Do you need equipment management software if you have an ERP?
The ERP is mostly the master record of financial and administrative data, and field software is the master record of the events that originate at the machine; the two see the same work at different resolutions. Whether a separate equipment management software is needed when you have an ERP depends on whether your ERP answers hour-level and day-level questions in enough detail for a field user to work with: which machine worked on which day, when it stopped, at which meter reading its maintenance is due, how much fuel it took.
If the question is only the month-end amount, that is, how much invoice was processed against this machine this month, the ERP is often enough. The difference comes from this: the ERP sees something when a document is processed, but not when a machine stops. If what you have is not an ERP but Excel and a messaging group, the comparison is set up differently; for that, see the Excel or software guide.
The areas where the ERP is the master record owner
In the areas below, field software that tries to take the ERP's place creates inconsistencies on its own. The field side refers to them and does not rewrite them.
- Accounting and financial reporting: journal entries, the balance sheet, the records that underpin tax returns.
- The record of the purchase order and the supplier account: order number, due date, payment.
- Period closing and financial valuation: the official records' month-end and year-end operations.
- Fixed assets: the machine's activation value and depreciation. For the period and method, consult your accountant or tax advisor.
- Payroll: the official record of personnel pay and employer cost.
An event that originates at the machine fades before it reaches the ERP
Example: an excavator stopped at 09:40 in the morning with a burst hydraulic hose and was running again at 16:10. In the field record, this is a downtime of 6 hours 30 minutes; the machine, the hours and the cause are clear. In the ERP, the same event appears when the hose invoice is processed, often days later, as a single-line maintenance expense. The duration of the downtime, which project it belongs to, and whether it will be deducted from the rent never enter the ERP.
The job of field software is to capture these moments the ERP does not see. The events that originate at the machine are the following:
- Fault: who reported it, when, on which machine; whether the machine was in working condition.
- Meter: working hours and kilometres, the basis for maintenance timing.
- Timesheet: whether the machine worked that day, was on standby, was faulty or was in transit.
- Downtime: with its start and end times, together with its cause.
- Fuel refill: to which machine, how many litres, at which meter reading.
- Maintenance timing: planned work that comes due according to the real meter.
The user is different too: the accountant and the foreman
The ERP's accounting, purchasing and finance screens are mostly used at a desk and on documents. The users of field software are the foreman, the operator, the equipment manager and the site manager: on a phone or tablet, they open a record every couple of minutes, and often the person writing that record never logs into the ERP. Turning all field users into ERP users is a separate matter in terms of licensing, training and screen fit; first checking whether the two software complement each other is often more realistic.
Cases where the ERP alone is enough
Not every company needs separate field software. The ERP is often enough, if these three are true together:
- The number of machines is small, they work on a single site, and your questions are at the month level: how much expense was posted to which machine this month.
- A single person already keeps the fault and downtime information and enters it into the ERP too; the record does not need to be spread to other users.
- The billing of a rented machine proceeds not by timesheet but by a fixed monthly fee.
Which data originates where and lives where
The distribution below is the usual pattern for a company with an ERP. Each firm adapts it to its own ERP; which connection will be set up is determined in the technical discovery.
