SYSPRO

SYSPRO ERP Overview

SYSPRO is a specialist ERP software for manufacturers and distributors, first released in 1978 and now used by thousands of customers across 60+ countries. Unlike broad horizontal suites, SYSPRO was built from the ground up by a single vendor for discrete and process manufacturing, which is why it offers unusually deep MRP, bill of materials, lot traceability and inventory functionality out of the box. This review covers what SYSPRO ERP is, who it is best suited for, its modules, pricing, user reviews, deployment options and how it compares to competitors such as Epicor Kinetic and Acumatica.

SYSPRO ERP Competitors

• Acumatica
• SAP Business One
• Odoo
• Microsoft Dynamics 365

What is SYSPRO ERP?

SYSPRO is an ERP vendor with an ERP solution of the same name which is geared towards manufacturing & distribution companies in the midmarket & SME space. SYSPRO ERP covers financial management, warehouse management, inventory management, supply chain management and business operations. The solution is popular in North America, which constitutes approximately 60% of its 17,000 strong customer base using the system in over 60 countries.

The SYSPRO solution offers strong capabilities in manufacturing and distribution sub industries including aerospace, automotive, medical devices, electronics, metal fabrication, food and beverage, machinery & equipment, chemicals, plastics & rubber, packaging, pharmaceuticals plus furniture. The functionality for manufacturing and distribution companies is extremely rich, owing to the fact that SYSPRO was built from the ground up by one vendor, rather than being a multitude of different but integrated software solutions. The solution is built to provide best practice processes covering these industries, but is also open to customisation with a number of ways to do this.

Customisation can be applied using the customised panes functionality within the software which also extends to incorporating user defined views, plus graphical features such as data visualisations, list views and embedded web applications. SYSPRO also offers API access to the software, allowing you to integrate third party applications with the core SYSPRO solution. SYSPRO also claims that customisations will not effect upgrades which is a common problem for many ERP solutions. SYSPRO also incorporates emerging technology and trends within its ERP software including Machine Learning, Big Data and predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT).

SYSPRO is available both as a Cloud or On-Premise Solution and can be accessed on an internet browser via any device.

SYSPRO ERP Modules & Functionality Overview

In this section we have curated a list of the core ERP modules which SYSPRO ERP offers:

SYSPRO Financials

The financial capabilities of SYSPRO cover:

• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Assets Register
• Cash Book
• General Ledger
• Activity Based Costing
• Cashflow Forecasting
• General Ledger Cost Analysis
• Electronic Funds Transfer
• GL Financial Reporting
• Budgeting & Targets

The financials suite in SYSPRO caters for consolidated financial reporting, multicurrency financials, cost analysis, transaction drill down and more.

SYSPRO Inventory Management

SYSPRO provides inventory management features covering:

• Inventory receipts, warehouse transfers, cost & physical adjustments.
• Reserve stock & usage based minimum stock quantities.
• Backflush capabilities.
• Full or partial stock codes.
• Kitting
• Supplier and customer cross referencing
• Multiple stock costing methods (LIFO, FIFO, standard, average) per warehouse.
• Replenishment rules by SKU
• Multiple bin locations per SKU
• Goods in transit control.
• Lead times and fully integrated to the rest of the SYSPRO modules.

SYSPRO Product Configurator

The SYSPRO Product Configurator enables organisation with engineer to order and configure to order needs to configure xomplex products and provide quotations and sales orders with integration to manufacturing.

The product configuration capabilities in SYSPRO includes:

• Configuration of inventory items.
• Creation of new inventory parts and bills of materials.
• Generate non-stocked items and kits.
• Labor requirements based on configuration prices.
• Integration to production.
• Store and reuse commonly used configurations.

SYSPRO Sales & Distribution

The SYSPRO Sales & Distribution modules provide:

• Counter Sales
• Purchase Orders
• Sales Orders
• Sales Analysis
• Returns
• Trade Promotions
• Lot traceability
• Landed cost tracking

These modules provide end to end integrated capabilities to manage your whole sales cycles for single, multisite, domestic and international operations. Profitability tracking can be handled with the sales analysis module within SYSPRO, enabling you to drill down into specific sales teams, products and product groups versus budgets.

The sales order processes also allow you to check real time stock availability to avoid disappointing your customers. You can also check for credit limits, stock status and confirm shipping & billing information within the SYSPRO sales order functions.

For controlled and regulated industries, the lot traceability functionality can help organizations to improve quality management and efficiently do product recalls.

SYSPRO Foundation

Every copy of SYSPRO ships with the Foundation capabilities, which are an inherent set of features which enrich the core ERP functionality to increase the productivity of your business.

This features include:

• Business insights
• Executive dashboards
• Contact management
• Office automation
• Ken the bot
• Harmony Social ERP
• Reporting services
• Report writer
• System manager
• Analytics
• e.Net solutions
• Process modelling
• Workflow services

SYSPRO ERP User Interface

The SYSPRO ERP user interface is optimised for consumption on any device, allowing you to access the ERP solution on your laptop, desktop, mobile or tablet.

