Standard Time® vs Epicor Kinetic — Manufacturing Software Comparison

The short answer: Epicor Kinetic is a serious enterprise system — if you're running multiple plants, need your own general ledger, and have a six-figure IT budget and a year to implement, it's worth evaluating. But if your problem is "we can't see what's happening on the shop floor right now" or "we don't know what our jobs actually cost in labor," Epicor isn't where you start. Standard Time® solves those problems at $8.99/user/month with no implementation project. Many Epicor shops run Standard Time® alongside their ERP specifically for shop floor visibility.

Standard Time® — Best for

Shops that need scan-to-start job time tracking
Teams tracking labor cost by work order
Operations wanting live WIP dashboards
Manufacturers already using QuickBooks for accounting
Anyone who wants AI scheduling without a consultant
Companies that need to go live this week, not next year

Epicor Kinetic — Better when you need

Your own general ledger and full financial management
Multi-plant or multi-company coordination
Deep supply chain and MRP planning
Native CRM and sales order management
HR, payroll, and compliance modules
Large enterprise scale (100+ users across departments)

Pricing — $8.99 vs Enterprise Quote

Standard Time® Pro is a flat $8.99/user/month with every feature included. Epicor Kinetic does not publish pricing — cloud subscription costs for mid-market manufacturers typically exceed $150/user/month, and implementation projects routinely run $50,000 to $500,000 or more.

Pricing comparison: Standard Time $8.99/user vs Epicor Kinetic enterprise pricing

Plan	Price	What's included
Standard Time® Pro	$8.99/user/mo	All features — barcode scanning, WIP dashboards, job costing, Gantt charts, AI scheduling, inventory scanning, QuickBooks integration
Standard Time® Enterprise	Contact us	Everything in Pro + dedicated server, multi-site coordination
Epicor Kinetic (cloud)	Quote required	Full ERP — financials, supply chain, manufacturing, CRM, HR; requires implementation partner; separate project cost
Epicor Kinetic implementation	$50K–$500K+	Scoping, configuration, data migration, customization, training, go-live support; billed separately by certified partner

Real-world cost for a 10-person shop: Standard Time® Pro = $89.90/month — all features, no setup fees, live today. Epicor Kinetic for 10 users: subscription cost alone typically exceeds $1,500/month, plus a multi-month implementation project. For a small or mid-size shop, that's not a software purchase — it's an IT project.

Feature Comparison

These products serve different needs. Standard Time® leads on shop floor visibility and ease of use; Epicor Kinetic leads on enterprise breadth — financials, supply chain, and multi-entity scale.

Feature matrix comparing Standard Time and Epicor Kinetic manufacturing capabilities

Standard Time® Strengths

Scan-to-Start Job Timers

One scan starts a job timer — no menus, no login screens. Epicor does have shop floor data collection, but configuring it requires its own implementation workstream and is part of a much larger system.

Job Costing by Labor Hours

Every scan creates a time log tied to a work order, task, and employee — ready for job costing and QuickBooks sync. No manual entry, no batch upload.

AI Scheduling in Plain Language

Type "reschedule all jobs for customer Acme by deadline priority" and the AI updates the Gantt. Epicor Kinetic has no equivalent natural language scheduling capability.

Works Alongside QuickBooks

Standard Time® integrates directly with QuickBooks Online — actual labor from barcode scans flows into QuickBooks automatically. No need to replace your accounting system.

Where Epicor Kinetic Has More Depth

Full general ledger and financial reporting
Accounts payable and receivable management
Multi-plant and multi-company consolidation
Native CRM and sales order quoting
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Supply chain, purchasing, and vendor management
HR, payroll, and compliance modules
Advanced planning and scheduling (APS) module

The tradeoff: Epicor Kinetic is a full enterprise system — it can replace your accounting software, manage your supply chain, and run HR. But that breadth comes with a year-long implementation and enterprise pricing. If your core problem is shop floor visibility and labor cost tracking, Standard Time® is purpose-built for exactly that — and it's running today, not next year.

Shop Floor Scanning — Simplicity vs Complexity

Epicor Kinetic has a shop floor data collection module — but it's one piece of a large, complex ERP that takes months to configure. Standard Time® was designed from the ground up around the barcode scan. One scan, one timer, one time log.

Starting a job timer by scan

Standard Time scan barcodes screen — timer started for work order 10200, Weld operation

Scan the employee barcode, then the work order — the timer starts immediately. The screen confirms: Started: Work Order 10200, Weld. No typing, no menus, no delays.

Stopping the timer

Standard Time scan barcodes screen — timer stopped for employee Buzz

Scan STOP and the timer stops. The time log is written — employee, work order, task, actual hours — ready for job costing and QuickBooks sync.