Data distribution between the ERP and field software
| Data | Where it originates | Master record owner | What goes to the other side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine and fixed asset card | ERP: purchasing and activation | The financial part is the ERP; the meter, documents and maintenance part is the field software | Machine code, name and company come from the ERP to the field software; meter and documents do not go to the ERP |
| Project and cost centre | ERP | ERP | The project code comes to the field software; machine cost is posted to this code |
| Supplier and lessor account record | ERP | ERP | The account stays in the ERP; which shared code the lessor and the service company will be matched with in the two systems is determined in the technical discovery |
| Purchase order | The ERP if there is one; otherwise the request and purchasing module | The system where the order was opened | The order number becomes a reference on the field record; the field need goes to the ERP as a request |
| Fault record and work order | At the machine: operator or foreman | Field software | A summary of the repair cost (labour, parts, external service) and the fault reference go to the ERP |
| Working hours and meter | Machine or telemetry; Excel if none | Field software | A period-end working hours summary, if wanted |
| Timesheet and day status | Site; the draft is formed from the meter and downtime | Field software; the site manager approves | The approved monthly summary; the input to billing for a rented machine |
| Fuel refill | Refill point | Field software (machine, litres, meter) | The refill is posted to the machine; the fuel invoice and stock value stay in the ERP |
| Planned maintenance timing | The real meter | Field software | The cost of the maintenance work order |
| Rental contract, billing and payment | The contract; the billing amount from the approved timesheet | The billing calculation is the field; the invoice, due date and payment are the ERP | The approved period amount goes to the ERP; the lessor's invoice goes from the ERP to the comparison |
| Payroll and labour cost | ERP payroll | ERP | A person's monthly employer cost is entered in the field software, converted to an hourly rate and posted as labour on fault and maintenance records; a work hours summary goes to the ERP |
Where double entry and inconsistency come from
Example (the figures are assumptions): for an excavator, the field record shows 38,000 TL of repair cost in a month; of this, 21,000 TL is parts and external service and 17,000 TL is in-house labour. In the ERP, the maintenance expense account for the same month has 21,000 TL, because in-house labour is already written as wages in payroll. The two figures measure different things and both can be correct. The inconsistency arises when it is not written down which one is the machine cost and which one is the accounting expense.
Double entry also comes from the same places: the machine code being written differently in the two systems, a project being entered by hand both in the site table and in the ERP, the invoice date and the event date falling in different months. Four rules prevent most of it:
- Define a single master record owner for each type of data; the third column of the table above is a draft of this.
- Let the machine code and the project code be the same on both sides; the external reference mapping holds this key.
- Let data flow in one direction: the same field should not be written from two places.
- Write down the date rule: the field works with the event date, the ERP with the document date. In a monthly comparison, look for the difference first in these two dates.
Connection patterns, without technical jargon
Connection rests on five simple ideas. None of them is a prerequisite for the software to work; they are added as the need arises.
- Master data comes from the ERP: the ERP or an intermediary software writes machine, project and company information in bulk through the API.
- Operational data goes from the field to the ERP as a summary or an event: the ERP side reads it through the API.
- External reference mapping: the ERP number of every machine, project and document is kept on the field record; this is how the same object is recognized on both sides.
- Change feed: instead of reading the whole list from scratch every night, the other side takes what has changed since the last query.
- Signed event notification (webhook): when a fault is closed or a timesheet is approved, the system notifies a specified address; the signature verifies that the notification really came from this system.
Status of SAP and the API
Reading through the API, bulk writing, the change feed, external reference mapping and signed event notifications are live; API access is an add-on module tied to the license. The SAP connector, on the other hand, is in preview and is not generally available. Its scope is verified in the technical discovery; do not assume before the discussion which SAP version and which document types it will work for. For details, see the ERP and SAP integration page.
In a company without an ERP, the process is closed inside the software
If you have no ERP, purchasing is not left half done. Reper Axis's request and purchasing module completes the process from the need to the request for quotation, to approval by amount authority, to the order, to partial goods receipt and to invoice matching; the logic of invoice checking is explained in the three-way match guide. The accounting entry, however, is still the job of your accounting software and your accountant or tax advisor; field software does not take its place.
Setting up the connection step by step in a company with an ERP
Even if there is an ERP, the connection does not have to be set up on day one. The order below tests the accuracy of the previous step at each step:
- Upload the machine, operator, project and location lists with the Excel data import template; write the machine and project codes the same as in the ERP.
- Run the fault, meter and timesheet flow at one site.
- At the end of the first month, compare the maintenance expense in the ERP with the cost on the machine card by hand and explain the difference by date and scope.
- When the difference can be explained in writing, add the master data connection.
- Last, send the operational summary to the ERP.
