Epicor Software Corporation said it has joined hands with top imaging innovator Eastman Kodak Company to deliver its next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions with Kodak’s suite of print industry solutions.

Epicor, a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, said the alliance will help meet the growing need among printing, publishing, and commercial printing and packaging units for a scalable and flexible business management solution.

Working co-operatively with Kodak, and building on its own proven success delivering industry-specific ERP solutions to retail, manufacturing, distribution, hospitality, and services organizations, Epicor is further expanding focus on the print, publishing and packaging industry.

The alignment with Kodak creates an opportunity to deliver an integrated print production, digital workflow, and business information solution that can leverage printing industry best practices from design and creation to print and delivery.

Under the agreement, Epicor will deliver Kodak’s sophisticated workflow capabilities and print-focused Kodak EMS Business Software suite embedded with its Epicor 9 next-generation ERP solution, to be branded Epicor for Printing and Packaging.

Together, these software solutions form a complete business workflow solution that can help manage all aspects of printing, publishing, media and graphic communications businesses.

As part of the agreement, Kodak has ported its sophisticated print-focused EMS software for printers to the Epicor 9 platform. Epicor and Kodak have a number of joint customers in the printing industry today; Kodak will continue to market and sell the solution jointly with Epicor.

“Our relationship with Epicor to deliver a comprehensive business management solution to the printing industry leverages the key strengths of both organizations,” said Kodak vice president and general manager of Business Solutions and Services Group, Dolores Kruchten.

“Epicor brings more than 25 years of experience developing, marketing, selling and implementing ERP solutions that provide organizations around the world with a competitive advantage; combined with our expertise in bringing integrated business solutions to the printing industry, this creates a win-win for new and existing customers,” he added.

Epicor chairman, CEO and president George Klaus said the company has seen a dramatic change in the print, publishing and communications industry with the evolution of the digital printing, imaging and the Internet.

'We believe integrating these new technologies seamlessly as part of their overall business information system can increase performance and productivity for a wide variety of printing and publishing-related industries,' he noted.

According to Klaus, the partnership with Kodak aligns with Epicor's strategic focus to extend the offerings and market presence within industries it has traditionally served, as well as expand into complementary industries.

'We’ve been very successful providing business management software to the printing and publishing industry. The addition of Kodak’s EMS solution and integrated workflow capabilities coupled with industry best practices allows us to create an even stronger value proposition for what is a significant market segment,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service