#1 most frequent
United States of America
87.0%603 installations of 693
What is Epicor Prophet 21?
Epicor Prophet 21 is an ERP for distributors, allowing companies to manage their supply chain with one ERP, with industry-specific functionality, cloud-based applications to modernize operations, connected ecosystems to ensure visibility across the organization and AI-infused solutions to drive efficiencies.
Categories & Use Cases
Media
1 / 2
Screenshot of Prophet 21 Opportunity Page
Top Performing Features
Single sign-on capability
The software system supports a centralized authentication mechanism allowing the user to access multiple systems with a single, centrally managed password.
Category average: 8.3
API for custom integration
An API (application programming interface) provides a standard programming interface for connecting third-party systems to the software for data creation, access, updating and/or deletion.
Category average: 7.6
Plug-ins
A number of third-party plug-ins are available to expand the core functionality of the software.
Category average: 7.6
Areas for Improvement
Configuration Management
Capture and process customer configuration orders
Category average: 7.2
Work Execution
Monitor procution status, manage work orders for standard and non-standard production, enforce tight controls on serialized products
Category average: 7.5
Manufacturing Costs
Estimate, plan and monitor costs and variances by plant. Capture resource costs using standard, actual, LIFO, FIFO or multiple costing methods.
Category average: 7.4
Who Buys & Uses Epicor Prophet 21
#2 most frequent
Canada
8.7%60 installations of 693
#3 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
0.9%6 installations of 693
Impossible to Work With and Antiquated
Pros
- Nothing, it does many things but does NONE OF THEM WELL.
Cons
- There is no functionality for automating orders entering into the system.
- There is no way to enter data into the system.
- Nearly any change to the UI will break something. (EX P21 cant automate faxing if you put a parenthesis in the fax number which is absolutely ridiculous)
- There are thousands of reference constraints on all data fields.
Return on Investment
- We have wasted a lot of money trying to implement automation.
Usability
CRM Vehicle to Drive your Business to Success
Pros
- Houses all pertinent customer information: Address, Phone, Contacts, Ship To locations.
- Allows Customer Service to enter orders for customers based on Purchase Orders.
- Allows Purchasing Manager to purchase inventory to stock in warehouse as well as fulfill customers orders.
- Allows the Warehouse to properly ship and track items being shipped to customers.
- Allows the Accounting Department to accurately invoice and receive payments from customers.
Cons
- Prophet 21 has features for every aspect of business and constantly improve software based on new technology and customer requests.
Return on Investment
- Orders are placed and shipped in a reasonable time.
- Purchasing Manager is able to control inventory and forecast needs
- Accounting is able to control cash flow.
- Prophet 21 has allowed us to maintain our business in a very successful and efficient manner
Alternatives Considered
inFlow Inventory
Other Software Used
Sangoma Switchvox, formerly from Digium, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Azure
Prophet 21 helps distributors focus on, and meet, business needs
Pros
- Comprehensive customization of many fields and screens
- Offers a fairly robust API that allows external connectivity
- Provides connectivity to Crystal Reports for improved reporting capabilities
Cons
- Some background technologies are still a bit behind the current development technologies in the market.
- Only started offering a Web-based front end to Prophet 21 in the past year, and it still has a number of limitations not present in the client-based program
- When new iterations/version are released, there are often significant bugs that require opening Support Requests
- Epicor (P21) Support is still not the most responsive or efficient
Return on Investment
- It is clear that using Prophet 21 has allowed us to more efficiently manage our Sales and Ordering processes
- Using the Purchasing and Inventory Management features have allowed is to successfully maintain appropriate stock levels at our various branches
- By providing a means to view previous years' sales and purchasing trends, our staff can order stock when vendors offer special pricing or volume discounts
It would be a good program if issues could be resolved.
Pros
- The system allows us to pretty much design it to work the way want it to work. It is a very flexible system for the most part.
- The system doesn't let you make too many shortcuts with getting something processed. It forces you to go through the proper steps.
- The system keeps track of everything and can be easily retrieved through history searches. Detailed reports, graphs, ....
Cons
- CRASHING, the system crashes too frequently for me. 3-5 times a day, support can't figure out why it happens. Extremely annoying when in the middle of a transaction.
- Overall support from P21 technicians is poor. If they or you can't replicate a problem, they can't help. Even if the problem is frequent.
- Cycle counts are a concern. Not much of a real cycle count report to check inventory daily, we had to create our own.
- Crystal Reports and how they can link with documents are challenging. Especially for packing lists and commercial invoices. As well as certs that are created for some items.
Return on Investment
- We are able to handle the workload with a low overhead.
- System crashing doesn't really make things better for us. Can't work or get things done quickly or in a rush when the system crashes. Too much time logging in and out and setting up windows with each crash. ( Time wasted )
Prophet 21 Catchy Product Review
Pros
- Ease of use. Prophet 21 application designers have put a lot of thought into making Prophet 21 simple to use yet powerful enough to meet the demands of thousands of distribution businesses.
- Open database. I love the open database architecture. It allows me all the functionality I need to write custom reports for my business.
- Fits a wide range of business requirements.
Cons
- Lots of stuff in there we just don't use.
- Can sometimes be slow aggregating data.
- Artificial limit on the number of windows that can be open in the software at one time. Most computers today are more than capable of handling a much higher limit.
Return on Investment
- Positive: real-time reporting has allowed us to save a lot of money right to the bottom line.
- Positive: application framework makes it easy to tailor business processes to the software or the software to business processes.
- Negative: can be costly to implement additional users.
Other Software Used
Dropbox, Evernote, Microsoft Office 365