The system provides graphical insights into your key operational data, with graphs and charts to quickly provide you an overview of where you stand.

SYSPRO Videos

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SYSPRO ERP Third Party Extensions

Like many other ERP vendors, SYSPRO offers third party vendor extensions via the SYSPRO App Store. The extensions provide a range of integrated solutions which extend the functionality of your ERP, tailored to your specific business requirements. The extensions are typically developed by SYSPRO technology partners.

There are currently 45+ third party extensions available, such as:

• Inventory stock take
• File Management
• Twitter Integration
• Salesforce Integration
• RSS Integration
• Bank Reconciliation System
• Job Receipts

SYSPRO ERP History

SYSPRO was founded in 1978 in South Africa by two brothers, Phil & Chris Duff. Phil Duff remains Chief Executive Officer of SYSPRO to this day and grew the company to it's current scale with ERP solutions deployed in 60+ countries, with approximately 15,000 customers.

SYSPRO Deployment

Unlike some ERP vendors who only offer Cloud or On-Premise ERP solutions, SYSPRO offer a range of hosting and licensing options:

• Software as a Service (SaaS) – when deployed via SaaS your SYSPRO software is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), allowing you to access the software from any web browser or other web connected device, such as mobile or tablet. All infrastructure and upgrades are handled by SYSPRO and you pay an annual software subscription.

• Private Cloud Subscription (PCS) – with the PCS option, your software is hosted in a private cloud with a hosting provider that you choose or can be hosted on premise. The subscription fee is again annual, however with the added benefit of updates being included in the subscription cost. In this scenario it is up to your organization when updates are applied.

• Perpetual purchase – this is a fairly traditional method of purchase. With this option an organization purchases the software and then pays a yearly ‘maintenance’ fee to keep the software up to date. In a Perpetual purchase, the initial fee is slightly lower, as it does not include the associated hosting and cloud services costs.

SYSPRO Industry Fit

SYSPRO was built from the ground up for discrete manufacturing and distribution companies, and its strongest industry fit reflects this heritage. Below are the industries where SYSPRO delivers the deepest functionality:

Discrete Manufacturing — SYSPRO's core strength. The platform provides deep MRP (Material Requirements Planning), multi-level bill of materials management, routing, shop floor control, work-in-progress tracking, and quality management. Manufacturers using make-to-stock, make-to-order, assemble-to-order and engineer-to-order strategies are all well supported. Sub-industries with strong SYSPRO adoption include:

• Aerospace & Defence — lot traceability, serialisation, AS9100 compliance support
• Automotive — EDI integration, JIT/Kanban, supplier scheduling
• Medical Devices — FDA 21 CFR Part 11 support, device history records, full lot traceability
• Electronics & High-Tech — revision control, component lifecycle management, RoHS compliance
• Metal Fabrication — job costing, nesting integration, scrap tracking
• Food & Beverage — batch/lot traceability, shelf life management, recipe/formula management
• Chemicals & Plastics — batch processing, regulatory compliance, hazardous materials tracking
• Machinery & Equipment — configure-to-order, field service integration, warranty management
• Furniture & Fixtures — product configurator, BOM management, finish/option tracking

Wholesale Distribution — SYSPRO offers strong inventory management with multiple costing methods (FIFO, LIFO, standard, average, last cost), multi-warehouse support, demand forecasting, landed cost tracking and purchase order management. Distribution companies with 50–500 employees represent a significant portion of SYSPRO's customer base.

Industries where SYSPRO is NOT a strong fit:

• Professional services (no PSA module — consider Unit4 or Workday)
• Retail (no native POS — consider NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics 365)
• Construction (no project-based ERP — consider Deltek)
• Asset-intensive industries (no EAM module — consider IFS or Infor)

SYSPRO ERP Reviews & Ratings

SYSPRO consistently earns solid mid-market review scores on the major independent software directories, typically rating in the 4.0–4.5 out of 5 range. To summarise the recurring themes across hundreds of verified user reviews:

What reviewers praise:

• Configurability — a large majority of users report SYSPRO can be tailored to their specific business processes without modifying the core code.
• Stability and accuracy for high-volume manufacturing and inventory transactions.
• Strong out-of-the-box functionality for BOM management, lot traceability and shop floor control.
• Lower total cost of ownership than tier-one ERP systems aimed at the same manufacturers.

What reviewers criticise:

• A learning curve — new users often describe the system as hard to master and the interface as dated compared with newer cloud ERPs.
• Reporting that requires technical knowledge and is less self-service than modern BI tools.
• Occasional performance and glitch complaints, particularly in heavily customised environments.

These themes mirror our own assessment in the Pros & Cons section below: SYSPRO rewards manufacturers who value depth of functionality and configurability over a polished modern UI. Buyers comparing options should also read user feedback for Acumatica and Epicor Kinetic before shortlisting.

