Sentech

Sensing a Smarter World

From semiconductor manufacturing equipment to autonomous agricultural systems, precision sensors play a critical role in enabling the technologies that power modern industries, acting as the eyes, ears and nervous system for digital technology. Every major technology trend—AI, robotics, healthcare monitoring and industrial digitisation—depends on sensors generating real-world data.

Sentech, a brand-independent sensor expert and integrator in the Benelux region, goes beyond simply selling sensors. The company specialises in designing and fully integrating customised sensor solutions for OEM manufacturers operating in demanding industries such as semiconductor equipment, robotics, agriculture, healthcare, and defence. Sentech acts as an engineering and R&D partner, helping customers solve complex sensing challenges by combining sensor expertise, system integration, ruggedisation and application-specific design. The focus on sensor integration and end-to-end collaboration is a key differentiator, particularly for customers with harsh-environments or high-precision applications.

The growing demand for Sentech’s offerings is tangible: “In the first five-and-a-half months of this year, we received the same order intake we had during all of 2025,” Maarten van Erven, Director, Finance & IT, at Sentech said.

With decades of experience in ERP implementation in SAP and Microsoft environments, van Erven joined Sentech while the effort to move to a modern ERP platform was underway, with an intent to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365. “It soon became clear that we needed to look at other options as that platform would require extensive customisation to support our high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment,” van Erven explained. “We wanted a mature, cloud-based, purpose-built solution that would enable us to adapt quickly without constantly relying on external consultants.”

What stood out was the maturity of the platform. Epicor already had a strong manufacturing foundation and a stable core system. It wasn’t dependent on layers of add-ons to make it work.

Purpose-Built Fits the Bill

A comprehensive RFP process began with detailed documentation of operational processes. The RFP was distributed to 24 ERP vendors, of which twelve suppliers responded, six participated in demonstrations, and the evaluation eventually narrowed to three finalists: SAP S/4HANA, Infor and Epicor Kinetic.

Sentech wanted a true SaaS platform with strong API capabilities, minimal infrastructure management and the ability for internal teams to make small modifications without needing outside support. “We specifically wanted to avoid heavy customisation,” van Erven recalled. “As soon as you start customising, you create long-term complexity and maintenance challenges.”

Epicor Kinetic ultimately emerged as the best fit. “What stood out was the maturity of the Epicor platform,” van Erven noted. “Epicor already had a strong manufacturing foundation and a stable core system. It wasn’t dependent on layers of add-ons to make it work. We’re happy with the choice of Epicor.”

The decision to move fully to the cloud also reflected lessons learned from prior ERP migrations. “If you choose an on-prem solution today, you’re almost guaranteed another migration within a few years,” van Erven said. “We wanted to avoid repeating that cycle and move directly to a long-term cloud strategy.”

Standardised, Flexible, Integrated

Sentech’s manufacturing environment presents unique operational challenges. The company simultaneously supports make-to-stock and make-to-order workflows while producing products that vary dramatically in size, complexity and value, with different manufacturing requirements. “Epicor allows us to maintain a uniform way of working regardless of product complexity,” van Erven shared.

The platform’s standard functionality for mixed manufacturing environments proved especially valuable. “In many ERP systems, supporting both make-to-stock and make-to-order workflows requires customisation,” van Erven noted. “With Epicor, those capabilities were already built into the core system.”

To further streamline operations, Sentech integrated Epicor with its robotic warehouse system using Epicor’s open API framework. The robotic warehouse manages the company’s highly compact component inventory through automated tray-based picking systems. “The open API platform provided in Epicor Kinetic was important for us,” van Erven said. “It allowed us to automate the warehouse integration without forcing us to change how our operations already worked.”

The company also connected Epicor to its digital shop floor system, time registration processes, and multiple EDI portals supporting automotive and semiconductor customers.

One Truth, End-to-End

An immediate improvement was the shift from fragmented, disconnected workflows to a unified operational environment. Previously, information and processes were spread across multiple systems, spreadsheets, emails and SharePoint documents. Epicor introduced a single source of truth across the organisation, allowing departments to work from the same real-time data set.

