abas ERP OMR versus APplus
abas ERP OMR and APplus are two DACH mid-market manufacturing ERPs with similar target customers (100-500 employee discrete-manufacturing operations). Both have multi-decade DACH manufacturing track records. The comparison frequently arises in DACH manufacturing evaluations alongside proALPHA, SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O. This comparison covers the substantive differences.
Vendor positioning
abas ERP OMR: Karlsruhe-headquartered DACH manufacturing ERP, founded 1980. Approximately 4,000 customers globally, dominantly DACH. Part of Forterro portfolio. APplus: developed by asseco Solutions, Karlsruhe-headquartered. Approximately 1,500 customers predominantly DACH. Part of Asseco Group. Both products target similar DACH manufacturing customer profiles; positioning and ecosystem alignment differ slightly.
Functional comparison
Both products cover comprehensive mid-market manufacturing scope. abas strengths: deepest variant configuration tradition in DACH, strong engineer-to-order project capabilities, service-management module depth. APplus strengths: integrated APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling), native production-planning depth, integrated CRM. Functional parity: core financials, manufacturing planning, inventory, sales-and-distribution, multi-entity, DACH-specific compliance. Differentiation in specific functional depths.
Architecture
Both products operate primarily as customer-managed on-premises with cloud-hosted options. Neither matches modern SaaS-natives in cloud-naturalness. abas: abas-specific scripting language for customisation. APplus: customer-friendly configuration and customisation. Both retain substantial customisation capability at the cost of upgrade complexity. The modern best-practice (clean core) applies to both.
Selection considerations
abas for: variant-rich operations with deep configurator needs, engineer-to-order project manufacturing, operations valuing the longest DACH variant-configuration tradition. APplus for: operations with shared-bottleneck production needing finite-capacity scheduling, integrated APS workflow, production-planning-heavy operations. Both should be evaluated alongside proALPHA, SAP S/4HANA Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O in DACH mid-market manufacturing short-lists.
Implementation and partner considerations
Implementation factors beyond functional fit. Partner-network quality: the implementation partner often matters more than the product within a peer set. Both products typically have multiple credible DACH partners; evaluating partner-specific team CVs and project references matters substantially. Reference customers in your industry segment provide independent perspective on real operations. Project timeline expectations: typical mid-market implementations run 4-12 months for SMB-and-lower-mid-market scope, 6-18 months for upper mid-market with greater complexity. Compressed timelines consistently produce post-go-live issues. Cost ranges: total project cost typically 100,000-1,500,000 EUR for relevant customer-size range. Specific cost differences across products typically 20-40%; partner-side bidding produces additional 15-25% variation.
Long-term operational considerations
Three patterns for long-term operations. (1) Roadmap investment: evaluate vendor investment trajectory. Products with strong roadmap and growing ecosystem deliver compounding long-term value. (2) Skills availability: products with larger user-bases have larger pools of available IT-skilled professionals. Specialist products with smaller installed-bases produce talent-acquisition friction. (3) Upgrade cadence: cloud-SaaS products receive automatic updates; on-premises products require customer-managed upgrade projects every 2-5 years. Cumulative cost-and-effort over 5-10 years matters substantially. The right selection reflects not just current capability but long-term operational sustainability.
Related Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
Which has stronger partner network?
abas has substantially larger DACH partner network reflecting larger customer base. APplus partner network is smaller but focused. Both networks are credible for DACH mid-market manufacturing; specific partner-fit matters more than overall scale.
Project cost difference?
Comparable. Typical 200-employee DACH manufacturing implementation: 1.5-3 million EUR for either product over 5 years. Specific cost differences typically 15-30% based on implementation partner choice and scope. Major cost drivers: customisation extent, integration scope, change-management investment.
How do these compare to Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O?
For deep DACH manufacturing patterns: both deliver native capability comparable to or deeper than D365 F&O out-of-the-box manufacturing. For broader scope (HR, retail, project services), D365 F&O has broader native capability. Microsoft ecosystem alignment may also favour D365 F&O.