SYSPRO Pros & Cons

✅ SYSPRO Pros

• Highly applicable to many manufacturing and distribution sub-industries with a particular focus on production planning and quality processes.
• Many processes come out of the box, allowing you to get started very quickly without too much customization and cost.
• Very customisable whilst maintaining the ability to upgrade.

❌ SYSPRO Cons

• User adoption can be challenging as many users claim that the system is hard to learn when getting started.
• Older user interface compared with many modern enterprise resource planning solutions.
• Reporting can be challenging and isn't self service like many newer ERP systems.

SYSPRO Capabilities and Limitations

Understanding where SYSPRO excels and where it has gaps helps set the right expectations:

Strong Areas:

• Manufacturing operations (MRP, BOM, routing, shop floor, quality)
• Inventory management with multiple costing methods
• Distribution and sales order processing
• Product configurator for ETO/CTO
• IoT and machine learning integration

Notable Gaps:

• No native field service management — requires third-party integration
• No maintenance management or EAM module — asset-intensive businesses should consider IFS or Infor M3
• Limited professional services automation — project-driven firms should look at Unit4 or Deltek
• Reporting requires technical knowledge — less self-service than modern BI tools
• Smaller global partner network than SAP, Oracle or Microsoft

SYSPRO Pricing & Implementation Cost

SYSPRO has two primary licensing models which serve its Cloud & On-Premise customers. Cloud customers typically pay an annual subscription fee inclusive of software, hosting, upgrades and basic support. On-Premise SYSPRO customers however typically pay higher upfront costs for licensing which are then depreciated over 5-10 years, or the lifecycle of the solution.

SYSPRO Costs & Pricing

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SYSPRO Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is SYSPRO?

SYSPRO is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software vendor and the name of its flagship product, built specifically for manufacturing and distribution companies in the mid-market and SME space. SYSPRO software covers financial management, inventory and warehouse management, supply chain management, production planning and business operations in a single integrated system. Founded in 1978, SYSPRO is used by thousands of customers in over 60 countries, with North America making up around 60% of its customer base.

How much does SYSPRO cost?

The cost of SYSPRO for your organization will depend on two key factors, your implementation cost and software license pricing. SYSPRO does not publish list pricing, but as a rough guide based on third-party estimates, cloud SaaS subscriptions are often quoted in the region of $150–$250 per user per month, with total annual costs for a typical mid-market deployment commonly landing somewhere between roughly $20,000 and $100,000 per year depending on user count and modules. On-premise perpetual licences carry a higher upfront cost plus an annual maintenance fee. See our dedicated SYSPRO costs and price list page for a fuller breakdown.

At ERP Research, we provide hassle free quotations for SYSPRO and other market leading ERP software. Click here to get a quotation for your business.

Who owns SYSPRO and where is it based?

SYSPRO is a privately held company founded in 1978 in South Africa by Phil Duff. The company operates regional offices serving North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe, and remains independently owned rather than being part of a larger software group.

How many customers does SYSPRO have?

SYSPRO has many thousands of customers across more than 60 countries. Around 60% of its customer base is in North America, with strong representation in South Africa where the company was founded. Its customers are concentrated in discrete manufacturing and wholesale distribution.

What industries is SYSPRO best for?

SYSPRO is best suited for discrete manufacturing and distribution companies in the mid-market (50–500 employees). It has particularly deep functionality for aerospace, automotive, medical devices, electronics, metal fabrication, food and beverage, chemicals, plastics and furniture manufacturing. SYSPRO is strongest in North America (60% of its customer base) and South Africa (where it was founded).

What are SYSPRO's main limitations?

SYSPRO's primary limitations include: no native field service management module, no maintenance management / EAM capabilities (unlike IFS or SAP), a user interface that some users find dated compared to modern cloud ERPs, and reporting that requires more technical knowledge than self-service BI tools. SYSPRO also has a smaller partner ecosystem than SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, which can limit implementation options in some regions.

How much does SYSPRO implementation cost?

SYSPRO implementation costs typically range from $30,000 to $300,000 depending on deployment model, number of users and complexity. Cloud SaaS deployments are generally at the lower end, while complex on-premise implementations with extensive customisation fall at the higher end. Implementation is typically 1–2x the annual software cost. Budget for 3–9 months implementation timeline.

How does SYSPRO compare to Epicor Kinetic?

Both SYSPRO and Epicor Kinetic target mid-market manufacturers. Epicor offers deeper advanced manufacturing functionality (shop floor control, advanced scheduling, MES integration) and a more modern web-based interface with Kinetic. SYSPRO offers more transparent pricing, stronger out-of-the-box processes and better support for distribution-focused businesses. Epicor is typically chosen by larger manufacturers (100+ users), while SYSPRO serves a broader range from small (20 users) to mid-market.

Is SYSPRO available in the cloud?

Yes. SYSPRO offers cloud deployment via Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a SaaS subscription, private cloud hosting with a provider of your choice, or traditional on-premise deployment. Cloud subscriptions include software, hosting, upgrades and basic support in one annual fee.