ADempiere is a comprehensive open-source enterprise resource planning (ERP) business suite covering all aspects of a business, from accounting and sales to production and HR.
It offers a modular design, so you can choose the features you need for your specific industry or company size. There is also a large community of users and developers who support it, so you can find help when needed.
In this article, we will review the basics of ADempiere, discuss the community, look at some of the available modules and database options, and compare it to other ERP solutions like Odoo.
New version: ADempiere 3.9.3
Release date: December 2019
What is ADempiere ERP?
It is cloud-based open-source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application built on modules for human resources, financials, accounting, purchasing, and manufacturing.
It is licensed under GPLv2.
The framework is used to develop customized ERP applications. It combines ERP, CRM, and SCM.
The first thing you’ll want to consider when evaluating adempiere is how it stacks up against other ERP packages on the market. In terms of features, this ERP software is comparable to popular commercial packages like Oracle E-Business Suite and SAP Business One.
It includes everything you would expect from an enterprise-level ERP solution. However, it is also highly scalable and can grow as your business grows.
Adempiere Community
One of the most significant advantages of commercial packages is their large community of developers and users. It has been around since 1999 (initially Compiere), so many experienced people are working on it every day to improve it for everyone who uses it.
Its open-source license means anyone can contribute improvements or build extensions based on its codebase. It has a thriving ecosystem where you’ll find everything from add-ons to themes for sale or free downloads.
Price
It is entirely free of charge. (as of writing this article, refer to the official website).
Supports and services
Adempiere application provides support through its community. So you can ask the questions to its community, and you will get an answer from the community. It also provides detailed documentation to learn correctly.
Features
Adempiere Modules
It has many modules available for use with the software, and more are being developed all the time by both ADempiere’s and third-party developers. These include everything from accounting modules to CRM and inventory management tools.
Many extensions also integrate with other popular open-source projects like WordPress or SugarCRM if you need to connect its functionality with something else in your toolset.
A complete list is available on their website and at many third-party sites where you can find additional information about each module, including its source code.
Some Screenshots of Modules
Invoices
Product Transaction Value
Feature list
- Trade management
- Customer management
- Pricing
- Orders and Quotes
- Controls
- Approvals
- Business rules
- Invoicing
- Purchasing management
- Purchasing of items and services
- Manufacturing management
- Material management
- Resource management
- Workflows
- Bill of materials and formulas
- Manufacturing orders
- Product planning
- Capacity planning
- Cost management
- Forecast management
- Sales forecast
- Analyzing demand and supply in real-time
- Financial management
- Bank
- Banking transactions
- Detailed internal audit
- Document traceability
- Reports
- Cash management
- Human capital
- Project management
Database
This ERP software uses a PostgreSQL database to store all of its data, so it’s easy to integrate it with other applications that use the same format for their databases.
It also has an ODBC driver available, which allows you to connect it directly from Microsoft Access or Excel without knowing programming languages like SQL Server T-SQL or PL/PGSQL Procedural Language extension (PL/PSQL).
This makes it one of few ERP systems that offer direct access via ODBC and standard methods such as JDBC and ADO.NET while still maintaining backward compatibility with earlier versions such as Compiere Community Edition (CE) v21.0 or ADempiere Professional Edition (PE).
Architecture
ADempiere’s is written in Java and makes use of the Eclipse IDE. It uses several open-source projects as dependencies, including Apache Tomcat for its web server, Hibernate for Object-Relational Mapping (ORM), and JasperReports for reporting.
The codebase is well organized and easy to follow, making it relatively easy to contribute new features or modules.
It also has a well-defined process for submitting patches which contributors are encouraged to follow when making changes. This helps ensure that other developers review all changes before merging into the main codebase, preventing any lousy coding practices from slipping in and causing problems down the road.
It also uses Git for version control, making it easy for developers to keep track of changes and collaborate on new features.
Advantages
- It is a flexible open-source ERP that provides complete data visibility and integrates with third-party applications.
- It secures your business from technology antiquation. Instead, it helps you develop and customize the industry standards with the help of a wide range of tools.
- Its source code is publicly available, and the license is free. Thus, it helps to reduce your business costs. It also reduces the costs for development and support by providing those freely.
- You don’t need to be dependent on a single service provider.
- It provides good collaboration between end-user and service integrators.
- It provides free support.
Disadvantages
- While implementing the software, you need to have an expert IT consultant because it is a bit complicated process.
- Steps are more to do a simple business activity.
- Unavailability of a free trial.
What Industries does it support?
It supports the following industries.
- Manufacturing
- Distribution
- Retail
- Government
- Agribusiness
- Education sectors
Alternatives
ADempiere v/s Odoo
| ADempiere | Odoo | |
| Categories | ERP | ERP, CRM, Accounting |
| Deployment | Cloud, On-premise | Cloud, On-premise, Odoo. sh |
| Intended users | Small, Medium, Enterprises | All sizes |
| Programming languages | Java 1.8 | Python, XML, Javascript |
| License | GPLv2 | GNU lesser, GPLv3, Proprietary |
| Supporting devices | Linux, Windows, Unix, OS X | Web apps, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Language support | Multi-lingual | Multi-lingual |
Conclusion
ADempiere ERP is a comprehensive software solution that can manage all aspects of your business. It has accounting, manufacturing, purchasing, sales and marketing modules, human resources, and more. Its wide range of functionality can handle almost any business need.
It is an excellent option if you’re looking for an enterprise resource planning solution that will cover all your bases.
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