Standard Time® — Job Time Scanning

Employee ID barcodes (username)
Work order / job number labels
Task labels (Weld, Inspect, Fabricate…)
STOP barcode to end any timer
Inventory items (INV-SUB, INV-ADD, INV-BUILD)
Custom barcodes via Barcode Rules

Camera capture — use any phone, tablet, or notebook camera. No dedicated scanner hardware required.

RFID tap — tap a badge or work order traveler to start a timer instantly.

Voice recognition — speak the job number to the scanner.

Epicor Shop Floor vs ST Scanning

Epicor Kinetic includes shop floor data collection (SFDC), but:

SFDC configuration is a separate implementation workstream
Requires Epicor licenses, server infrastructure, and training
Designed within the context of the full ERP — not standalone
No AI natural language scheduling
No voice recognition or camera-based scanning out of box
Cannot be added without the broader Epicor implementation

Standard Time® is a complete, standalone shop floor tracker — no ERP required, no consultant required, ready the day you sign up.

Time Logs, Timesheets & AI Scheduling

Every barcode scan creates a time log tied to a specific work order, task, and employee. That data flows into job cost reports, timesheets, Gantt charts, and AI scheduling — automatically, with no manual entry.

Time logs by work order

Standard Time time logs view showing start/stop times by work order and employee

Every scan creates a time log showing work order, task, employee, start time, stop time, and actual hours — ready for job costing without any manual data entry.

AI chat — analyze and reschedule

Standard Time AI chat interface analyzing project schedule

Ask the AI to analyze your schedule, identify overloaded employees, or reschedule jobs by deadline priority — in plain language. Epicor Kinetic has no equivalent AI scheduling feature.

Gantt chart — production scheduling

Standard Time Gantt chart showing production schedule across multiple work orders

Drag-and-drop Gantt charts for production scheduling. Rearrange jobs, adjust deadlines, and see the impact instantly — or ask the AI to do it.

Resource allocation & capacity

Resource allocation bar chart showing over and under-allocated employees

See immediately which employees are over- or under-allocated. Color-coded capacity bars let you rebalance the schedule before it becomes a bottleneck.

One Day vs 6–18 Months

Standard Time® is designed to be running the day you sign up. Epicor Kinetic is an enterprise ERP — implementing it is a project in its own right, with its own project manager, consultant team, and budget line.

Setup time comparison: Standard Time live in one day vs Epicor Kinetic 6-18 month implementation

Standard Time® Setup

Sign up and create your account
Add users and assign employee barcodes
Create work orders and print job labels
Mount a scan station (tablet or PC)
First scan — timers and job costing are live

Live in under one day. No consultant required.

Epicor Kinetic Typical Implementation

Evaluation, RFP, and contract negotiation
Business process mapping and requirements gathering
System configuration and module setup
Data migration (items, customers, open orders, history)
Customizations and third-party integrations
User acceptance testing and staff training
Parallel run, cutover, go-live, and hypercare

Typical timeline: 6–18 months. Epicor requires a certified implementation partner — implementation is a separate contract from the software license.

Right-Sized Tool vs Full Enterprise ERP

Standard Time® and Epicor Kinetic solve different problems at different scales. Understanding which one matches your actual pain is the whole comparison.

Standard Time right-sized shop floor tool vs Epicor Kinetic full enterprise ERP

Epicor Kinetic is a legitimate product with a long track record in mid-market discrete manufacturing. If you need to replace your accounting system, consolidate financials across multiple plants, or manage a full supply chain inside one platform — Epicor is worth evaluating. It's a capable system for the right size and shape of company.

But Epicor's breadth is also its weight. A shop with 10–50 people doesn't need a general ledger replacement, an HR module, or a multi-company consolidation engine. They need to know what's happening on the shop floor right now, and what each job actually cost in labor. Standard Time® delivers exactly that — at $8.99/user/month, no IT project required.

Notably, Standard Time® is not trying to replace an ERP. It's designed to complement what you already have. If you're running QuickBooks, Standard Time® integrates with it — actual labor from barcode scans flows into QuickBooks automatically. If you're running Epicor and need better shop floor visibility than its SFDC module provides, Standard Time® can run alongside it as a dedicated scan station layer.

The question isn't which is better in the abstract — it's which one solves your actual problem today. If your pain is "we don't know what our jobs cost in labor" or "we can't see who's working on what," Standard Time® solves that for less per month than most shops spend on office supplies. Epicor solves a different — and much larger — set of problems, at a corresponding price and timeline.

Manufacturing shop floor with barcode scanning and real-time dashboards

Which One Should You Choose?

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Choose Standard Time® if you…

Need scan-to-start job time tracking today
Want to know what every job costs in labor
Use QuickBooks and want to keep it
Want WIP dashboards on shop-floor screens
Have 5–100 employees on the shop floor
Want AI scheduling without a year-long project

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Consider Epicor Kinetic if you…

Need to replace your accounting system
Coordinate across multiple plants or companies
Require native CRM and sales order management
Need HR, payroll, and compliance in one system
Have a 6–18 month IT budget and timeline

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