Epicor REST API Integration with OpenAI

Overview

Mid-market manufacturers lose thousands in overhead due to inventory delays. While legacy databases track raw parts counts, they cannot scan weather alerts or parse vendor delay notifications automatically. Refer to the official Epicor Help Documentation

By implementing a C# script that queries open parts demand from Epicor REST APIs and pipes it to OpenAI, scheduling planners can identify delay risks three days in advance.

1. Authentication Requirements for Epicor REST v2

Epicor Kinetic REST API v2 requires OData v4 conventions. Requests must contain:

• X-API-Key: A unique API key configured in Epicor's API Key Maintenance.
• Authorization Header: Base64 encoded credentials or an OAuth2 bearer token.

2. C# Connection Implementation

Here is a production-ready C# code block illustrating how to structure an HTTP client query, retrieve open inventory lines, and dispatch the payload to OpenAI:

using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;

public class EpicorAiConnector 
{
    private static readonly HttpClient client = new HttpClient();

    public async Task RunInventoryForecast()
    {
        // 1. Configure Epicor API Connection
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Clear();
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("X-API-Key", "YOUR_EPICOR_API_KEY");
        
        var authBytes = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("erp_username:erp_password");
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Basic", Convert.ToBase64String(authBytes));

        // 2. Query Epicor OData Endpoint for Open Jobs using standard v2 service path using standard v2 service path
        string epicorUrl = "https://yourserver.com/SaaS/api/v2/odata/EPIC01/Erp.BO.JobEntrySvc/JobHeads?$filter=Active eq true";
        HttpResponseMessage erpResponse = await client.GetAsync(epicorUrl);
        
        if (erpResponse.IsSuccessStatusCode)
        {
            string erpJsonData = await erpResponse.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
            
            // 3. Dispatch Data to OpenAI for Scarcity Scoring
            await CallOpenAiPredictor(erpJsonData);
        }
    }

    private async Task CallOpenAiPredictor(string dataPayload)
    {
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Clear();
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY");

        var requestBody = new 
        {
            model = "gpt-4",
            messages = new[] {
                new { role = "system", content = "Analyze this JSON Bill of Materials scheduling list. Identify parts scarcity risk based on historical delays." },
                new { role = "user", content = dataPayload }
            }
        };

        var content = new StringContent(Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(requestBody), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
        HttpResponseMessage aiResponse = await client.PostAsync("https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions", content);

        if (aiResponse.IsSuccessStatusCode)
        {
            string prediction = await aiResponse.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
            Console.WriteLine("AI Shortage Analysis: " + prediction);
        }
    }
}

3. Database Writeback

Once OpenAI returns the predicted delays and category flags, we write the data back into Epicor UD columns (e.g. JobHead.ShortageScore_c) using standard Epicor Business Objects. Planners can then filter their purchase requisitions using custom BAQ dashboards.