πŸ—ΊοΈ Strategic vision and technology evolution

The MAX ERP roadmap: from ERP system to connected digital manufacturing

ECI MAX releases new versions at least annually and is moving toward a more mobile, analytical and intelligent platform. It does so progressively: you adopt new capabilities when your operation needs them, without replacing the ERP foundation you already have running.

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1+
New version per year
4
Technology layers
3
Deployment models
0
Forced platform replacements

Nine steps, three horizons

The MAX roadmap is not a single transition to a new technology. It is a sequence of capabilities added on top of the same ERP foundation, at the pace each operation can absorb them.

Foundation

Current base
1

MAX ERP foundation

Finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, MRP, costing, engineering and business administration. This is the operational base preserved throughout the entire journey.

2

Hybrid cloud and subscription

On-Premise, cloud and subscription models coexist. Cloud migration follows specific customer use cases rather than a single mandatory path. Perpetual licensing remains available alongside subscription-based models.

Connect and see

Medium term
3

Mobility and MAX Anywhere

Access to MAX information and processes beyond the traditional desktop: offices, plants, warehouses, field environments or remote work, with touch screens and barcode readers on the shop floor.

4

Real-time analytics

Dashboards and analytics that give immediate visibility into business and operational information, plus Excel Analytics to work with MAX data from Excel.

5

Manufacturing Intelligence and visual control

KPIs, visual management, exception monitoring and drill-down. The goal is to move from reporting what happened to making the current state of the operation visible, along with what requires attention.

6

Paperless manufacturing

Electronic capture and management of plant-floor documentation and templates, incorporated into workflows and available for consultation and traceability.

Intelligence

Long term
7

Operational Intelligence

Analysis of operational information to identify trends, exceptions, conditions and events requiring attention.

8

Predictive analytics and decision support

Using business and operational information to identify patterns, support forward-looking analysis and turn results into actionable decisions.

9

Virtual assistants and AI

A more natural way to interact with enterprise information and processes, built on trusted transactional data.

Four layers that build on each other

Each layer builds on the previous one. That is what makes the transformation gradual: nobody jumps to layer 4 without having consolidated layer 1.

LAYER 1

ERP core

Financial management, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, MRP, costing, engineering and business administration.

LAYER 2

Digital manufacturing and supply chain

WMS, MES, production scheduling, quality, maintenance, logistics, shop-floor connectivity and operational execution.

LAYER 3

Manufacturing Intelligence and visibility

Analytics, KPIs, dashboards, management views, exception monitoring and visual operational information.

LAYER 4

AI, intelligent automation and mobility

Artificial Intelligence, intelligent automation, MAX Anywhere and increasingly browser-based access to business information and processes.

From recording what happened to anticipating what comes next

The MAX direction on Artificial Intelligence starts from a simple premise: the value of AI is not in the model, but in combining it with trusted transactional data and the real business context that already lives in the ERP.

MAX data→ Real-time analytics→ Operational Intelligence→ Predictive analytics→ Decision support→ Intelligent action
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Operational Intelligence

Identifies trends, exceptions and events requiring attention.

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Virtual assistants

A more natural way to interact with enterprise information and processes.

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Predictive analytics

Patterns and forward-looking analysis over business and operational data.

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Decision support

Analytical results turned into operational and business decisions.

Evolve without replacing what already works

A central principle of the MAX strategy is continuity: the roadmap builds on the existing ERP foundation instead of requiring its replacement.

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Stable foundation

The existing MAX ERP operational foundation is preserved while new capabilities are introduced progressively.

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Progressive adoption

Technology is adopted according to business need and organizational readiness, not through a mandatory platform replacement.

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Open integration

MAXUpdate is the documented API package for building custom interfaces and exchanging information and transactions with external applications.

Customers take part in the roadmap. ECI MAX considers customers active participants in product evolution: interviews, events and direct feedback feed the requirements and functionality of subsequent versions.
Important note. This summary describes strategic product directions, not contractual commitments. Specific release dates and individual features remain subject to the official ECI MAX product-development and release-planning process.

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