduling tools connect demand, purchasing commitments, and production capacity so your team can see supply risk before it becomes a production stoppage.

EC Solutions configures planning parameters to reflect your actual lead times and supplier base, not generic defaults.

Engineering and Production Stay Aligned

The revision was released. Production was already mid-job. Nobody told the floor. The rework that follows costs time, material, and sometimes the relationship with the customer.

Epicor keeps production tied to current drawings and specifications. When a revision is released, the right people see it before the job progresses past the point of no return.

EC Solutions configures the handoff between engineering and production so revision control is built into the workflow, not dependent on someone remembering to tell someone else.

Higher Productivity with Less Manual Work

Controlled data without proper access governance, integrations that break on every update, and UI-level customizations that require rework after every release, these are not edge cases. They are the reasons A&D ERP projects become IT liabilities rather than operational assets.

EC Solutions addresses these directly: role-based access configured to match your organizational structure and controlled-goods requirements, integrations built through Epicor Automation Studio using upgrade-safe server-side workflows, and customizations built using Epicor’s supported tools so updates do not break what you built.

Canadian Aerospace Proof: Abipa International & EC Solutions

Location: Boisbriand (Quebec), Canada
Industry: Aerospace manufacturing

Objectives:

Automate manual processes across production and administration
Eliminate duplicate data entry across departments
Centralize all processes under a single management system
Improve decision-making through better data visibility
Meet customer delivery deadlines more consistently
Reduce production and delivery lead times
Improve and optimize dashboards for day-to-day use

The result of working with EC Solutions:

Centralized information, reduced workload through built-in process support, faster responses to customer requests, and consistent delivery performance across a demanding client base.

“We are delivering greater value to our clients, compared to our competitors, and Epicor ERP is the key to this achievement. Specific information is all centralized in this system, which positions us to answer clients’ questions and meet their needs. It’s the core of our business.”

— Rui Cabral, General Manager, Abipa International

READ ABIPA’S STORY

Key Epicor Kinetic Features for Aerospace and Defense

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Quote-to-Cash Management

Manage quoting through invoicing with full visibility at every step. For A&D manufacturers with complex pricing structures and contract requirements, a connected quote-to-cash process means fewer handoff errors and a clearer picture of where margin is going.

Quality Management and Infrastructure

Support AS9100-style quality processes with structured records, inspection workflows, non-conformance tracking, and corrective action management. When a quality issue surfaces, the record is in the system, not in someone’s inbox.

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Keep product information aligned across engineering and production. Teams work from current requirements and revisions, not from whatever version was printed last month. Critical for A&D operations where a revision change mid-job is the norm, not the exception.

Engineer-To-Order Support

Complex, change-driven work requires a system that can handle variability without losing control of costs, lead times, and execution. Epicor’s ETO capabilities are built for exactly this environment.

Mixed-Mode Manufacturing

Most A&D manufacturers run make-to-order, engineer-to-order, and project-based work on the same floor, sometimes within the same program. Managing that mix across disconnected systems creates scheduling conflicts and cost allocation problems. Epicor Kinetic handles multiple production modes in a single environment so your team works from one system regardless of how a job was structured.

Project Management

Track project-based work with clearer visibility into progress, cost, and delivery risk. For A&D programs with multiple deliverables and long timelines, project management in ERP means your financial picture and your operational picture stay connected.

Supplier Management

Canadian A&D supply chains cross borders and involve long lead times and limited substitution options. Epicor gives you better visibility into supplier performance, commitment tracking, and lead time accuracy so planning holds up when the supply chain does not.

Inventory Management

Improve inventory accuracy, availability, and lot/serial traceability so production stays on track. For A&D manufacturers operating under AS9100, inventory accuracy is not just an operational issue. It is a quality issue.

Why Canadian A&D Manufacturers Work with EC Solutions

EC Solutions is a Quebec-based Epicor Gold Partner that has been supporting Canadian manufacturers since 2004, in French and English.

We configure Epicor around how your operation runs, not around a generic template.

We make sure everyone is satisfied from IT to finance and operations. IT gets upgrade-safe integrations, controlled access governance, and a structured migration process; Finance gets real-time job costing, quote-to-cash visibility, and implementation scope control; Operations gets revision control that reaches the floor, traceability that answers customer questions, and planning that holds under supply chain pressure.

We configure the system to support the processes your team needs to manage Canadian A&D requirements. And we stay involved after go-live, because that is when the real operational questions come up.

FAQ About Aerospace and Defense ERP Software

Canadian A&D manufacturers typically need strong traceability across lots and serials, AS9100-compatible quality process support, audit trails that are maintained throughout the year rather than assembled before reviews, real-time job costing, controlled data governance for Controlled Goods Program obligations, and planning visibility across complex supply chains with long lead times.

Yes, with the right configuration, Epicor tracks full lot and serial history from raw material receipt through production operations to shipment. The level of traceability detail is configurable based on your customer requirements and quality processes. EC Solutions configures this to match what your clients and your quality system actually require, not just what the software is capable of by default.

Epicor Kinetic supports role-based access controls, audit trails, and data governance configurations that help organizations manage who can examine, possess, or transfer controlled information within the system. EC Solutions configures these controls to support your CGP registration obligations.

Yes, Epicor Kinetic is designed for manufacturers running complex, change-driven production. Engineer-to-order support, project management, and mixed-mode manufacturing capabilities are core to the platform. For Canadian A&D manufacturers building to customer specifications with frequent revision changes, these capabilities are what make Epicor a practical fit for the industry.