Manufacturers relying on older ERP systems are facing real pressure as today’s challenges outpace what these systems were designed for. Instead of smoothing out daily operations, legacy ERP can actually slow things down: teams wrestle with manual schedules, chase scattered data, pay for last-minute freight and react to breakdowns instead of being able to look ahead and prevent these tangles. What starts as limited visibility or improvised workarounds creates business consequences that may not be obvious day to day but gradually erode accuracy, customer trust and margin. The price tag isn’t just frustration; it’s also lost productivity, higher costs and a mounting struggle to stay competitive. In fact, the cost of using outdated ERP systems is now quantifiable.
By contrast, modern ERP platforms offer a different operating model, with automation that streamlines routine tasks in scheduling, inventory, compliance and reporting, and AI functions that help teams identify emerging issues earlier so they can operate with fewer surprises.
One helpful thing to note is that the problems legacy platforms miss — and modern ERPs address — fall into several predictable operational categories, as detailed in the chart later in this article. The best ERP vendors have been adding functionality to address those problem areas, including better data management, deeper analytics, mobile access and more extensive integrations. This enables manufacturers to move ahead with clearer visibility and fewer delays so they can recover lost margin, improve responsiveness and generally run the business with more stability and confidence.
Spotlighting the Hidden Costs Of Legacy ERP
Problem areas extend well beyond the shop floor or the supply chain. With outmoded systems, bringing on new employees takes longer, and managing the workforce eats up more time and money. Compliance is a headache because it’s hard to locate the necessary records for audits. Technical debt accumulates as years of custom fixes make upgrades more difficult. And when you’re relying on a patchwork of outdated tech, trying to scale up — whether that means new sites, products or acquisitions — only adds risk and complexity.
The chart below shows how these issues manifest in the real world. Each problem area creates avoidable costs that pile up over time, with predictable business consequences.
The longer companies wait to modernize, the more difficult and expensive it becomes to catch up with competitors who are already investing in more innovative systems. This lost ground is tough to make up once it starts compounding, especially as the cost of inefficiency continues to rise with each new business challenge and regulatory shift.
Different Vendor Approaches To ERP Modernization
For all of these reasons, ERP modernization must now be treated as a core part of enterprise strategy — not just IT strategy — for manufacturers. To meet today’s modernization requirements, vendors are creating AI-driven, event-based platforms that improve speed, responsiveness, resilience, usability and automation, with plenty of room to scale. What follows are several examples of how top ERP vendors are putting these modern principles into action.
SAP takes a phased approach designed to meet customers wherever they are in their modernization journeys. The SAP Business Technology Platform is its base for development and integration. The Joule AI copilot runs across applications, drawing on real-time analytics in ERP and supply chain modules. SAP stands out for creating connected data fabrics and event-driven automation that link manufacturing with finance to enable faster, data-informed decisions. As one example of how it addresses a specific problem area from the chart above, SAP’s automated scheduling can help prevent delays and production slowdowns.
Oracle’s strategy builds on autonomous, AI-driven processes across its Fusion Cloud ERP, EPM and SCM suites. Using a single cloud data model, Oracle’s intelligent agents make context-aware decisions, coordinate supply chain events and respond to live data without human input. This autonomy is Oracle’s main differentiator. Early pilots show these agents handling invoices, resolving anomalies and strengthening supplier collaboration to reduce manual work and clear exceptions more efficiently. This kind of advanced monitoring can provide early notice of supplier issues, helping companies avoid the costs of rush freight and last-minute sourcing.
Microsoft focuses its modernization on Dynamics 365 and the Azure cloud, using Copilot and the open Model Context Protocol. MCP allows multiple AI agents to work together, giving Copilot access so it can act across different systems. This shift is helping AI graduate from limited pilots to being an integrated part of daily operations. Microsoft’s approach centers on cross-functional automation, with AI agents supporting supplier communication, financial reconciliation and process flow among sales, service and finance teams. Microsoft’s AI agents support better quality checks, helping teams spot errors earlier and cut back on rework and scrap.
Infor drives modernization through its industry-specific CloudSuites, which combine ERP, asset intelligence and analytics for greater operational visibility. Built on multi-tenant AWS infrastructure, these suites enable AI-based forecasting, supply chain insights and embedded asset management customized for each industry. Infor’s strength lies in its modular, preconfigured setup that helps manufacturers deploy quickly, minimize risk and gain deep industry features without heavy customization. Infor’s asset intelligence can help teams spot equipment maintenance issues earlier so they can avoid costly downtime or major repairs.
Epicor focuses on mid-sized manufacturers with a flexible, modular approach through its Epicor Kinetic platform. Built on .NET architecture, it supports both cloud and on-premises options and uses AI-powered analytics for continuous improvement. Its gradual rollout model allows companies to add capabilities like shop-floor analytics or e-commerce workflows without disrupting production, making modernization more practical and adaptive in hybrid manufacturing environments. Epicor’s workflows can simplify labor onboarding and daily management, helping reduce overtime and decrease employee churn.
IFS positions its cloud solution as an operational hub that connects ERP, enterprise asset management and service management in one event-driven platform. Powered by IFS.ai, its composable system brings business, asset and service data together to drive predictive maintenance, asset-focused finance and synchronized production. This helps asset-heavy industries manage maintenance, production and field operations in real time. By supporting complete traceability and audit trails, IFS can help customers avoid compliance issues.
QAD|Redzone’s modernization strategy focuses on rapid transformation for mid-market manufacturers. Its “system of action” approach replaces passive reporting with real-time responses to unplanned events. Its ERP system, called Adaptive, supports mixed-mode manufacturing and helps standardize processes across plants without extensive customization or lengthy deployments. Its Redzone connected-workforce platform gives frontline teams visibility into downtime, labor and quality, while Champion AI adds embedded agents that detect anomalies and prompt corrective actions. QAD|Redzone’s real-time dashboards can help teams break down data silos for faster responses to issues.
Building Toward Resilience With Modern ERP
Manufacturers don’t fall behind overnight; legacy ERP systems gradually erode performance through a delayed schedule here, excess freight charges there and another round of reactive maintenance over yonder. The real risk isn’t that the old systems “still work,” but that they quietly undermine capacity, flexibility and competitiveness in ways that become harder to unwind over time.
Modernization doesn’t need to be a disruptive overhaul. A measured and phased approach enables teams to improve operations without slowing production or overextending budgets. Many of the ERPs mentioned here have a onboarding models that reflect that reality, allowing customers to start small, prove value quickly through targeted pilot launches and expand as results accumulate.
The manufacturers that treat modernization as an ongoing operational strategy, not a one-time project, will be the ones who stay competitive. As the examples here show, the tools exist, and the path is practical. The question now isn’t whether to modernize, but how quickly organizations want to start seeing the gains.
Moor Insights & Strategy provides or has provided paid services to technology companies, like all tech industry research and analyst firms. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking and video and speaking sponsorships. Of the companies mentioned in this article, Moor Insights & Strategy currently has (or has had) a paid business relationship with Infor, Microsoft, Oracle, QAD|Redzone and SAP.
