Advanced EDI Platform Automates Processes, Enhances Transparency and Lays Foundation for Expansion
Think of the millions of critical parts moving the fluids and gases that keep planes flying, utilities serving, electronics connecting, food and beverages flowing, and energy streaming. Those systems depend on companies like Motion & Flow Control Products (MFCP) to help keep their world moving. Since 1960, MFCP has built a strong reputation as a service-focused industrial fluid power, motion, and process control products distributor. Through 60 locations across the western and central U.S., the company offers hydraulic system engineering, design, manufacturing, hydraulic component repairs, hydraulic system service and troubleshooting, hydraulic and industrial filtration solutions, remote system condition monitoring and implementation, and more.
With efficiency a vital component of MFCP’s promise to customers, it is no surprise that the company looks to technology to drive productivity with internal processes. For almost 20 years, Epicor Prophet 21 has run MFCP’s distribution and manufacturing business. In 2023, the company made the switch from a legacy EDI solution to Epicor HQXchange (HQX). Peter Stember, Business Development Manager at MFCP, explained, “We wanted to move more of our partners and customers to EDI, but our previous platform was limited in terms of visibility and communication. We needed a cloud-based solution that gave us a foundation for the future.”
One of the unfortunate ironies of migrating to a technology solution is that productivity often takes a step backward before it improves. As MFCP receives between 100 and 300 invoices a night just from its largest vendor, Parker Hannifin, Stember was understandably nervous about potential disruption to the business and to its important relationships. “The entire migration experience to Epicor HQX was great. We moved quickly—from contract signature to go-live in just three months—and everything worked as promised,” Stember recalled. “All our data maps were transferred, we had in-depth training and a terrific implementation team working closely with us.”
Today, MFCP has eight trading partners and several customers already live on Epicor HQX. Stember divulged, “We plan to add ten additional partners and more customers over the next year.”
“The big picture is to improve productivity both for our accounts payable and purchasing teams, and they are asking for more EDI. With Epicor HQX, there is no need for manual data entry, freeing up staff from the mundane to focus on value-added contributions,” Stember adjoined.
One of the most significant benefits of Epicor HQX has been the ability to view document status quickly and easily. For example, if an order failed to import into Epicor Prophet 21 in the past, MFCP typically would not know about it until the customer called to inquire about the order. Additionally, researching the order was difficult and time-consuming. Stember explained, “You had to go into the date and manually open up the transactions to find the right order.”
With Epicor HQX, finding an order is a breeze. “Not only can I easily search based on the PO number, but Epicor HQX also helps to offer proactive alerts if there is a glitch, so we learn about it early and address it before it becomes an issue,” Stember remarked.
The entire migration experience to Epicor HQX was great. We moved quickly—from contract signature to go-live in just three months—and everything worked as promised.
Epicor HQX also seamlessly integrates with other MFCP tools, such as IDX, which allows customers to research purchase orders and invoices. Similarly, for the thousands of other vendors that send invoices via email, MFCP utilizes an optical character recognition (OCR) tool integrated with Epicor Prophet 21. This helps to enable the extraction of data from the invoice to produce the same files and import them into Prophet 21, further helping automate manual processes. Stember shared, “We have a goal to limit the amount of data entry accounts payable that we need to do to pay invoices. This integration is saving time and money by automating that task.”
Epicor HQX has also helped in providing MFPC with the ability to meet vendors and customers where they are in terms of their technology. “We have an existing customer with more than 140 locations,” Stember highlighted. “They utilize an in-house system that we needed to be able to connect with, and Epicor HQX gave us the flexibility to transmit data easily in different formats.”
We are in our infancy with EDI, and Epicor HQX gives us the ability to expand as quickly as needed.
Stember also appreciates that reporting is easy to fine-tune based on transaction type and by vendor or customer. “The interface is interactive and user-friendly,” he continued. “The finance and purchasing teams also have access to IDX when troubleshooting EDI issues and verifying outgoing purchase orders, which helps them make real-time decisions.”
Stember emphasized another key differentiator between the old solution and Epicor: “The Epicor team is a tremendous resource and very quick to respond when I have a question or an issue. It has been a game-changer.”
That level of partnership and support has given the MFCP team the trust to accelerate its EDI initiatives. “We are in our infancy with EDI and Epicor HQX gives us the ability to expand as quickly as needed,” Stember acknowledged.
He continued, “Epicor frees up time for our staff to work on other important efforts rather than manual, tedious processes. It definitely saves time and money that we can direct to value-added projects.”