PLANAT FEPA
PLANAT FEPA is the manufacturing ERP from PLANAT GmbH, a Stuttgart-based German vendor that has been developing the product continuously since 1981. The customer base concentrates on industrial Mid-Market manufacturers — the broad German mid-market SMB segment — with 50 to 1,000 employees, often so-called Hidden Champions: highly specialised, often globally active companies with a strong market position in a niche. PLANAT's reputation in independent industry studies, particularly the Trovarit "ERP in der Praxis" user-satisfaction survey, is consistently strong, which makes it one of the better-reputed German Mid-Market manufacturing ERPs even though its brand recognition is below proAlpha or abas ERP.
Modular suite architecture
FEPA is built as a modular ERP suite on a three-component concept: a flexibly adaptable base system, vertical industry objects and functional add-ons. The core covers sales and order processing, purchasing and procurement, materials management, warehouse, light to deep production planning and control (depending on the modules selected), service management and financial accounting. The strength is in the production block: variant-rich BOMs, sequenced production planning, capacity scheduling, shop-floor control and post-calculation are the central capabilities that the Hidden-Champion customer base relies on.
Target audience
The typical FEPA customer is a Mid-Market industrial business with 50 to 1,000 employees — often a Hidden Champion in machinery, plant engineering, precision parts, electronics, automotive supply, metal-working or sheet-metal production. The product fit is strongest where the customer produces to order or in variant-rich batches and the production-planning depth is the differentiator versus horizontal mid-market ERPs.
Architecture and deployment
FEPA is built on a modern, scalable architecture with a relational database and a client-capable user interface, with web and mobile components extended in recent years. The software is delivered on-premise, in a managed cloud or hosted by PLANAT in a German data centre. The flexibility on the deployment side matters because the Hidden-Champion customer base includes both technology-conservative customers with strong on-premise preferences and modernising customers who want to move out of self-operating an ERP stack.
DACH localisation and DATEV
FEPA's German localisation is mature. DATEV integration — DATEV is the cooperative of German tax advisors whose data format is the SME finance-exchange standard — is supported through standard exporters so the customer's external accountant can continue working in DATEV. GoBD compliance — the German principles for proper digital bookkeeping — is part of the standard audit-trail and archiving features. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung e-invoicing are covered in line with the phased German B2B e-invoicing mandate. Multilingual and multi-currency support handles international subsidiaries for the typical Hidden-Champion exporter profile.
Competition and selection
FEPA competes with other production-oriented Mid-Market ERPs — abas ERP, ams.erp, proAlpha, oxaion and PSIpenta. A structured selection should compare the candidates on BOM and variant depth, production-planning flexibility, MES integration and German localisation. PLANAT does not publish list prices; licensing is project-specific and depends on user count, module selection, deployment model and customisation scope. Both perpetual-licence with maintenance and subscription/cloud models are available. The high Trovarit user-satisfaction scores are a meaningful selection signal.
Strengths and limitations at a glance
- Long-running independent German vendor (since 1981) with a continuous Stuttgart engineering base.
- Manufacturing-focused product depth for variant-rich discrete industries — hidden champions in machinery, metal and electrical engineering.
- Strong rankings in independent DACH user-satisfaction surveys.
Considerations:
- Smaller install base and partner network than the largest manufacturing ERPs.
- Cloud deployment is available but most installations remain on-premise.
- Outside manufacturing the product is not the typical fit.
Best-fit profile and comparable vendors
Best-fit customers are DACH Mid-Market discrete manufacturers of 30 to 300 users in machinery, metal, electrical and electronic engineering. Comparable vendors include abas ERP, proAlpha and ams.erp at the higher end. The ERP for machinery notes are a natural starting point.
Related Topics
Vendor homepage of PLANAT FEPA
Current view of the website https://www.planat.de/
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is PLANAT FEPA family-owned?
PLANAT GmbH has been developing FEPA continuously since 1981 with German ownership. The continuity is one of the selection signals for Mittelstand buyers who have seen many ERP vendors acquired or merged by international investors.
Which industries fit FEPA best?
Machinery and plant engineering, precision parts, electronics, automotive supply, metal-working and sheet-metal production — the classical German Hidden-Champion verticals where variant-rich production and sequenced production planning are central operational concerns.
Can FEPA run in the cloud?
Yes. PLANAT offers cloud, managed-hosted and on-premise deployment. The cloud and managed-hosted variants run from German data centres, which matches the typical DSGVO expectations of DACH Mittelstand buyers.
Does FEPA support DATEV?
Yes. Standard DATEV exporters let the customer's external tax advisor receive posting data in the format used across the German SME accounting ecosystem. DATEV is the cooperative of German tax advisors whose data format is the de facto SME finance-exchange standard, so smooth DATEV integration removes a common friction point between Mittelstand customers and their external accountants.
How does FEPA compare in independent user surveys?
In the long-running Trovarit "ERP in der Praxis" study, FEPA consistently scores in the upper user-satisfaction range across both system and vendor dimensions. The strong scores reflect the product's industrial-Mittelstand fit and PLANAT's direct customer relationship without large partner-channel intermediaries.