In this latest episode of the Epicor Experts Podcast, I sat down with Tony Burke from Isoclad – a composite panel manufacturer based in the North East – to walk through their journey with Epicor, from a rocky implementation to a much smoother and more successful upgrade to Kinetic.
When Tony joined Isoclad, the system was already live – but not in a good way. There were fundamental issues: unclean data, rushed training, and key people left out of the process. He described the early years post-implementation as “a lot of firefighting” just to get the system to do what it should’ve done from the start.
But their upgrade? A completely different story.
They dedicated a full 12 months to data cleansing before even touching the Kinetic transition. That decision – along with smarter stakeholder involvement and reviewing customisations – made all the difference. One big win Tony shared was finally being able to run a reliable gross margin report, something they hadn’t been able to do properly in over three years.
“Before the upgrade, we couldn’t even produce a gross margin report.”
Tony credits the turnaround to focusing on the people who actually use the system daily – shop floor operatives, supervisors, and sales teams – and involving them from the start. Instead of building around assumptions, they built around reality. That meant they could strip out unnecessary customisations, simplify the product configurators from six down to two, and make the system genuinely work for them.
“With better understanding of the system, we realised we could just use what was already in Epicor.”
They also built in training as part of the upgrade, which has made the business far more self-sufficient. Departments are no longer constantly chasing Tony to fix things – a sign in itself that the system is finally doing what it’s meant to do.
Key Takeaways:
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Clean your data thoroughly before upgrading – don’t cut corners.
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Involve your subject matter experts early – they’ll highlight real pain points.
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Use the upgrade as a chance to review and remove unnecessary customisations.
Watch the full episode below to hear directly from Tony about how they approached the upgrade, what worked, and what he’d recommend to anyone planning the same move. It’s a proper example of how the right prep and people can turn an Epicor system into something that drives real value.
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