For Sentech, one of the most transformative changes centred on bill of material (BOM) revision control.

Historically, BOMs functioned primarily as static lists of required components. With Epicor Kinetic, Sentech adopted a formal revision-based structure that enabled the company to track engineering changes over time, maintain historical records and create significantly stronger traceability across the product lifecycle.

“At first, the organisation had to get used to working with revisions,” van Erven explained. “But once people understood how everything connected, from procurement and production to quality and warehousing, it became a major step forward.”

The impact extended beyond internal operations. Customers immediately recognised the increased maturity and professionalism of Sentech’s processes. “Our largest customer, ASML, immediately understood the value,” van Erven said. “For them, working with revision control instead of static bills of material represented a completely different level of professionalism.” That enhanced traceability now supports stronger production planning, historical product analysis and more effective customer collaboration.

Enhanced Quality for Less

Quality management represents another key improvement. Before Epicor, Sentech managed returns, quality investigations and RMA processes through disconnected spreadsheets, emails and databases. Tracking root cause analysis and maintaining full product traceability required substantial manual coordination.

Today, those processes are fully integrated within Epicor. Sentech uses Epicor Kinetic inbuilt quality management capabilities to manage complex 8D root cause investigations, connecting supplier records, production history, packing slips, customer shipments and corrective actions within a single workflow. “When a product fails, we need to determine whether it’s an isolated issue or a larger batch problem,” van Erven explained. “Everything now happens inside one connected case structure and it’s now all fully automated. Everybody can access this in Epicor so it's a lot more professional, and we're doing it with half of the staff”.

Epicor enables teams to assign investigation tasks across departments, document findings directly within the system, and generate comprehensive customer reports from a centralised quality workflow. That visibility is especially important for customers like ASML, where product reliability and traceability are critical. “Our customers want confidence that we fully understand what happened, why it happened and how we’re preventing it in the future,” van Erven stated.

Beyond the financial impact, the biggest benefit of Epicor Kinetic is that we can act immediately. We don’t need to open a support ticket and wait for someone else to make a change.

The gains have been substantial: Sentech improved process consistency, visibility and responsiveness while simultaneously redeploying quality resources by to other areas of the business to drive other initiatives.

Cloud Self-Sufficiency

For van Erven, one of the biggest advantages of Epicor Kinetic has been the ability to manage and maintain the system internally.

Under the previous ERP environment, even relatively small changes required external consultants or support partners. With Epicor Kinetic, the Sentech team can now manage user interface adjustments, field modifications and configuration changes independently. “I think what Epicor has done by having an open database and API structure is fantastic. Small modifications, just adding a field or adjusting your user interface experience are easy to action,” explains van Erven.

We specifically wanted a platform with a long-term AI roadmap. Epicor gives us the confidence of knowing they are proactively working on it and AI will be there when we are ready.

“Beyond the financial impact, the biggest benefit of Epicor Kinetic is that we can act immediately,” van Erven said. “We don’t need to open a support ticket and wait for someone else to make a change.”

Cloud-based deployment also eliminated the need for local infrastructure management while still providing the control and accessibility the company required. “There’s often a fear that moving to the cloud means losing control,” van Erven shared. “But with Epicor Kinetic, we still have access to the database, APIs and system configuration.”

Positioned to Scale

Sentech continues to evaluate additional Epicor capabilities, including advanced forecasting and project management modules, while also exploring opportunities around AI-driven process improvements.

“We specifically wanted a platform with a long-term AI roadmap,” mentioned van Erven. “Epicor gives us the confidence of knowing they are proactively working on it and AI will be there when we are ready.”

The move to Epicor Kinetic delivered far more than a technology upgrade. By standardising processes, improving quality management, enabling deep traceability and reducing dependence on external support, Sentech has strengthened its ability to grow while operating more efficiently in some of the world’s most demanding industries.