Business Central vs. EFACS E/8: A Comprehensive Comparison

Business Central vs EFACS E/8 ERP is a popular comparison among businesses that specifically follow manufacturing methodology. However, there is no certainty that the features of these two solutions are built for manufacturing organisations only. In fact, you can implement Business Central or EFACS E/8 in any business, regardless of the industry, by leveraging different integrations and flexible customisations.

In this blog, we are going to do an in-depth comparison of Business Central vs EFACS E/8 ERP based on various tools, features, and functionality. Before diving into the comparison, let’s understand more on Business Central and EFACS E/8.

Business Central: An all-in-one ERP Solution

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one ERP solution specifically designed to streamline the business operations of small and medium-sized businesses. Equipped with the latest technology of cloud, AI, BI, and ML, Business Central offers business automation to simplify core business processes.

You can easily connect and collaborate with different departments to centralise the data and achieve collective growth. Also, it empowers organisations to simplify their entire business, enhance the customer experience, and generate more growth opportunities.

Business Central acts like a perfect ERP solution because it offers customization, integration, and add-ons that align with the uniqueness of the business. It eliminates data silos to build a unified data source and can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or on hybrid servers based on custom business requirements.

EFACS E/8: Manufacturing-Oriented ERP Solution

Built by Exel Computer Systems, EFACS E/8 is an extensive business solution specifically built for manufacturing industries. However, with different customizations and integrations, it can be modified to suit business requirements.

EFACS E/8 can be deployed on cloud and on-premises servers but lacks hybrid server deployments. Being a browser-based ERP solution, it can be accessed from anywhere and anytime using any operating system, irrespective of the device.

In general, it comes into 6 core portions of business administration that include material management, planning, product definition, CRM, accounts, and add-ons. EFACS E/8 builds a communication bridge between all 6 components and with the business management team so that all processes can be carried out efficiently.

EFACS E/8 comes with numerous standard features, including a multi-language interface, document management, process automation, and customizable features.

Business Central vs. EFACS E/8: Comparison

Before proceeding with a comparative analysis, let's understand the key features of these two applications.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 

• Developed by Microsoft
• Cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment options
• User-friendly and interactive interface
• Easy integration with the products of Dynamics 365 ecosystem
• Extensive integrations with third-party apps
• Suitable for small and medium-sized businesses
• Competitive pricing structure
• Basic CRM capabilities
• Embedded with AI to offer automation

EFACS E/8

• Built by Exel Computer Systems
• Specifically designed for manufacturing businesses
• Focuses on production and planning
• Customisable to meet specific business needs
• It comes with a strong communication bridge between departments.

Now, let’s begin the detailed Business Central vs EFACS E/8 comparison, focusing on important aspects.  

User Interface

Business Central offers an interactive and user-friendly user interface. It is so effective that beginner users find it easy to adapt to the initial operations.

The EFACS E/8 comes with a rigid and straightforward user interface specifically focused on manufacturing and production elements.

Integration Capabilities

Business Central comes with seamless integration capabilities that allow smooth connections with native as well as third-party applications. In terms of native applications, you can integrate Business Central with Office 365 or Outlook. And, for third-party applications, you can easily integrate Continia or Tasklet Mobile WMS.

EFACS E/8 comes with a bit of a limited integration option because it doesn’t have an ecosystem of business solutions. But you can connect any solution using coding or APIs with the help of your implementation partner. 

Industry Focused

Business Central comes with a business-centric approach that lets it align with any business, regardless of its unique requirements. It can be implemented in any industry, like retail, manufacturing, distribution, and service.

EFACS E/8 is specifically tailored to meet the different requirements of production and manufacturing businesses. However, with add-ons and the integration of third-party solutions, you can customise it for your business.

Customization and Scalability

Business Central is highly customizable and scalable to meet all the requirements of growing businesses. In terms of scalability, you can enhance the performance, server, and capabilities by contacting your Business Central implementation partner with ease.

You will need to invest a lot of resources to customise the EFACS E/8, as it comes with deep configurations to meet the needs of specific industries.

Manufacturing Features

Business Central for Manufacturing offers you a robust manufacturing module that enables you to efficiently control the production process. Also, it offers powerful features that include a production bill of materials, the ability to manage production orders, demand forecasting, sales and inventory forecasting, finite loading, capacity planning, building routing levels, and adapting to changing customer demands.

EFACS E/8 offers week manufacturing capabilities when compared to BC due to its tidy user-interface, slow processing, very little automation, complex navigation, and less tools required to deal with modern business issues.  

Reporting and Analytics

Get advanced data reporting and analytics capabilities by integrating Power BI with Business Central. Whether you need to track financial performance, monitor inventory levels, or gain insights into customer behaviour, this combination empowers you to make data-driven decisions.

EFACS E/8 offers a standard level of data analysis and reporting capabilities to help you make data-driven decisions.

Implementation Time and Cost

Business Central is quite easy and cost-effective to implement because of the availability of important features as standard. In the case of implementing customizations and integrations, it totally depends on the complexity of the business requirements.

The implementation of EFACS E/8 might take a bit longer as compared to Business Central because of the extensive configuration and complexity of the integration of other add-ons.

Upgrade and Updates

With cloud deployment, Microsoft releases updates, upgrades, or patches twice a year to modernise your system. All such future updates will be directly implemented by Microsoft for free without hampering your existing business processes.

EFACS E/8 doesn’t offer such an advanced service when it comes to updates or upgrades. In such a case, you need to contact your implementation partner and pay the upgrade charges.

AI Automation

All Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions come equipped with AI to offer automation for various operations. Also, you can leverage Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline the creation of product descriptions based on different attributes, like tone, length, and format.

EFACS E/8 doesn’t offer automation that can enhance productivity by automating tasks. 

Business Central vs EFACS E/8: Comparison Table

Features	Business Central	EFACS E/8
User Interface	User-friendly and Interactive	Manufacturing-centric
Integration Capabilities	Advanced	Standard
Industry Focus	Versatile	Manufacturing-oriented
Customisation	Highly Customizable	A Bit Technical
Manufacturing Features	Standard	Advanced
Reporting	Advanced	Basic
Implementation Process	Easy	Complex
Total Cost of Ownership	Lower for SMBs	Higher
AI Automation	Advanced	Basic
Auto Updates or Upgrades	Yes (free)	No

EFACS E/8 vs Business Central – Which one is the Best?

First, you need to understand your business as well as its requirements. You need to analyse your entire business, including functionality, tools, features, and capabilities, and also predict future requirements. Once you have the data, you can move forward to choose a solution that suits your needs.